Healthy Eating

 

Healthy choices make your body a healthy place for your baby to grow. Your baby shares what you eat and drink and is part of everything you do. Nutritious food and plenty of water is important for the healthy growth and development of your baby’s bones, brain, muscles, organs and blood.

Canada’s Food Guide

Canada’s Food Guide is a great tool to help you make sure you and your growing baby are getting the proper nutrition. Eating a variety of foods from the 4 food groups every day is important because it helps you get all the nutrients you and your baby needs to grow. Country foods are healthy choices and give a lot of nutrition to you and your baby.  Canada’s Food Guide not only helps you choose which foods to eat it also gives you an idea of how much to eat. This will help you with steady, healthy weight gain and make sure you and your baby are getting enough nutrition to be healthy. 

If you click on the Food Guide image, you can download a copy of Canada's Food Guide.  Source: (Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide First Nations, Inuit and Métis), Health Canada, (2007) ©.

Most of the information in the food guide will be covered in the sections below.

Iron, Calcium and Vitamin D, and Folic Acid

When you are pregnant, it is important that you get enough of 4 very important vitmains and minerals: iron, calcium and vitamin D and folic acid.  Eating a balanced meal using Canada’s Food Guide can help you make sure you are doing that. 

Iron is important because it helps to make sure you and your baby gets enough oxygen.  Foods that are a source of iron include: clams, meat (caribou, seal, beef), poultry (chicken, turkey), eggs, beans, whole grain breads and cereals, and dried fruit.

Calcium is important because it helps to make sure you and your baby’s teeth and bones are strong.  Foods that are a source of calcium include: milk, yogurt, cheese, canned salmon with bones, spinach, bannock made with baking powder, seaweed, mountain sorrel, and orange juice with added calcium.

Vitamin D is important because it works with calcium to help your body absorb the calcium you eat for healthy bones and teeth.  Foods that are a source of Vitamin D include: milk, yogurt, salmon, and eggs

Folic acid is important because it prevents brain and spinal cord birth defects and it is needed for your fetus (baby) to grow.  Foods that are a source of folic acid include: leafy green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, beans, grapefruit and oranges, mountain sorrel, and sunflower seeds.

How much is a serving of food?

Knowing which foods to choose is the first step in healthy eating.  Next is knowing how much to eat.  Depending on the type of food, a serving of food may look a little different.  For example,

  • Vegetables and fruit – 1 serving = 1 piece of fruit/vegetable the size of a tennis ball or ½ cup
  • Grain products – 1 serving = 1 slice of bread, ½ a bagel, a tennis ball size of cooked noodles/macaroni/ rice.  Cereals can be tricky because they are different size and shapes.  Check the label to see how much cereal is equal to 30g.
  • Milk and alternatives – 1 serving = 1 cup of milk/soymilk, a slice of cheese the size of 2 thumbs, a container of yogurt
  • Meat and alternatives – 1 serving = a piece of meat/fish/poultry the size of a deck of cards, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp of peanut butter

The serving size listed above refers to what Canada’s Food Guide considers as 1 serving; it is NOT how much you should eat at each meal.  The number of servings you need will depend on how old you are, if you are male or female, how active you are, and if you are pregnant or breastfeeding so everyone is different.  Talk to your Regional CPNP nutritionist if you have questions or concerns about how the amount of food you are eating. 

Used with permission from TOPS Club, Inc. (www.tops.org), the nonprofit weight-loss support and wellness information organizati

Using the plate method

Another way of making sure you are getting all the nutrition you need is to use the plate method.  This is an easy way to visualize if you are eating a balanced meal.

  A balanced meal means you are eating food from at least three of the four food groups.

 





How much more food do I need to eat when I am pregnant?

“Eating for two” doesn’t mean eating twice as much food as usual!  Pregnant women need an extra 2-3 servings of food from any of the four food groups.  A great and easy way to make sure you are getting what you need is to add one extra serving of Milk and Alternatives, one extra serving of Meat and Alternatives and/or one extra serving of Vegetables and Fruits every day.

Here are some examples of what you can do to add 2-3 servings of food each day.  Remember, eating a variety of foods each day is best.

  • 2 boiled eggs and a cup of milk
  • a small container of yogurt with a handful of berries
  • a couple pieces of cheese and an apple
  • a piece of dry meat and a cup of milk
  • a homemade smoothie with yogurt and fruit

If you are breastfeeding, you should continue eating an extra 3-4 servings of food because your body needs the extra energy to make milk.  You can use the examples listed above or think of your own combinations.

Don’t forget about water

Water is important for you and your baby.  Water is important because

  • It carries nutrients to your body and your growing baby
  • It carries away waste products from your baby and from your own body
  • It keeps you cool
  • It helps control swelling
  • It prevents constipation

 How to get more fluids

Drink liquids regularly throughout the day to make sure your body gets enough fluid.  Water and milk are great choices.  If you drink juice, choose 100% real juice and limit yourself to a maximum of 1 cup/day.

Drink no more than 2 cups of coffee or strong tea a day.

Source: Health Canada.  Adapted with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2010© 

What about Prenatal Vitamins?

During pregnancy, you and your baby need more nutrition.  Taking your prenatal vitamin everyday is important because it will help make sure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals you and your baby needs to be healthy.  Make sure you choose a prenatal vitamin that contains folate and iron. 

Questions

How do I know if I am eating everything I need, but not too much?

Answer: One great way to see how you are doing is to use the online tool Eattracker. You can select the foods you eat and it will give you personalized feedback to let you know if you are getting the nutrition you need for you and your baby. Use Eatracker to see how your diet compares to what is recommended!

 What about foods that don’t fall into the 4 food groups?

Answer: It is ok to enjoy foods that don’t fall into the 4 food groups sometimes but if you eat a lot of foods that are high in calories, fat, sugar or salt, like chips and pop, it will be harder for you to have a healthy weight gain and to build a healthy baby.  Also, if you are replacing foods from the 4 food groups with these other foods, you and your baby may not get all the nutrients you need to be healthy and grow.  The best thing to do is to eat foods from the 4 food groups first, then if you still are craving these other foods, have a little to satisfy those cravings.

I am worried that my child might have allergies as my husband has allergies and I don’t want this to happen. Should I avoid certain foods during pregnancy?

Answer: That is a good question. The only foods you should avoid during pregnancy are foods that you yourself are allergic to (if there are any). If you do not have any food allergies, it is best to eat a wide variety of foods when you are pregnant. This actually helps expose your baby to different foods through the placenta early on and decreases their risk of allergies when they are born. The same works for breastfeeding. As a breastfeeding mom, eating a wide variety of foods will help decrease your child’s risk of allergies when they start eating solid food. Breastfeeding itself may actually decrease the risk of allergies too!