Pregnancy Diet

The pregnancy diet should consist of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a variety of other foods, including diary, nuts, meat, and grains. Your diet during pregnancy should increase by approximately 300 calories over what you consumed before pregnancy.

To make sure you are getting the proper nutrition in pregnancy, your diet during pregnancy should include six to 11 servings of breads and grains, two to four servings of fruit, four or more servings of vegetables, four servings of dairy products, and three servings of protein sources (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or nuts). Sweets should be eaten in moderation, as they are mostly empty calories that add no nutritional benefit. You should focus on foods high in nutrition during pregnancy and avoid empty calorie foods with little or no nutritional value. Remember that your purpose in eating more is not to gain weight - it is to get more nutrients because you're eating for two.

Prenatal Vitamins
If you didn't start taking a prenatal vitamin before pregnancy, be sure to take one as soon as possible after you find out you're pregnant. It is crucial that you get at least 400 mcg of folic acid, especially early on in your pregnancy, in order to avoid neural tube defects in your growing baby. You can read more about prenatal vitamins here.

Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
Alcohol should be avoided during pregnancy, as it is not clear how it may affect your unborn baby. However, it has been linked to premature delivery, mental retardation, birth defects, and low birth weight babies. It's better to be safe than sorry in this regard.

Avoid including shark, swordfish, mackerel, and tilefish in your pregnancy diet, because they contain high levels of mercury. It's also wise to limit tuna consumption to once per week (6-12 ounces) for the same reason (mercury). Albacore tuna has actually been found to have up to three times more mercury than chunk light tuna, so eating chunk light tuna is usually recommended over albacore. Also avoid raw fish, including oysters.

Also among the foods to avoid during pregnancy are soft cheeses that are unsually unpasteurized, such as feta and Brie. Hard cheese, cream cheese, and cottage cheese are fine to eat and are actually great sources of calcium and protein.

Caffeine and Pregnancy
Caffeine during pregnancy should be limited to no more than 300 mg per day. This is approximately equal to two cups of coffee, depending on the strength. Remember that chocolate and many sodas have caffeine in them as well.