Pregnant moms take care of the baby without gaining weight! 5 essential nutrients to keep your weight from soaring

Weight control during pregnancy has always been a focus of concern for women. Doctors point out that if you want to control your weight during pregnancy, you can first know your pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), which is weight (kg) divided by height (m) squared. A BMI of less than 24 is considered normal. During pregnancy, you can gain 10 to 14 kilograms of weight. You must pay attention to the rate of weight gain to avoid being overweight or malnourished.

According to a latest local survey conducted by Mackay Memorial Hospital on 2,700 pregnant women, the BMI before pregnancy should not exceed 24, and the BMI during delivery should not be greater than 27. This way, the chances of both mother and child being safe during delivery are greater. Dr. Chen Zhenyu, director of the High-risk Pregnancy Division of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mackay Memorial Hospital, pointed out that although it is not suitable for pregnant mothers to lose weight during pregnancy, weight control is very important and will directly affect the health of the pregnant woman and the fetus.

BMI is the key to weight management during pregnancy

In fact, being underweight or overweight is not good for pregnant women and fetuses. Surveys have found that being underweight during pregnancy will increase the risk of premature birth and low birth weight babies. Conversely, being overweight will increase the risk of cesarean section, postpartum hemorrhage, and preeclampsia. It is recommended that the BMI before pregnancy should be maintained at 18.5 to 24, or 5 to 75 percentiles; during delivery, the BMI should be maintained ≤ 27, or 5 to 75 percentiles.

However, there is no definite answer to how much weight you should gain during pregnancy. Instead, you should use your pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) as a reference and pay attention to the rate of weight gain. If your BMI is less than 18.5 before pregnancy, you are considered underweight and are recommended to gain about 12.5 to 18 kg during the entire pregnancy, and 0.5 to 0.6 kg per week during the second and third trimesters. For those with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9, which is standard weight, it is recommended to gain 11.5 to 16 kg, and 0.4 to 0.5 kg per week during the second and third trimesters.

For those who are overweight or obese before pregnancy and have a BMI between 25 and 29.9, weight gain should be controlled between 7 and 11.5 kilograms. For those with a BMI greater than 30, who are obese expectant mothers, weight gain during the entire pregnancy should not exceed 5 to 9 kilograms.

It is very important to control your weight during pregnancy. As long as you adhere to the principle of "eating smartly is worse than eating well", you can properly control your weight during pregnancy.

The key to maintaining pregnancy: eating well is not as good as eating smartly

At the same time, Dr. Chen Zhenyu also reminded that proper diet is related to weight management during pregnancy. Pregnant women generally only need to increase their calorie intake by about 150 calories per day in the early stages. Before 12 weeks, their weight will increase by about 1 to 2 kilograms compared to before pregnancy. In the middle and late stages, they can increase their daily intake by 300 calories. The increase should be controlled to about 0.5 kilograms per week. Regular weight measurement can avoid uncontrolled weight gain.

As long as you adhere to the principle of "it's better to eat smartly than to eat well", you can control your weight during pregnancy and ensure that the fetus gets good nutrition. However, there are many foods that you "should never touch", such as shelled seafood, mangoes, chocolate, and stale fish that are prone to allergies. Try to eat less or no of them. Heavy-tasting cooking and seasoning methods such as high-fat, fried, pickled, high-salt, smoked or spicy foods will irritate the stomach and intestines, which is not conducive to digestion and absorption by pregnant women.

In addition, it is also best to avoid drinks containing caffeine and alcohol, such as coffee, tea, cola and wine, so as not to affect the health of the mother and the growth and development of the fetus; it is best to cook all food, and avoid eating raw meat, sashimi and eggs, otherwise it may increase the chance of bacterial infection.

Weight control: Supplement 5 nutrients

Secondly, during pregnancy, pregnant women are advised to supplement the five major nutrients to help the fetus and the body with the nutrients they need.

• 1. Protein: It is recommended to supplement more high-quality protein, such as beans, fish, lean meat, eggs, dairy products, etc., which are all high-quality protein sources.

• 2. Folic acid: Supplement more folic acid to help the healthy development of your baby's brain nerves. General foods such as green vegetables, whole grains, roots and tubers, beans, etc. contain folic acid. Generally, pregnant women only need to take 0.4 mg of folic acid per day. If there are special circumstances, consult a doctor or nutritionist for nutritional supplement recommendations.

• 3. Calcium: You can eat more foods rich in calcium, such as dairy products, dried fish, green vegetables, soy products (such as tofu, dried tofu, soy milk), etc. Natural ingredients are the best choice for calcium supplementation.

• 4. Vitamins: During pregnancy, you also need to supplement trace elements such as calcium, zinc, iron, and vitamins A, B, C, etc. Therefore, it is recommended to consult a doctor and take a multivitamin suitable for pregnant women to supplement the necessary nutrients.

• 5.DHA: It can help the normal development and growth of the baby's brain nerves. You can take appropriate amounts of DHA from deep-sea fish, algae, flaxseed oil, etc. in your daily diet, or consult a doctor and choose health foods such as fish oil to supplement it.