Healthy Eating During Pregnancy: A 9-Month Diet Plan For You

When I was pregnant, my mom's very good friend gave me a list of things that I needed to eat every month of pregnancy. These foods are recommended by Ayurveda and Naturopathy practitioners. However, remember that these foods don't compensate for your overall nutrition. It's over and above your normal pregnancy diet. So here it is. But first, let me tell you what not to eat or avoid during pregnancy and that includes papaya, pineapple, tindora (ivy gourd) and guar fali (cluster bean). Papain in papaya is known to induce premature contractions. Not sure about guar fali's active role in miscarriage; I just know this that guar fali causes a lot of gas and intestinal distress. Better to be safe than sorry.

What To Eat During Pregnancy

Here's a food guide for 9 months:

Months 1, 2 

Most women are hardly aware that they are pregnant by this time. Hence, a nutritious diet starts only from 3rd month onwards.

Month 3

Make a halwa of bottle gourd in milk. don't use mawa. You may even eat petha. Bottle gourd and petha have cooling properties, which is required in the first trimester.

Month 4

Here's a recipe for Almond Balls.

Ingredients:

Crushed almond - 150 gm

Crushed candy sugar (mishri) - 150 gm

Crushed cardamom - a pinch

Long pepper (peepramul) - 1/4 tsp

Ghee - as required

Method:

• Warm a little ghee and add crushed sugar in it. Mix well. Once it cools off, add almond powder, peepramul and cardamom in the pan. Mix well. Make small 30 balls, out of the mixture, for each day of the 4th month.

• Now take an earthen dish and fill some water. Put one almond ball in a small silver bowl and cover it. Now place that bowl in the earthen dish and leave it overnight.

• Eat this ball the first thing the next morning.

Month 5

Eat 1 spoon Chyavanprash every morning with milk.

Ingredients:

Grated coconut - 150 gm

Crushed candy sugar - 75 gm

Jaggery (molasses) - 75 gm

Ghee - as required

Method:

• In a pan, warm some ghee and add sugar powder and jaggery. Turn off the gas. Now add grated coconut in the pan and mix well. Pour the entire contents of the pan on a greased plate, spread it well and let it cool. After some time, cut into diamond shaped pieces. Eat one daily for the whole 5th month.

^{Eat 1 spoon Chyavanprash every morning with milk}

Month 6

Oh, this one's simple and every one can do it. Every morning, drink 1 glass of warm milk to which a little saffron and cardamom powder are added. Every night, drink 1 glass of warm milk to which 1/4 tsp turmeric is added. It's supposed to help your child have a fair complexion. I doubt this claim. I guess they are eaten for their medicinal benefits rather than the colour advantage.

Month 7

This one, I had simply hated and didn't follow it. Well, I was totally put off by cumin in my entire pregnancy.

Ingredients:

Caraway seeds - 50 gm

Cumin seeds (sada jeera) - 50 gm

Candy sugar - 100 gm

Method:

• Mix all these ingredients in a jar. Take 1 spoon every day for the next 30 days

Month 8

It included fenugreek balls. It was ugh, so bad that I had nightmares of eating it even after my delivery. But it has lots of health benefits. That's what counts, isn't it?

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 200 gm

Fenugreek seed powder (methi) - 75 gm

Crushed almond - 50 gm

Crushed candy sugar - 350 gm

Long pepper (peepramul) - 1 tsp

Ghee - as required

Method:

• In a pan, roast wheat flour in ghee. Turn off the gas as soon as the flour changes its colour. Now add the ingredients and mix well. Now make small 30 balls. Have 1 ball every morning with milk.

Month 9

There's no dietary restriction. I remember eating everything from papaya to pineapple. As your baby is entirely formed in the womb, I didn't see any harm in eating a little of everything. As such post delivery, there are dietary restrictions for 40 days.

Be active and have a healthy pregnancy.

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