Pregnancy Super foods
Berry Sorbet
Ice cream is okay every once in a while, but try to kick your constant cravings for it with this healthier dessert. Sorbet in a dark berry flavor, such as raspberry, blackberry, or blueberry, contains vitamin C, a touch of fiber, and a lot of antioxidants, which help boost your immune system. Just be sure to set limits on your sweets. Avoid eating more than two to four servings of fruit and multiple desserts a day to limit your sugar and prevent gestational diabetes.
Try this low-fat Berry Sorbet Pie recipe.
Enriched Whole-Grain Cereal
Pregnancy is not the time to go on a diet, such as a low-carb eating plan. Your body needs six to 10 servings of grain products throughout pregnancy. Opt for cereals with the words "whole" or "whole grain" up high in the ingredient list to get the most fiber and nutrients from hearty wheat, barley, and oats in your breakfast. Most cereals are enriched with folate - which is crucial for fetal development - and other vitamins and minerals you need, so low-sugar cereal is a wise meal or snack for women on the go.
Shrimp
Many women think they can't touch seafood with a 10-foot pole when they're pregnant. While it's important to watch out for some seafood, such as swordfish, mackerel, shark, tilefish, fresh tuna, and seabass, (print this list for a reminder of what's safe), shrimp is fine to eat because it doesn't have high mercury levels. Shrimp is a great form of lean protein that can help you get the three to four meat or protein servings you need daily. Just make sure to avoid undercooked and raw seafood.
Orange Juice
Water is the best thing to drink during pregnancy, so you should have at least six glasses a day. But a glass of orange juice with breakfast or a snack provides folic acid, potassium, vitamin C, and other vitamins. Because of juice's high sugar content, don't make it your all-day drink of choice.
Beans
Beans offer variety in meals and side dishes, from chili and soups to rice dishes and salads. They're full of protein, fiber, iron, folic acid, and complex carbohydrates (the good kind of carbs that provide longer-lasting energy). If you're tired of eating the same sources of lean protein, such as chicken, whip up a meal with black beans, white beans, kidney beans, or garbanzo beans (chickpeas) as the main ingredient. Rinsing canned beans in a strainer can help cut down the sodium content.
Try this recipe for Two-Bean Chili.
