Eating a variety of foods every day supports your health and well-being. Having a balanced pattern of eating before you become pregnant can help you have a healthier baby. Making healthy eating habits part of your life now will help to form life-long patterns for your family.
Following Canada’s food guide will help you have a healthy, well balanced pattern of eating.
Choose a variety of foods from Canada’s food guide: Have plenty of vegetables and fruits with your meals and snacks, choose whole grain foods, eat a variety of protein foods (including plant-based protein foods), make water your drink of choice.
Canada’s food guide will help you choose the foods to eat that will help nourish you and your baby. This will help you meet your needs for vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
Healthy eating can reduce your risk of certain health conditions like diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.
You can help to lower the health risks for yourself and a future baby by eating healthy and meeting your nutrient needs before you become pregnant.
During pregnancy, your body will need more nutrients. You can get ready right now by choosing healthy types of foods and eating a variety of healthy foods eat day.
Your body will need enough folic acid during pregnancy. This vitamin is important for your baby during the first month after conception. This is a time when people often don’t know they are pregnant. That is why it is important to eat foods high in folate and take a multivitamin with folic acid in it before becoming pregnant. Learn more about taking a multivitamin with folic acid in it before pregnancy here.
Your body also needs more iron during pregnancy. This mineral helps to build your body’s iron stores before you become pregnant. It can improve your health and the health of a future baby. Low iron (anemia) during pregnancy is linked to lower weight gain and preterm and low birth weight babies. Low iron before pregnancy is common, especially among athletes, those that don’t eat a lot of iron-rich animal foods and because of monthly menstruation. Learn more about iron and how to have more everyday here. To read about iron during pregnancy, see Healthy Parents, Healthy Children and Iron Foods During Pregnancy.
To learn more about healthy eating during pregnancy, visit Healthy Parents, Healthy Children.
Talk to your health care provider about:
You can call Health Link at 811 and talk to a Registered Dietitian. They can discuss nutrition and healthy eating in preparation for a healthy pregnancy. This may be helpful if you’re following a way of eating that limits certain foods (e.g. celiac diet, multiple food allergies, vegan diet).
Setting personal goals can help you improve your eating habits.
Visit the Healthy Eating Starts Here website for tips and resources on healthy eating. Focus on small changes that can help you meet your nutrition needs for a future pregnancy.
Making healthy eating habits part of your everyday life can make it easier for you to continue them throughout pregnancy and into parenthood.
Here are some healthy eating tips to get you started:
Healthy eating habits can also help you stay at or reach a healthy weight.
Learn more about healthy weight for adults here.
Fluids help you digest your food and move nutrients around your body. The fluid you drink also helps carry waste out of your body.
Most adults should try to take in about 9-12 cups (2.25-3 litres) of fluid a day. This includes all beverages, soups, and the water that is part of foods like vegetables and fruit. Your fluid needs depend on your age, gender, body size and activity level.
There are times when you may need more fluid. On a hot day or if you’re very active, drink more to replace the fluid you lose through sweat.
Here are a few tips for choosing healthy drinks:
Drinks with added sugar include regular soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened hot and cold drinks (e.g. hot chocolate or coffee drinks) or slush drinks. These are often higher in calories, lower in nutrients and can contribute to unhealthy weight gain.
Caffeine is found in coffee and coffee-based drinks, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and some foods like chocolate.
Too much caffeine can have a negative effect on your health.
Women planning to become pregnant should limit their caffeine intake to 300 mg per day. That’s about 2 cups (500 ml) of coffee.
Men should limit their caffeine intake to 400 mg per day. That’s about 3 cups (750 ml) of coffee.
Learn more about the amount of caffeine in different beverages and foods.
Foods can carry germs that can make you sick. Handling, preparing and storing food properly can reduce the chance of getting sick.
There are foods to avoid during pregnancy. To learn more about safer alternatives visit Healthy Parents, Healthy Children.
Learn more about safe food handling.
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