What are the right foods for a pregnant?

There is no need to eat for two during the pregnancy. It is recommended that for the first trimester the food intake should remain about the same as it was prior to the pregnancy. During the second and third trimesters the food intake should be increased upto 30%. It is easy to achieve this with more fruits intake.

It is important to eat variety of foods to ensure the nutritional needs of both mother and the baby. The recommendations include:

• Fruits and vegetables very generously
• Whole grain products and cereals, but not milled grain products
• Milk and dairy products should not be eaten in excess
• Lean meat, chicken and fish in moderate amounts
• Avoid excess intake of fats, sugar and salt
• Beans, pulses, nuts and seeds
• Drink enough water

Do not diet if you are a pregnant. This bad for you as well as to your baby. Green leafy vegetables are very important for the intake of folic acid. Folic acid supplement is recommended for the health of your baby. It is better to consult your doctor before you take a supplement.

With proper food it is possible to manage the iron content of your body also. Iron supplement could be taken only if your doctor recommends it.

Avoid excess of vitamin A intake and vitamin A supplements are not required. The excessive intake of vitamin A may cause birth deformities.

Is cholesterol dangerous? How do the nuts reduce cholesterol?

Cholesterol is an essential substance in our body and it has several important functions. Our blood, brain, liver and other organs need cholesterol. If there is no cholesterol then there are no female and male sex hormones and vitamin D..

Cholesterol is made a villain by many vested interests to make business and earn money. LDL-cholesterol is dangerous when it is oxidised with oxygen free radicals and this may be the reason to form the plaque. If we can control this, by lowering cholesterol and reducing the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol, it is a great thing.

Most of the persons are afraid of nuts because of the high fat content. Most of these fats are monounsaturated fatty acids which reduce the LDL or bad cholesterol. The almonds are similar to olives and have the same effect. Walnut is also good to lower cholesterol.

Remember, all plant foods including nuts do not have cholesterol. However the problem of weight gain is due to the high calories of energy in the nuts. Eat nuts but reduce the other fatty foods to lower the weight, gain.

All nuts are good, but eat without salt.

Is it necessary to take folic acid if we plan a baby?

Yes, it is important to take folic acid before you plan because in the very early stages of pregnancy, folic acid plays a vital role in cell formation and division. It can significantly minimise the risk of giving birth to a baby with a congenital neural tube defect.

Dark green leafy vegetables, pulses, legumes and nuts are rich in folic acid, but it is always impossible to take the daily intake from these foods because so much we cannot eat. So I recommend folic acid supplementation if you plan for a baby. It is good as a part of vitamin B complex tablet, it is not necessary to buy costly folic acid mono preparations. If you want to buy a vitamin B complex without folic acid, then it is not a real vitamin B complex, then better do not buy it.

Do nuts contain cholesterol?

No, nuts are plant products and there is no cholesterol in it, it is a nutrient bomb and even if you have high cholesterol level.

All the nuts are good. Cashew nut has more carbohydrates than the other nuts and persons who have diabetes must be careful. Groundnuts are very good if you have no allergy. Walnuts are the best and contain omega-3 fatty acids like fish. It is healthy food if you have no weight problem.

Nuts have also lot of useful minerals and vitamins; 20 to 30 g per day is very good for your health.

Could you explain me what to understand when one says fat, cholesterol or fatty acids?

I know it is very difficult to understand and I give you very simple explanation. One could write books on each topic.

If we talk about blood fat then we means triglycerides. Cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol are important to know. The rest is not necessary.

If we talk about the fats in our food then we mean the three main groups – saturated fats, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fats. Fats are long chain organic acids and that is why we tell fatty acids also. Moreover, each group has different fatty acids. If it is written omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids we mean two groups from the polyunsaturated fatty acids.

All the three types of fatty acids are important to our health.

The saturated fat from the nuts and oils are also different from the saturated fats from the animal fat. For a person who never use these terms it is highly confusing.

Go through slowly, it is easy to understand and in course of time your mouth will play with these words.

Food & Fertility: Food rich in vitamin B6, Folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc

Food rich in Vitamin B6

• Vegetables
• Whole grain products
• Nuts
• Legumes
• Fish
• Poultry
• Meat
• Milk

Plant food loses less Vitamin B6 than meat and milk during cooking. Milling reduces vitamin B6 and so white flour (Maida) has very little vitamin B6. All the processing techniques including freezing, cooking, canning etc. can make vitamin B6 loss.

Food rich in Folic acid

• Meat and inner organs like liver, kidney etc.
• Nuts
• Beans and legumes
• Leafy vegetables
• It is present in all vegetables in small quantities and it is very difficult to take the necessary amount from the food or from raw food. The loss in cooking is always very high. Here we have to think about the supplement.

Food rich in Vitamin C

• Citrus fruits like oranges, grape fruit and lemon
• Vegetables with dark green leaves
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Strawberries
• Kiwi
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Capsicum
• Liver
• Oyster

Vitamin C is unstable. Losses occur from exposure to air, light, heat and copper.
Also dissolves in cooking water and is mostly wasted.

Food rich in vitamin E

• Edible vegetable oils such as sesame oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil
• Unprocessed cereals
• Unprocessed nuts
• Seeds
• Green leafy vegetables
• Fish
• Poultry
• Fruits and vegetables contain small amount of vitamin E

Vitamin E is relatively stable except at deep frying temperatures.

Food rich in Selenium
• Meats
• Seafood
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Nuts and seeds, particularly nuts from tropical countries including coconut
• Whole grains are rich in selenium

The problem is in most countries the soil is poor in selenium and the local food contains almost no selenium. That is why in most of the developed countries it is added in bread or in other food stuff. Or they must eat nuts imported from tropical countries. If nothing helps supplementation is the last step.

Food rich in Zinc

• Onion
• Garlic
• Nuts including coconut
• Milk, yoghurt and cheese
• Meat
• Liver
• Fish
• Eggs
• Seafood

Fruits and vegetables contain only little zinc. The vegetarians must be careful in their food. Nuts, pulses and milk and dairy products may be the rich sources.

Seafood contains poisonous metals like mercury, cadmium, lead etc. and one must be careful to eat them.