Food is huge! Pregnant women are especially at risk for incorrect or misinformed advice about how much they should be eating. Many expectant mothers are given the impression that they should eat twice as much or whatever they feel like eating. While I was pregnant with our son people would make comments like, “I’m so jealous, you can eat whatever you want” or “You’re eating for two so go ahead take twice as much (insert food here)” This notion is not only misleading to the changes a pregnant woman should make to her diet (if she’s not already eating healthy), it is also ultimately very damaging.
What exactly does eating for two mean? First we need to make a distinction between quantity and quality. Quantity merely means an increase in the amount of food consumed, basically it calls for more calories, but what it doesn’t do is clarify which foods to eat. Quality focuses on foods that are the most nutrient dense. Foods that will help ensure a healthy mother, a healthy baby, and a healthy pregnancy. Quantity merely says eat more. Quality says eat healthy.
Thus, eating for two takes into consideration the nutritional needs of mother and baby. First, lets consider what the mother needs to eat to provide for both her and her babies nutritional needs. Ideally, the expectant mothers should eat nutrient dense foods along with a good prenatal vitamin and avoid processed foods. Pregnant women do need to consume more calories but only in the 2nd and 3rd trimester and only about 300 calories (which could be 1 oz. of walnuts with 4 oz. of yogurt or a big apple with 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter). Secondly, we must consider what a growing baby needs: specific vitamins and minerals, protein and a healthy mommy! What growing babies don’t need is tons of calories, especially empty calories from processed foods. The average baby at birth weights about 8 pounds. The average American women weights 162 pounds (for arguments sake let’s say this woman is 35 years old is 5’ 5” and doesn’t exercise regularly, her daily calorie intake should be between 1700-1800 calories). That’s twenty times bigger than a newborn and that’s (on average) the biggest the baby is in the womb. Babies don’t need that many calories, they need nutrients!
So what are healthful foods? Foods that are consumed as close to their naturally existing state as possible with little to no processing. These are the foods God gave human beings to eat, these are the foods our bodies were designed to eat, these are the foods that will keep us healthy. This is important for all of us, but it is critical for expectant mothers and their babies!
Eating healthy can be difficult. It requires time to learn what’s healthy and what’s not and why. It takes commitment and determination to avoid all the unhealthy options. It even takes a little bit of sacrifice. At the end of the day, make sure that eating for two is about quality and not quantity. Your baby will thank you and so will your body!