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Pregnancy meal plan: Healthy meals for pregnant women

Here’s a look at general nutrition guidelines and how you can use them to plan meals during your pregnancy.

MyPlate for pregnancy and breastfeeding

You may remember the Food Guide Pyramid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which outlined how many daily servings you should eat from different categories of food. That pyramid has been adapted to become MyPlateOpens a new window, a system for choosing healthy food based on the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for AmericansOpens a new window.

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The site has a section on health and nutrition for pregnant and breastfeeding womenOpens a new window, featuring a personalized tracking system that suggests meal plans based on your age, height, pre-pregnancy weight, activity level, and trimester.

MyPlate divides food into five main groups – grains, fruit, vegetables, protein, and dairy – plus oils. To get an individualized meal plan with general guidelines on what to choose from each group, go to ChooseMyPlate.govOpens a new window.

A sample MyPlate pregnancy meal plan

Here’s a quick look at the MyPlate food groups and what a customized plan might recommend.

This sample plan is designed for a 32-year-old woman who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds before she got pregnant, is in her second trimester, and gets less than 30 minutes of daily physical activity. (Of course, your plan may be very different.)

Grains: 7 ounces a day
Generally, an ounce of grains equals one slice of bread, one small corn or flour tortilla, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta. Get at least half of your daily grains from whole grains (like whole wheat bread or brown rice). Whole grains contain the most fiber, vitamins, and nutrients.

Fruits: 2 cups a day
Vary the color of the fruit you eat, and choose fresh over frozen or canned whenever possible. Many packaged varieties are preserved in sugary liquid, so choose products without added sugar.

Bonus: The fiber in fruit helps prevent hemorrhoids and constipation, two common side effects of pregnancy.

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Vegetables: 3 cups a day
Fresh vegetables taste better than canned or frozen, and they’re also a better choice if you want to limit sodium and avoid preservatives. But when it comes to fiber and vitamins, plain canned and frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh. For maximum nutrition, vary the color of the vegetables you choose. Broccoli, for example, is packed with folate, calcium, and B vitamins. Sweet potatoes provide vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber.

Meat and beans: 6 ounces a day
This equals about two servings that are each about the size of a deck of cards. Choose lean meat and limit fish to 12 ounces per week. (More than that may expose your baby to potentially harmful levels of mercury.)

Dairy: 3 cups a day
In the MyPlate plan, 1 cup of dairy equals 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese, and 2 ounces of processed cheese. In general, dairy products are a great source of calcium and protein.

Fats and oils: 6 teaspoons a day
The best sources include canola oil, olive oil, safflower oil, fatty fish, avocados, nuts, seeds, and olives. Note: An avocado is a fruit, but it’s included in the oils category because most of its calories come from fat.

Discretionary calories: 266 a day
This MyPlate sample plan budgets 266 “extra” calories that you use how you like, but you must include them in your daily calorie budget. In other words, you could have a scoop of ice cream or put some sugar in your decaf iced tea, but these discretionary calories count toward your daily total (2,200 in this case).

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Once you’ve created your daily food plan, don’t try to hit exact numbers in each category. Instead, shoot for an average that’s in the desired range over the course of a week or so.

As your pregnancy progresses, you’ll need to eat a little more because your nutrition needs change during the different stages of pregnancy.

If you eat roughly the amount recommended for each food group, take a prenatal vitamin daily, and consistently gain a reasonable amount of weight (about a pound per week in the second and third trimesters), you and your baby will be well nourished.

The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate

Not everyone agrees that the USDA’s MyPlate is the best model for good nutrition. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have created their own eating guide, called the Healthy Eating PlateOpens a new window, which they believe better reflects current research on a balanced diet.

The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate puts greater emphasis on whole grain foods, recommends healthy vegetable oils, and encourages limiting milk and dairy products to one or two servings a day. It also suggests limiting red meat (and avoiding processed meat altogether) and refined grains, such as white bread and white rice.

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The Healthy Eating Plate also encourages drinking plenty of water and skipping sugary drinks, and highlights the importance of daily exercise.

Harvard’s plan encourages you to eat more vegetables because most Americans don’t eat enough from this important food group. One exception: Unlike the USDA’s MyPlate, the Healthy Eating Plate does not include potatoes in its list of recommended vegetables. That’s because potatoes are full of rapidly digested starch and have a similar effect on blood sugar as sweets.

Which meal plan is best for pregnant women?

You can’t go wrong with MyPlate or the Healthy Eating Plate. Because experts don’t completely agree, you can expect to find slight variations in their recommendations, but the two plans have plenty in common.

Even if you can’t follow either program to the letter, each gives you something to strive for, says Alan R. Fleischman, neonatologist and medical director of the March of Dimes. Eating nutritiously during pregnancy can pay huge dividends for the rest of your baby’s life.

“We know that some simple dietary changes can greatly improve the chances of having a healthy baby. For example, consuming 400 micrograms of the B vitamin folic acid every day before pregnancy begins and during early pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of a serious birth defect of the brain and spine,” says Fleischman. “Poor nutrition during pregnancy has lifelong effects on the growth and development of your baby. It’s more important to eat wisely during pregnancy than practically any other time in life.”

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Do these pregnancy meal plans work for everyone?

Not always. If any of the following apply to you, or if you have other concerns, talk to your healthcare provider about your personal nutritional needs.

  • If you’re significantly overweight, you might do better with fewer calories, but talk to your provider to make sure you’re getting the nutrients your baby needs.
  • If you’re significantly underweight, you’ll need to get more calories.
  • If you’re a teenager, you’ll also need more.
  • If you’re expecting multiples, you’ll have additional nutrition needs.
  • If you develop gestational diabetes or have pre-existing diabetes, a registered dietitian can help you plan your diet. It will emphasize eating whole foods and getting a consistent amount of carbohydrates at each meal. You’ll also need to monitor your blood sugar levels closely and communicate regularly with your team of healthcare providers.

Here’s an example of a daily menu specifically designed for our “sample mom,” with a few extra snack suggestions. Your menu may be similar to this one, but register on ChooseMyPlate.govOpens a new window to get your customized plan.

Breakfast
1/2 cup cantaloupe
Two eggs scrambled with 1/4 cup mushrooms and bell pepper, using 1 teaspoon canola oil
One slice of whole wheat toast with 1 teaspoon of butter
1 cup low-fat milk

Snack
One large apple

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Lunch
One medium baked potato topped with 3/4 cup chili with beans and 2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese
1 cup spinach salad with 1 tablespoon dried cranberries and 2 tablespoons light salad dressing
Two rye crispbread crackers
1 cup low-fat milk

Snack
1/2 cup baby carrots
3 cups light popcorn (includes 1 teaspoon oil)

Dinner
1/2 sliced tomato and 1/4 of an avocado, sliced
4 ounces grilled salmon
1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa
1/2 cup green beans, cooked
One multigrain roll
One orange

Snack
8 ounces low-fat milk
A small oatmeal cookie

This sample daily menu totals slightly less than 2,200 calories with 3 1/4 cups of vegetables, a little bit more than 2 cups of fruit, 8 ounces of meat and beans, 7 ounces of grains, 3 1/3 cups of dairy products, and 2 tablespoons of healthy fats and oils.

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