Wanna achieve a healthy body while carrying a precious one in your tummy? Wanna have something to eat while maintaining that body fit during your pregnancy? All mommies out there want to have a proper diet and to stay fit while carrying a baby but it’s not always easy to achieve especially if they do not eat nutritious food every day. As we all know, poor nutrition can cause terrible effects on our body such as tiredness, stress, high blood pressure, heart disease or stroke, overweight, and depression.
Pregnant women should not skip breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day and this can help them sustain their energy throughout the day because skipping breakfast for the nth time will definitely affect not only their health but of their babies as well. They should also keep their body hydrated by drinking 8-10 glasses of water each day to avoid dry mouth, vomiting, headache, and diarrhea.
Read also: do you consider chia seeds for pregnant women
Exercise also plays an essential part to keep them on track. When we say regular exercise, it doesn’t mean a simple and slow walk. It should be in such a way that their bodies should start sweating. They can go running, do cycling, walking for at least 30 minutes a day to prepare themselves in delivering their baby. Another thing is that expectant moms must monitor their daily weight for them to be able to cut off bad eating habits and to try to control it. Their bodies should also get enough time to take rest. They are required to get enough sleep of 8 hours daily. Sleep is very important for a healthy body and also for mental and emotional happiness.
Expectant mothers must have enough of healthy foods they need each day and not consume junk foods and soda and they must also avoid those types of foods that are low in fiber or high in fat, salt and/or sugar. They should include these on their diet – fresh and leafy vegetables, milk, fruits that are rich in calcium and iron, and let us not forget the fish as it contains a lot of protein. But do mommies consider eating a potato during their pregnancy stage? Is it safe for them to crave for this kind of vegetable? In this article, let us know more about the effects of eating a potato.
Benefits of eating potato during pregnancy
Eating potato during pregnancy is healthy but should be eaten moderately. As all parents know, their tummy’s important source of energy is glucose which is found in many vegetables but mainly in potatoes. Here are the 5 benefits of potatoes in your body:
1. If you need to gain more weight, this vegetable can help you achieve kilos you want for your body as it is high in carbohydrates.
2. Potatoes are rich in fiber which can help pregnant women to decrease their sufferings from any digestive problems such as constipation. Apart from this, you can keep your cholesterol in the track.
3. Every pregnant woman asks for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. So to avoid the development of spine and brain problems, a mother should start eating potatoes as it contains folic acid.
4. If you are having leg cramps during your pregnancy stage, you can bake some sweet potatoes at least 2 times a week as it contains 600-700mg potassium and then you can get rid of that cramps!
5. Potatoes are rich in calcium and iron which is very healthy to your baby.
Risks of eating potato when You are pregnant
When you are pregnant, you need to be very cautious about your eating habits and making sure that you are in control of your diet and consume only the right and healthy foods. In spite of the fact that potato is rich in nutrients, it also has some risks to your health such as:
- Expectant mommies should be careful when buying potatoes at the grocery as there are potatoes with green spots that can create harmful effects to their body when eaten. Research shows that this causes gastrointestinal issues like vomiting and diarrhea.
- Rotten potato may cause food poisoning in pregnant women.
- Gaining weight may sound good to every underweight pregnant woman, but it also has side effects – it’s when they consume excess potatoes, they are more likely to become obese.
Choosing the right potato
There are lots of potatoes you can find around the world and 4000 of these varieties are found in the Andean highlands of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. In most cases, farmers normally produce these native varieties with minimal or no use of agrochemicals.
Since green potatoes are strictly prohibited for pregnant women, one needs to really be careful when choosing a potato to eat. You should be careful when choosing to eat a potato to sustain the health of the baby. There are certain things to consider when choosing potatoes to avoid their not-so-good effects. The potatoes must be:
- Well-shaped and rigid
- No green or black spots
- NO sprouts and no cuts
Potato recipe that is good for your baby
All of us, pregnant or not, need to have a nutritious diet and a healthy lifestyle. Nurturing and eating well starts for you as soon as you were or are pregnant because it really has a great impact on the health of your babies even if they are still in the tummy. In each recipe we cook, we have to include those types of ingredients that are low in fat, salt, and sodium but are rich in potassium such as potatoes.
For mommas out there who want a delicious and nutritious potato recipe, try out this Pickled Green Olive and Potato Salad.
Read also: Pickled Green Olive and Potato Salad Â
Bottomline
Being healthy is never hard or too expensive. We just have to know what’s good for your body and the long-term benefits it will give us. But as you become close to being a mother, you must ensure that in every food you allow to enter your body must have a healthy effect to be able to live with no regrets. Moreover, those types of foods must be rich in nutrients to sustain your healthy lifestyle and to stay in shape.
Read also:
- Healthy Breakfast for Pregnant Women
- The Need for Potatoes During Pregnancy
- Do you Consider Chia Seeds for Pregnant Women?
