Everything You Need to Know About Prenatals

What to Eat When You’re Pregnant
Beyond Food: Getting the Nutrients You Need During Pregnancy
Getting the Nutrients You Need During Pregnancy, Simplified

What impacts your health also impacts your baby. If you’re pregnant or considering pregnancy, you want to take the right precautions to have a healthy baby and stay healthy yourself.

How you eat and the nutrients you get play a significant role for both of you. When you get ideal amounts of those nutrients, you:

Reduce the risk of birth defects
Support healthy brain development
Ensure a healthy birth weight for your baby
Reduce your risk of morning sickness, mood swings, and other pregnancy-related symptoms
Improve labor and delivery [1]

During pregnancy, you have an increased risk of nutrient deficiencies. Left unaddressed, these deficiencies can be dangerous to you and your baby.

That is why pediatricians and OB/GYNs typically recommend a comprehensive prenatal supplement to boost essential nutrients. MaxLiving Prenatal Daily Essentials Packets contain three well rounded prenatal supplements to help boost the immune system of you and your baby. [2]

Nutrient deficiencies while you’re pregnant can contribute to problems like anemia. Your body makes more blood during pregnancy to support the baby’s growth. If you’re not getting enough nutrients like iron, your body might not be able to create enough red blood cells. [3]

Those red blood cells carry oxygen to your brain and other organs. When they can’t deliver oxygen and nutrients, anemia can result. Several types of anemia can occur during pregnancy. They can create pregnancy-related symptoms including fatigue. Anemia can also contribute to low birth weight, premature birth, and infant anemia. [4]

The good news is that you can prevent anemia and other problems around pregnancy with the right nutrient support.

What to Eat When You’re Pregnant

During pregnancy, you’re nourishing you and your baby. You want to choose the nutrient-rich foods that help you and your baby need to thrive. They can also help you maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy.

Moms with a healthy pre-pregnancy weight should gain about 25 – 35 pounds during pregnancy. [5] About 43 percent of women gain more weight during pregnancy than experts consider healthy. [6]

Being overweight or obese women can increase pregnancy problems, including:

Gestational diabetes, which can lead to type 2 diabetes
High blood pressure
Preeclampsia
Preterm birth
Birth injury, birth defects, and childhood obesity in the baby [7]

Eating well can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce these complications during pregnancy. You’re also more likely to have a healthy baby. [8]

The nutrient-rich foods in our Core or Advanced Plans are ideal around pregnancy. Work with your healthcare practitioner to incorporate or modify these plans for your condition.

Whichever plan you choose, you’ll want to choose plenty of nutrient-rich plant foods, the right amount of protein, and healthy fats including omega-3 fatty acids.

Plant Foods

A wide variety of vegetables and low-sugar fruits can provide many nutrients that you and your baby need to thrive during pregnancy and beyond, including:

Vitamins and minerals. Green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, for instance, are rich in nutrients such as folate. [9]
Antioxidants. Fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants to support your body’s defense system. Sufficient antioxidants can help maintain a healthy pregnancy and support the short- and long-term health of you and your baby. [10]
Dietary fiber. The fiber in plant foods can help balance blood sugar levels, minimize constipation and other gut issues, and more. Researchers recommend getting 25 – 30 grams of dietary fiber a day. [11]

Protein

Getting the right amount of protein becomes critical for you and the growth of your baby. Protein impacts the baby’s growth, including the brain. Optimal amounts support breast and uterine tissue growth during pregnancy, help increase blood supply, and more. [12]

Unlike carbohydrates or dietary fat, the body can’t store protein. [13] That means you need a steady supply from food.

Experts recommend about 71 grams of protein a day throughout pregnancy. [14] Good protein-rich choices include:

Grass-fed beef
Wild-caught cold-water seafood
Pasture-raised eggs
Organic free-range poultry
Organic nuts, seeds, and nut butter

Healthy Fats

Eating the right fats supports your health and your baby’s health. Extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, and other healthy fats can support brain development, tissue growth, and more before and after birth. [15]

Omega-3 fatty acids are especially important during pregnancy. These fatty acids play a role in brain development before and after birth. They also contribute to immune health, eye health, motor skills, and much more during early development. [16]

Getting sufficient amounts of these fatty acids can even reduce the risk of allergies in infants. [17]

Two omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) play unique roles during pregnancy and lactation. EPA helps manage inflammation levels, whereas DHA is critical for the baby’s brain development and more. [18]

Most Americans don’t get enough of these omega-3 fatty acids. Deficiencies can increase your risk of depression and much more during pregnancy. [19]

Seafood provides an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. Unfortunately, some types of fish have higher levels of mercury, a metal that may contribute to birth defects. If you eat fish during pregnancy, limit intake. Focus on smaller, cold-water, wild-caught fish. Avoid bigger fish such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. [20]

Beyond Food: Getting the Nutrients You Need During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the body undergoes many physical and hormonal changes that demand additional nutrients. [21]

Even with the healthiest diet, you might not get the nutrients you need during pregnancy. Whether you’re pregnant, trying to have a baby, or breastfeeding, your body demands more nutrients than other people require. [22]

Getting the ideal amount of nutrients can help:

Support your health during and after pregnancy
Ensure the baby’s body and brain develop correctly
Prevent birth defects and other problems during pregnancy
Lower the risk of chronic disease throughout the baby’s lifetime [23]

Prenatal nutrients can fill those gaps to ensure you and your baby are healthy. You’ll ideally start taking these at least three months before conception. [24]

A healthy pregnancy requires a wide array of vitamins and minerals, including zinc, vitamin A, and B vitamins including B6 and B12. [25] These five key vitamins and minerals are among the most important nutrients during pregnancy.

Folate. This critical B vitamin highlights the importance of getting the right nutrients around pregnancy. Neural tubes eventually help form a baby’s spine and brain. Neural tube defects, which can impact the brain and spinal cord, can develop during the first 28 days after conception. In other words, before you even know you’re pregnant. [26] Folate can help prevent neural tube defects. Because this B vitamin helps make red blood cells, sufficient amounts of folate can also help reduce the risk of anemia. [27] The right amounts of folate are critical throughout pregnancy, especially during the earlier stages. [28]
Iron. During pregnancy, your body needs double the iron that it normally requires. [29] Without enough iron, iron deficiency anemia can result where the body can’t supply enough hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells. [30] Severe iron deficiency anemia can also increase your risk of premature birth, postpartum depression, and a low birth weight baby. [31] Your body isn’t making enough red blood cells, or those red blood cells it does make don’t work correctly, so you and your baby don’t get the correct amount of oxygen flow. [32]
Calcium. This essential mineral helps build strong teeth and bones, keeps blood circulating, supports muscle movement, and helps your brain communicate with your body. [33] You actually support your baby’s development from your own bones. That increases the need for calcium for you and to help your baby develop healthily. [34]
Vitamin D. Vitamin D plays many roles during pregnancy, including a healthy immune system and your mood. [35] This vitamin works with calcium to support the development of the baby’s bones and teeth. Healthy skin and eyesight also depend on vitamin D. Deficiencies can lead to complications during delivery. They can also create abnormal bone growth and fractures in your newborn. [36]
Iodine. The thyroid gland uses this mineral to make thyroid hormones. [37] Just like with calcium, your body provides thyroid hormones to your baby to support a healthy brain and more. That means you need more iodine during pregnancy. [38] Deficiencies can impair brain development and create complications during delivery. [39]

Eating a healthy diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods can supply some of these nutrients. To get the optimal amounts around pregnancy, however, you’ll need to supplement.