The diet of an expecting mother can impact the health of her child, not only during the child's early years, but also in adulthood, according to a review published in 2008 in "The New England Journal of Medicine." An expectant mother should eat the most nutritious foods during pregnancy to promote optimal development of her child's brain and to give her baby the best start in life.
Dark Leafy Greens
Folate is a B vitamin crucial for the prevention of neural tube defects and ensuring your baby's brain and spinal cord develop normally. You can increase your folate intake by including leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits in your diet, although a dietary supplement may be necessary to reach the recommended level. Always accompany your meals with a salad of leafy greens and spinach or end your meal with an orange to get more folate in your diet. Ask your doctor to determine whether a supplement is necessary to get adequate amounts.
Most expecting mothers do not have sufficient iron stores to supply adequate oxygen in the blood circulating to the growing fetus and placenta. Include one or two weekly servings of liver in your diet to boost your iron intake, in addition to providing your growing baby's brain with vitamin A, vitamin D, B vitamins and a variety of other important nutrients. Red meat, oysters and the dark meat of chicken are also good sources of the easily absorbed form of iron called heme iron. If you are vegetarian, consult your doctor to find a supplement to help you get these nutrients.
The importance of omega-3 fatty acids to prevent cardiovascular diseases is well-known, but these essential fats also contribute to the development of the brain of your growing baby. The omega-3 fats found in fish, called EPA and DHA, are more efficiently used in humans compared to those found in vegetable sources, such as the ALA in flaxseeds. Although ALA can be converted into EPA and DHA, the conversion process if very inefficient in humans. Aim for at least two to three weekly servings of cold-water fatty fish, such as sardines, mackerel and salmon, which have the highest omega-3 contents. Vegetarians should consider DHA from an algae source to get sufficient amounts of omega-3.
Choline is one of the most recently discovered B vitamins and was first recognized as an essential nutrient by the Institute of Medicine in 1998. Eighty-six percent of women are deficient in choline, according to integrative medicine practitioner Chris Kresser. Choline is one of the many nutrients essential to the optimal development of your child's brain. Egg yolks, but not egg whites, are the best source of choline. Include weekly servings of eggs in your diet if you are expecting. The cholesterol found in egg yolks is also important for the normal development of your baby's brain, according to Chris Masterjohn, a cholesterol researcher at the University of Connecticut.
- Two orange egg yolks isolated on black. image by Mauro Rodrigues from Fotolia.com