10 Pregnancy food to nourish you & your baby

Every woman who is pregnant or thinking of been pregnant someday will need to get good amounts of these foods; that will help protect you and your growing baby. There is no doubt that your nutrient is essential, so is living a nontoxic lifestyle in your day to day choices especially with your personal hygiene products, your household product and furniture, food--what goes in your mouth, keeping in mind you and your baby are what you eat.

First, you will want to start living a nontoxic lifestyle to protect yourself and your baby from toxins that can be harmful. Example, like purifying your water, getting rid of toxic personal hygiene products containing any of these harmful things and replace them with a more organic alternative.

1. Women looking forward to conceiving need to clean up their diet and flush out their liver. Having a clean slate will ensure that your body is healthy and ready for baby. Doing a cleanse 3 to six months up to a year before getting pregnant is good for most people but if you've been eating a lot of unhealthy things i would strongly suggest you do a one year cleanse combined with proper nutrition before getting pregnant. 
2. Eat more Alkaline food and reduce acidic foods to 20% or less, eat your bright colored fruits and vegetables. To improve your blood volume, you need to eat more leafy green vegetable such as carrots, pomegranate, cantaloupe, kiwi, spinach, kale, broccoli, sprouts, organic strawberries, cabbage, goji-berry, melon, tomatoes, green and red peppers.
3. Raw sesame seeds, beets, figs and oranges will keep your bones and teeth healthy, as well as load of Vitamin A, D and B. Vitamin C, A, E, iron, Folate and fiber will help balance your energy levels.
4. Protein helps regulate hormones and build muscle, tissue and antibodies for both you and your baby; it also provides B vitamins and iron to enrich your blood. 10grams or more protein daily is needed during pregnancy, try eating food with the highest protein content; tofu, soybean, Hemp protein, Lentils. Pregnant vegans and vegetarians need to make sure that they are consuming enough protein. Protein powders are a good way to ensure you're getting enough protein in your diet.
5. You will need to stay hydrated on fluids because it is essential always but especially when you have an extra life in you. Water carries nutrients through your body to your baby and it helps prevent excessive swelling, urinary and bladder infection, constipation. Drinking enough will also keep you from getting dehydrated and the extra grogginess that comes with it.
6. Chose good carbs over bad or refined carbs because whole grains and good carbs improves your energy, provides you with more iron, vitamin B, fiber and minerals.
7.  You will need good amounts of essential fatty acid; you can get it from avocado, hemp, almond, flax-seed, olive oil etc.
8. Vitamin D helps regulate amounts of phosphate and calcium in the body. Avoid staying indoors too long, early morning sun before 10 a.m and after 5:30p.m can be beneficial for you.
9. Supplement is important, in fact, for women who do not get the recommended 1,000-1,500 mg of calcium per day can run the risk of having the baby take it from your bones which could lead to high risk of osteoporosis later in life for mum. supplements containing folic acid, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C,and E, B vitamins like B12 is also good. Researchers suggest that taking folic acid before you get pregnant is essential for the healthy development of your baby. Since neutral tube defects usually develop 18-30 days after conception, often before you even know you're pregnant, taking folic acid before can prevent this.
10. Finally, exercising is also important before you get pregnant- and not just cardio, but weight training too. "Women who exercise beforehand tend to get back into shape faster after pregnancy and helps you get the hang of things more quickly. Many women who exercise before and during pregnancy also find your labor less, well, laborious. Use Aloevera and apricot oil or cocoa butter to help reduce stretch mark.

Author:

Onyinye A is a freelance writer who specializes in nontoxic self improvement, green & Eco-friendly living, nontoxic lifestyle (preventing cancer, illness and toxicity) and everything related to organic living. Her work has been published by nontoxiclifestyle.org, Ezine.com, and other online and print publications.