Understanding the nutrients that are important for pregnant women is crucial for maintaining optimal health for both mother and baby. People’s daily nutritional needs have evolved with society’s current lifestyle trends, including faster transportation and advanced technology. This phenomenon has negative effects when people consume food just to meet their calorie needs, which can be satisfied by consuming macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. However, consuming micronutrients is crucial for maintaining the biological processes that take place inside the human body. Their lack may interfere with the body’s ability to regulate its metabolism for optimal health.
A healthy diet optimizes your baby’s growth and development while protecting your own well-being. To understand what nutrients are important for pregnant women, you need to know that your daily energy needs rise by roughly 300 kcal during pregnancy. This is not much more than the 1700 kcal daily energy needs of the typical Singaporean woman who is not pregnant.
However, some nutritional needs, such as protein, folate, calcium, carotenoids, vitamin D, and B vitamins, could be much higher than they would be in a non-pregnant state. Here is a list of essential nutrients that are important for pregnant women:
Protein
Protein is essential for your baby’s development during pregnancy, promoting healthy growth and supporting critical stages such as tissue growth and repair, producing antibodies to boost their defenses, and creating enzymes and hormones.
Calcium
Calcium is crucial throughout pregnancy, as your body provides it to the fetus along with other vitamins and minerals to help develop important components like the skeleton. Age-specific requirements vary, and too much or too little calcium can lead to problems.
Folic Acid
Folic Acid helps create the neural tube during the early stages of pregnancy. It can aid in preventing serious birth defects of the baby’s spine (spina bifida) and brain (anencephaly).
Iron
During pregnancy, your body uses Iron to produce additional blood (hemoglobin) for both you and the unborn child. Iron also aids in the transfer of oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body and to your unborn child. Adequate iron intake can prevent iron deficiency anemia, a condition with insufficient red blood cells that causes fatigue.
Iodine
Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone synthesis. The requirement for iodine increases during early pregnancy due to increased maternal thyroid hormone production, increased renal iodine losses, and transfer of iodine to the fetus.
DHA
DHA accumulates in key tissues like the brain, eyes, liver, adipose (fat), and skeletal muscle during fetal development and is required after birth. It is crucial for good vision, a healthy brain, and a healthy immune system.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential components of the developing fetal brain and retina. They may also influence pregnancy duration and help reduce perinatal depression.
Vitamin B12
B12 supplements, when taken with folic acid during pregnancy, can help prevent spina bifida and other spinal and central nervous system birth abnormalities. Vitamin B12 is essential for maintaining the health of your neural system.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D aids in the proper absorption of calcium and phosphate, essential for the growth of your unborn child’s bones, teeth, kidneys, heart, and nervous system.
Carotenoids
Carotenoids, naturally present in vegetables and fruits, give food its red, orange, and yellow colors. They help prevent or treat various illnesses, including cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, certain cancers, and cardiovascular and ocular diseases, thanks to their antioxidant properties.
Lutein and Zeaxanthin
These accumulate in the baby’s retina during pregnancy, absorbing harmful blue light, counteracting harmful free radicals, and combating inflammation. They are crucial for the development of the baby’s central nervous system.
Lycopene
Supplementing with Lycopene may help reduce the prevalence of intrauterine growth restriction and improve the child’s verbal expression abilities.
Beta and Alpha Carotene
These convert to the right amount of Vitamin A that the body requires, making them safe to consume during pregnancy to provide sufficient nutrition for both mother and baby.
Beta Cryptoxanthin
Beta-Cryptoxanthin can lower anxiety during pregnancy and offer various benefits to the child, including improved cognition, receptive language abilities, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills.
How Super Lutein SE Helped Me Stay Healthy During Pregnancy
I have consumed Super Lutein SE before, during, and after my pregnancy. During pregnancy, the immune system frequently declines, making you more prone to illness. Thanks to Izumio and Super Lutein, I did not fall sick during pregnancy. My husband, Alvin, was diagnosed with COVID-19 during my second trimester, and I was in close contact with him. Luckily, both the baby and I did not contract COVID-19. There can be complications for the baby if a pregnant woman gets diabetes and high blood pressure, but my levels were healthy throughout the pregnancy.
Alvin has a device to measure carotenoid levels, with a healthy range being above 7, while most Singaporeans have a range of 3 to 5. My carotenoid level was 7 before pregnancy and 8 to 10 during pregnancy. Below is a video showing my carotenoid level on the day of my delivery.
Consulting with a healthcare provider about diet and nutritional needs is important for pregnant women. Contact US for a free consultation regarding the Khachik checker and how it helped with many women’s pregnancies.
