What Are Healthy Foods To Eat During Pregnancy?

Eating during pregnancy is not that much different from before conception except for a few key essential nutrients. These nutrients are necessary during pregnancy to support your growing baby and meet the changing metabolic demands associated with this particular time in your life.

Food for pregnant women should be adequate in all nutrients, especially folic acid, calcium, vitamin D, protein, and iron. All micro and macronutrients are needed for a healthy pregnancy outcome, but the nutrients just mentioned play a unique role when planning your daily menus. Nutrient-rich foods are associated^[1] with better birth weights, improved maternal and infant survival rates, and better fetal health.
Eat more of the following ten foods to meet your increased nutrient needs naturally. Note that avocados, not unlike pomegranates, are a unique fruit choice that benefits your pregnancy.

10 Foods To Eat When You’re Pregnant

Following a balanced diet for your calorie level as outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025^[2} is where you should begin your menu planning journey for a healthy pregnancy. In addition, including extra servings of the following foods may help you meet your increased nutrient needs^[3] supportive of a healthy pregnancy.

Overall, a diet rich in whole grains, low-fat dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables, and approved fish sources is desirable. Adequate fiber will help reduce the risk of pregnancy-related constipation, the second-highest complaint^[4] received by health professionals. Diets high in sugar and fat^[5] may lead to gestational diabetes, excess weight gain, and heart disease, so these should be avoided during pregnancy.

You might be wondering why you are so hungry during this phase of your life. Your body is craving certain foods due to many factors, such as a changing metabolism, higher nutrient and calorie needs, and an alteration in hormone levels.

Add These Five Foods To Your Daily Menu

1. Fortified Breakfast Cereals:

Always an affordable option, look for cereals with added nutrients like folic acid and iron that contain little sugar. To see if it is low in sugar, look at the label. The closer sugar is to the top of the ingredient list, the more sugar it contains. 

If the label says the product has 5% or less of the Daily Value as sugar, it is considered low-sugar, while 20% indicates high sugar.

2. Dairy Products:

All pregnant women, regardless of calorie level, require three servings from the dairy group daily to meet their 1,300 mg calcium requirement^[6] and vitamin D needs. If trying to control weight gain, choose low-fat options. If you are a vegan, choose fortified alternatives such as oat milk.

3. Green Leafy Vegetables:

Collards, spinach, kale, and other greens are all good sources of much-needed iron and fiber. Plan on two to three one-cup servings per day. Vegetables are associated with^[7] a lower incidence of low birth weight babies.

4. Whole Grains

Whole grains are high in^[8] B vitamins, fiber, magnesium, and iron. Choose whole grains over refined to get a lower glycemic index (used to measure how rapidly a food increases blood sugar). Blood sugar control is essential during pregnancy to avoid the risk of gestational diabetes.

5. Lean Meat

Meat is rich in iron and protein — both essential for a healthy pregnancy. Low iron levels during early and mid-pregnancy may cause iron-deficiency anemia^[9], increasing the risk of having a low birth weight infant. Low iron levels late in pregnancy may lead to an infant being born with anemia or neurodevelopmental issues.

Add These Five Foods Several Times Weekly

1. Sweet Potatoes

These tasty tubers are rich in beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A,  and fiber. Eating sweet potatoes helps with pregnancy-induced constipation. Sweet potatoes have been used successfully to treat refractory constipation^[10] in chemotherapy patients.

2. Low-Mercury Fish:

Fish is amazingly high in essential omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and protein. Eight ounces a week are recommended^[11] for pregnant women. The fish should come from approved fish advisories for your location and usually consist of varieties such as salmon, tilapia, perch, smelt, and tuna, among others.

3. Avocados:

This fruit is a nutritional powerhouse, rich in fiber, monounsaturated fats, and folate. One-third of an avocado is considered a serving. Portion control is wise if you are watching your weight since avocados are calorically dense at 240 calories per whole fruit^[12].

4. Natural Nut Butter:

A little bit goes a long way. Full of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, folate, and protein, nut butter makes a tasty addition to any menu plan. Because it is high in fat and calorie-dense, you should use portion control and add only as much as your calorie goal allows.

5. Eggs:

Eggs are essential in a baby’s brain development and are an excellent source of the nutrient choline. More choline is needed^[13] during pregnancy (450 mg) than your pre-pregnancy needs, so upping your dietary intake is wise. There is no reason that you can’t have one to two eggs daily, and adding eggs to your breakfast of fortified cereal will boost the protein in your morning meal.

Eating eggs every day is a personal choice and unacceptable if you are a vegan. So, plan to include them several times weekly if they are consistent with your dietary philosophy. Vegan options for boosting choline include adding more nuts, potatoes, seeds, tofu, and legumes.

Is The Sugar In Soda Safe During Pregnancy?

Sugar consumption^[14] during pregnancy may lead to excess weight gain, development of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and preterm birth. In addition, mounting evidence points to maternal sugar consumption leading to neonatal and childhood changes in taste perception, obesity risk, and metabolic parameters.

