How to eat healthy during pregnancy?- Dr. Shefali Tyagi

Diet in pregnancy is the most common question that confuses a lot of women right after they conceive. There are a lot of myths about what to eat and what not to eat. You must have heard from a lot of friends that eating pineapples or papaya during pregnancy, some people say hot food, non veg, dry fruits aren't allowed. This is not true. There is no evidence in medicine that says pineapple or papaya can cause miscarriage. Raw papaya has an enzyme which was thought to cause miscarriage, but it was not found to be true..
So essentially, you can eat everything in moderation. First twelve weeks of pregnancy, you will feel a loss of appetite or aversion to food, so don't struggle to eat what you can't have. If you don't like milk, don't have it. Let the first trimester pass. You will then get your appetite back and start to feel normal. You can then concentrate on nutritious food. In nutritious food, you need to have lots of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins and fiber. So, concentrate on eating six small meals and not three large ones. .
You should have a snack at 11 AM in the morning and 5 PM in the evening apart from your breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can have lots of milk products - milk, paneer, cheese, butter milk, etc. Dal (pulses) or non-vegetarian food in one meal, at least four or five servings of green leafy vegetables every week, one fruit daily and lots of fiber in the form of soups or salads. You should also drink a lot of water..
The only food we say 'No' to is basically large seawater fish which you can restrict in first trimester of pregnancy. The reason for the same is that the fish can accumulate a lot of harmful minerals like mercury or lead. The bigger they are, the more the amount of metals. So, restrict them in first trimester. After the first trimester, you can eat fish also. Also avoid unpasteurized milk, half boiled eggs, cold cut meats, or cheese which can transmit bacterial infections. Apart from that, everything is allowed in moderation..