When you are currently pregnant and you are interested in the question: foods to eat when pregnant first trimester. You will discover lots of important facts on this particular topic, as well as tips, guidance, opinions, and answers to questions about maternity, right nutrition and eating plans.

A pregnancy lasts for about 9 months in three different trimesters.

Most likely, your gynecologist will count 280 days from the first day of your last period, which adds up to a total of 40 weeks, to determine your “probable due date” or FPP (remember that it is an approximate calculation and that a pregnancy is considered full term from week 37 to week 42).

The first trimester of pregnancy goes from the first day of our last period to the 13th week of gestation . It’s counted like this because most women don’t know exactly when they ovulate, but they do know when their last period started.

Let’s see what changes take place in the mother, how our baby develops and feeding during these first three months!

What changes occur in the mother

For many moms, these early months can be a time when they may not even know they are pregnant yet. Even so, this is when we have to take care of our diet more than ever . Hence the importance of always following a healthy lifestyle and, if possible, planning pregnancy.

During this first trimester many changes occur within the woman’s body, but they are not yet visible because the fetus is very small . So, although it is not yet noticeable from the outside, it may be that the first weeks are not going to be exactly calm: hormones are at maximum and progesterone levels increase daily from the beginning of pregnancy. As the uterus adjusts to the growing baby, you may feel slight spasms and have other symptoms such as tiredness, breast tenderness, nausea, or vomiting. If you don’t feel anything different, don’t worry either! Many women do not feel any symptoms or changes during the earliest stages of pregnancy.

Coinciding with the end of the first trimester, when week 12 arrives, you can begin to appear with a tummy . In addition to the fact that it is the phase in which the risk has decreased considerably, for many it is the moment in which the pregnancy begins to feel more real and exciting.

How our baby develops

Despite the fetus being still very small, all its organs are being formed and all cells are developing at high speed , since they are in full growth, with which the contribution of certain nutrients is very important in this period.

Recent studies show that the future health of the baby is determined by genes, but also by the environment in which it develops, and nutrition and lifestyle are important factors, both for the nutrients you provide with your food as per your personal reserves. This is what we call the baby’s first 1,000 days, which start counting from its own conception ; This means that the foods you eat today can have a positive effect on your health into adulthood.

Our baby goes from beginning to form to measuring about 6cm in length, from the top of the head to the rump, at the end of this first trimester. The development of his face begins to be more complete, his hair is beginning to grow and his fingers have soft fingernails. While it is still too early for you to feel his movements, when the baby is awake he explores his body and discovers what he can do: he moves, kicks and sucks his thumb.

Feeding during the first trimester

In the post “Pregnant? Top 10 tips you should know ”, I told you about the importance of following a healthy diet and eating according to your appetite during these wonderful nine months. Pregnancy is not the time to “go on a diet”, but neither should you eat for two. Ketone bodies derived from caloric restriction pass through the placenta and can harm the baby. If you are overweight, it is advisable that you put yourself in the hands of a dietician-nutritionist so that the weight is adequate before you get pregnant .

I told you that I would talk to you about the dietary recommendations during pregnancy in a future post. Well, in this one we are going to see what aspects of nutrition we must take into account during the first trimester of pregnancy .

Think that the food our baby receives is what we eat as moms, now we share the food , a good reason to check what is reaching the fetus through the placenta and eat well. The ideal is to eat from all the healthy food groups, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, animal proteins if you are not a vegetarian, such as eggs, white and blue fish, lean meats, dairy products and, within fats, prioritize olive oil, nuts and other healthy fats such as avocado, seeds or olives.It is also important that you consider whether you eat fast or processed food on a regular basis or other superfluous foods for occasional consumption. If so, you should considerably reduce its consumption and prioritize the healthy foods that I mentioned above.

The most important nutrients in this first trimester are:

– Folic acid, folates or vitamin B9

The first vitamin that you should know well in this first trimester of pregnancy (even before you get pregnant if it is a planned pregnancy) is folic acid, which we health professionals can also call folates or vitamin B9. Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin essential in the prevention of neural tube defects in the baby and, since the child’s nervous system is going to form immediately, even before the woman knows that it is pregnant, a good supply of this vitamin is necessary prior to pregnancy. Hence the importance of starting folic acid before conception.

It is advisable to take a daily supplement of 400 micrograms of folic acid from three months before conception and during at least the entire first trimester of pregnancy. A supplement with vitamin B12 and / or iodine can also be evaluated according to the mother’s diet, but no further supplements are necessary nor are “prenatal multivitamins” necessary or recommended, unless by blood analysis or reviewing the diet let’s see what is needed.

The main food sources of folates are green leafy vegetables, including chard and spinach, broccoli, beets, cabbages and peas . Likewise, legumes have a high content of folates, and other foods such as nuts (almond or hazelnut) or avocado also have a high content.

Iodine is essential for the baby’s brain to develop well and for the proper functioning of the mother’s thyroid, on which the fetus depends. The consequences of its deficiency in pregnancy can be serious, so it is advisable to supplement most pregnant women with 200 micrograms of potassium iodide a day , in addition to using iodized salt. The Spanish Ministry of Health suggests supplementation in those women who do not reach the daily intake amounts of three servings of dairy products a day and 2g of iodized salt with their diet. Milk provides iodine because cows are fed iodized feed or because they receive supplements of this mineral, but “organic” milk can contain very little iodine.

Foods such as fish and shellfish or seaweed also contain iodine, but abusing them in pregnancy is not a good idea, with fish for their mercury content and with algae for their very high amounts of this mineral .

During pregnancy, the mother’s red blood cells require additional iron (their volume increases during pregnancy) and the fetus and the placenta need it for their formation . Although the recommendations for iron intake increase, during this stage the rate of absorption of iron ingested from the diet also increases, among other physiological adaptations.

Through food it can be difficult to cover the necessary dose, so it is convenient to assess each case and each specific mother. Iron-rich foods of animal origin include meat, fish, shellfish, and eggs. In those of vegetable origin, we find iron in foods such as chard or legumes. And if, in addition, these foods are combined with others that contain vitamin C, for example salads and fruits such as citrus or strawberries, the absorption of this mineral is improved. It is advisable to follow a healthy diet to avoid iron deficiency anemia, but if it is already established at the beginning of pregnancy, the diet will not reverse it and the iron supplement will be more than justified in these cases.

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