The nutritionist Rubí Paravecino offers important suggestions so that the pregnant mother can eat in a healthy way during this important stage of her life.
It is indisputable to point out that women require adequate physical and biological development to continue fulfilling her multiple roles, without prejudice to her health, nor to the growth and development of her children. For this reason, it is essential to guarantee the specific nutritional contributions that she requires in the different stages of her life. One of them is pregnancy. For this reason, food plays a fundamental role in the development of the future baby during pregnancy and lactation.
Faced with this issue, El Comercio contacted Rubí Paravecino, a nutritionist with extensive experience, to provide recommendations to the expectant mother during this stage of her life.
“The main objectives that must be covered in the nutrition and feeding of a pregnant mother are two important things: first, nutritional deficiencies in the mother and the baby must be prevented. Secondly, the nutrients that will favor the growth and development of the baby must be promoted ”, says the specialist.
What are those nutrients that help support the growth of the baby?
Rubí Paravecino responds: “There are super important nutrients such as proteins, unsaturated fats and water. In the case of proteins, they have to be of high biological value, such as those that come from foods of animal origin: eggs, cheese and meats. When we refer to unsaturated fats we refer to omega. This is essential because it will develop the entire nervous system and brain of the baby. This is found in sunflower, corn and olive oils, which are richer oils and in terms of water, it is important because breast milk contains: 85 and 90% water. For this reason, a mother needs between two or three liters of water ”.
The specialist adds about other nutritional elements to which the necessary importance should be given:
“Another important nutrient is iron. The need for iron doubles. For that reason, it is almost impossible to cover it with food. Therefore, you must comply with the instructions given by the doctor, obstetrician or nutritionist about iron supplementation, but we have to help with food: organ meats, little blood, red meat, legumes and raisins (higher percentage of iron than stew ). Next is calcium, which supports the formation of red blood cells and the skeleton of the fetus. The final transmission of calcium occurs in the mother’s last trimester of pregnancy. In addition, the mother must be exposed to the sun, because all the calcium is activated with vitamin D and this works with exposure to the sun for 10 to 30 minutes, always protecting the skin ”.