The American Heart Association^[15] recommends that no more than 100 calories per day should come from sugar yet public health surveillance data shows 50% of women consume greater than governmental recommendations. With sugar having 4 calories a gram, that would be 25 grams per day.

How Much Sugar Is In Soda?

Coke has 26.1 grams^[16] of sugar per bottle (237 ml). So, one bottle exceeds the day’s allotment for sugar. Other soda brands may contain^[17] up to 47 grams per bottle or can. But that isn’t the only sugar in soda.

What About High-Fructose Corn Syrup In Soda?

Let’s talk about high-fructose corn syrup, a main ingredient in soda. Studies have shown that fructose in particular (as opposed to glucose), is more harmful^[18] to a pregnant woman’s fetus since sugars cross the placenta. Recent animal studies have shown that fructose consumed by the mother can cause metabolic syndrome^[19] in the adult offspring, which is called fetal programming.

Sugar, or sucrose, is a mixture of glucose and fructose. High-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, is a highly processed form of fructose linked to^[20] obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver. These conditions may develop in the mother or infant in response to HFCS.

So, the answer to the question about the safety of sugar in soda during pregnancy should be obvious. No, it isn’t safe. Choose water for hydration purposes.

Supplemental Nutrients

While this topic is more about food than supplements, it is important to mention one very essential nutrient. That nutrient is folic acid. If you are thinking about becoming pregnant, you should start 400 mcg of folic acid supplementation^[21] before conception and continue until 28 days of fetal life to reduce the risk of neural tube defects.

If you previously had a child^[22] with a neural tube defect, the preconception supplementation amount is 4,000 mcg per day through the first month of pregnancy.
Most obstetricians recommend that you take a prenatal multivitamin throughout pregnancy. It is important that you take your supplements as directed to give your baby all the nutrition needed, including what you may be missing in your diet. Your prenatal multivitamin should have^[23] 400 mcg of folic acid in it, 600 IU of vitamin D, 1,000 mg of calcium, 85 mg of vitamin C, 27 mg of iron, 1.9 mg of B6, 770 retinol equivalents or REs, 2.6 mcg of B12, 15 mg of vitamin E and 70 mcg of vitamin K.

Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy

The following is a list of items you should be careful of^[24] or avoid entirely when pregnant:

• Foods made from unpasteurized milk products like soft-ripened goat’s cheese.
• Cold-cured meats. Examples are salami or pepperoni (unless cooked thoroughly).
• Liver and liver products. Liver products contain too much vitamin A and can cause congenital disabilities and malformations.
• Raw or undercooked meat.
• Pate’.
• Game meats like goose or pheasant. They may contain lead from bullets used in hunting.
• Raw or partially cooked eggs, including soft poached eggs, are a no-no. This also means raw cookie dough is unsafe.
• More than two servings weekly of oily fish like salmon, trout, mackerel, or herring.
• More than four medium-sized cans of tuna per week.
• Swordfish, marlin, shark, raw shellfish, cold-smoked or cured fish.
• Raw sprouts.
• Caffeine is limited to 200 mg/day. More than this can result in a low birth weight baby or even a miscarriage.
• All forms of alcohol. Drinking this neurotoxin may lead to fetal alcohol syndrome^[25].
• Unwashed fruits and vegetables. This includes lettuce or any other leafy green veggie.
• Unpasteurized juice or cider.
• Elderberry^[26].
• Any food made with raw flour. Flour needs to be cooked before eating.

Premade deli salads^[27]. They may contain listeria, a food-borne pathogen deadly to the fetus. Opt for homemade salads like tuna salad, coleslaw, macaroni salad, etc.

5 Tips For Healthy Eating During Pregnancy

1. Eat from the rainbow. Choose various colors to make your plate up when planning meals. Having two of the same colors on your plate may be perceived as boring and unappealing.
2. Take your prenatal supplement daily and ensure it contains 400 mcg of folic acid.
3. Follow your doctor or dietitian’s recommendations on how many calories to eat per day per trimester.
4. Eat eight to twelve ounces of seafood a week.

Drink adequate water^[28]. Aim for 8-10 glasses per day.

Conclusion

A healthy diet during pregnancy is a colorful array of choices from all the food groups. It contains the recommended amount of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and good fats to provide sufficient, but not excessive, calories and nutrients for optimum fetal growth and development. A balanced diet will lower the risks of fetal programming, low or excessive birth weight, birthing complications, and other health risks discussed. 

While eating the right foods during pregnancy is important, prenatal nutrition starts before birth with folate supplementation. If you are of childbearing age and think you might become pregnant, start supplementing now with a multivitamin that has enough folic acid in it.

Just as eating the right foods is important, avoiding the wrong foods can prevent food poisoning and fetal harm. A creatively planned diet for pregnancy will include a variety of nutrient-dense, high-fiber choices pleasing to the eye and palate while avoiding harmful foods and herbs.