Underweight and Trying to Get Pregnant?
During pregnancy, a women must have sufficient energy and nutrient stores to feed the growing baby. If you are underweight, you may find it very difficult to conceive as your body may not be fully equipped to nourish a baby to term. If you are in this position, read on to find out how to get in shape for pregnancy.
As a general rule, a women should have a healthy weight before becoming pregnant with a minimum BMI of 18.5 kg/m2 but even better between 20-23 kg/m2. During the pregnancy, the baby will require a considerable amount of vitamins and minerals as well as energy and the woman's body shape is a rough indication of the existing levels of nutrient stores present. If a women is underweight and manages to conceive, the baby's nutrition profile may significantly suffer and health complications may arise. As a protective mechanism, an underweight female is usually unable to conceive with menstruation sporadic until weight is gained and vitamin and energy stores replenished.
In order to achieve this, steps must be taken to improve the diet with plenty of naturally, nutrient dense foods such as lean meat, fish, pasta, potatoes, pulses, nuts and fresh fruit and vegetables. If you are underweight, your diet will undoubtedly be lacking in energy in the form of calories and although, you may feel healthy enough, there may be a deficiency in some vitamins and minerals.
By increasing your diet with the aforementioned foods and including plenty of healthy snacks that are naturally low in fat, you will slowly increase nutrient levels and build stores for the increased future requirements during pregnancy. An extremely important vitamin, which should be plentiful during pregnancy, is folate, also known as folic acid. This B vitamin is found in green leafy vegetables, bread and cereals. This vitamin is subsequently fortified and sufficient stores will prevent neural tube defects in babies.
All nutrients have a role in the growth of a baby and consuming a diet rich in a variety of foods will guarantee a better and all encompassing nourishment for the baby. Avoid eating lots of fatty food to gain weight because although you may indeed gain the weight, you will not be gaining sufficient nutrients but rather pure fat. A good rule of thumb is that the lower the fat content in a food (with the exception of dairy foods), the better nutrition it will provide. Once you are at a healthy weight, you will be able to nourish your baby during the full pregnancy term and increase the chances of a healthy mother and baby.
Underweight and Trying to Get Pregnant?
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