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Hello everyone, I am Dr. Madhulika Sinha, senior consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Aakash Healthcare, Dwarka. We will talk about ‘diet in pregnancy’ today. Diet is a very important topic for any pregnant lady. They are always concerned about their diet and most importantly about weight gain. If your weight is within the normal range, you should gain approximately 10-12 kilograms weight but if you are underweight, you should gain approximately 13-14 Kilograms in pregnancy. If you are overweight, gaining 7-8 kilograms is good for you. Eating two bananas in pregnancy is the biggest myth and you should ignore it because the extra calories required in pregnancy are only 300 Kilo Calories. So keep this in your mind. We all are aware of a healthy diet today so we should also know the amount of carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, and vitamins in our diet. Our diet should include approximately 60 % carbohydrates.
Rice, Roti, Oats, and Porridge are carbohydrate-containing diets. If you are vegetarian, include pulses, Soybean chunks, and paneer for protein and if you are non-vegetarian then you have the best options for good quality protein because the egg's protein is the best so you must include egg in your diet. If we talk about fat then there are saturated fat and unsaturated fat. Saturated fat like ghee becomes a very important topic for people whether it should be eaten or not. You can take ghee in moderate quantity. It is not necessary to take ghee in more quantity. There is another important myth about ghee is, taking more ghee leads to normal delivery but this is not true. You must have the capacity to digest ghee. It is better to take ghee in moderate quantity. If we talk about iron, calcium, and folic acid, then normally we do take these as a supplement but you should also know about an iron-rich diet. You can take a green leafy vegetable, broccoli, red beat, liver, jaggery, and black peas for iron. You have to rely on milk and dairy products for calcium.
Almonds and nuts are also rich sources of calcium. Spinach and lettuce are the sources of folic acid. Include more salads in your diet. The amount of folic acid is very important because its deficiency increases the risk of developing neural tube defects in early pregnancy. Folic acid deficiency can also cause placental abruption later. Your diet should be rich in folic acid. You should also know about the pattern of eating. You should always take small and frequent meals. You should not stay empty stomach for a long time.
Dieting should be avoided in pregnancy. Never try to skip any meal. Have a frequent meal. Heartburn problem is very common in pregnancy because our oesophageal sphincter relaxes. You should not go to bed immediately after a meal and you should go for a light walk after a meal to avoid heartburn. You should always take an early dinner. Do not take a heavy meal before going to bed and go for a light walk after every meal. You should avoid outside food just to maintain hygiene because it can cause gastritis and develop a problem. You are a little bit immunocompromised in pregnancy so avoid outside food. Thank you
