You’re pregnant! Congratulations. This likely means you’re either glowing like the sun or riding the wave of morning sickness. Either way, now is the time to make those all-important nutritional decisions that will fuel your body and your baby’s mind.
You’re a healthy mama already, so this isn’t going to be hard. But what you might not realize is just how critical healthy nutrition is throughout your pregnancy (even in the third trimester). Not only does it help to ensure a healthy baby, but it can actually mold his food preferences later in life. That means whole fruits and veggies will eventually go down as easy as a juice box at a birthday bash (if you’re a second-time mom, you know the power of this). So swallow that big-as-a-horse prenatal pill and then chew on this for a minute: Powerful prenatal foods pack more punch than any prenatal pill ever will. What you eat can significantly reduce your risk of gestational diabetes and your baby’s risk of obesity later in life – among other things. But just what counts as a “superfood?” I’m not talking a bunch of grapes and some carrots at lunchtime. The superfoods you need while pregnant include foods like pasture-raised eggs featuring 12 vitamins and minerals, omega 3 fats and plenty of protein.
Or try tossing a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds over a leafy green salad. They have a whopping 5 grams of protein per serving – in addition to zinc, iron, calcium and many other minerals that’ll help your muscles heel as you’re stretched and poked throughout your pregnancy. Congratulations . . . again. So next time you feel like diving into the deep end with a big bag of candy bars, don’t. You and baby will be much better off if you simply wade in waters of things like molasses, kale and salmon. Super easy. Super yummy. Superfoods. Let’s hear it for baby!