What is a balanced diet?
Ensuring your diet has the right balance of nutrients is always important for good health - especially when you are pregnant.* The "food pyramid" is a simple guide to help you achieve a balanced diet. The pyramid categorises the foods into five main groups. You should eat a variety of foods from the five food groups:
Nutrients essential during pregnancy include folate, essential fatty acids (EFA), iron, calcium. Nutrients essentials for general health include vitamins and minerals.
The importance of folate
Folate is a B vitamin which is essential for a healthy pregnancy, but particularly in the first 12 weeks. This is because neural-tube defects which affect your baby’s brain or spinal cord (defects such as spina bifida) tend to occur 3 to 4 weeks after conception. Consuming enough folate in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy has been shown to reduce the likelihood of these defects.Folate is also essential for the formation of red blood cells. Pregnancy is a time of rapid additional blood formation, that is why your body’s folate requirement increases. lack of folate can lead to anaemia, which in turn has been linked to low birth weight babies and a higher risk of miscarriage. If you are pregnant with more than one baby or have closely spaced pregnancies, give more attention to your intake of folate, since you are more likely to have low folate stores.
The importance of essential fatty acids (EFA)
EFA are particularly important during pregnancy to help the development of your baby’s brain, eyes and nerve cells. EFA is the precursor of DHA and AA. EFA include linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic acid which are naturally converted by your body to DHA and AA. DHA and AA are some of the building blocks for brain and retina development. Your body cannot make these fatty acids; nor can your baby. Therefore, it is important that EFA be present in your daily diet.
The importance of calcium
Calcium is essential for building strong bones and teeth for your baby as well as for yourself. To ensure the sufficiency of calcium during pregnancy, your body absorbs 50% more calcium than usual, especially in the first 6 months. If you are not getting enough calcium from your diet, your body will get the calcium from your stores i.e. bones. This may reduce your bone mass and increase your risk of developing osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) later in life.Low intakes of calcium during pregnancy may also cause muscle spasms (eg. Leg cramps), while adequate intakes of calcium during pregnancy may help to prevent high blood pressure caused by pregnancy. These are the reasons why it is particularly important to make sure you’re getting enough calcium throughout your pregnancy.
The importance of iron
Your body needs iron for the formation of red blood cells. It is particularly important during pregnancy because your need for iron almost doubles. Lack of iron during pregnancy can lead to anaemia.
The importance of vitamin B12 and zinc
Vitamin B12 plays an important part in cell formation during pregnancy. Your daily diet may provide sufficient amounts of this vitamin, but if it does not, this may affect the neurological development of your baby.Zinc is essential to ensure the normal growth and development of your baby during pregnancy and after the baby is born. Low intakes of zinc may reduce vital statistics i.e. birth weight and the size of your baby’s head.
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