Pregnancy Foods + Herbs
You are pregnant! Now it is time to nurture your own body so that you can nurture and grow your baby. No matter what your relationship with food has been in the past, you can have a healthy relationship with food and a nourished pregnancy. Here are some suggestions to follow during each trimester of your pregnancy.
Throughout your pregnancy…
Eat three square meals a day. Eat when you are hungry. Focus on the fact that you are eating to grow your baby - and that is the most important thing! Keep your body moving, aim to go on at least one 15 minute walk per day.
Take a prenatal vitamin. I recommend Fullwell Prenatal Multivitamin
Drink nettle infusion at least 1x daily to boost iron and minerals
Recipe: Nettle Infusion
Where to buy: Red Moon Herbs
If your iron is low now, or you have historically suffered from low iron or iron-deficiency anemia, additional iron supplementation may be helpful to keep you feeling your best. During pregnancy, blood volume doubles. The iron in our blood helps our bodies carry oxygen to the cells. Nettle infusions can help as a plant source of iron. As an animal source of iron include I recommend beef liver. A suggestion is Ancestral Supplements Grassfed Beef Liver Supplements.
During pregnancy, it may be difficult to sleep at times. Difficulty sleeping could be caused by a spectrum of things: from hormonal changes, to discomfort due to your growing body and baby, to an active mind - consider adding a magnesium glycinate supplement. This can also help with restless legs. Food sources are nuts, whole grains, dark leafy greens, dairy, and soy.
Supplementing with Vitamin B6 can improve nausea
Drink water as you feel thirsty. Coconut water is another hydration staple which provides your body with electrolytes too! In my pregnancy I drank Liquid I.V. (cheapest at Kroger). LMNT and Ultima are other good brands.
Eat the foods you crave, focus on seasonal and local fruits and veggies. Eat exclusively organic if possible
Tip: If you are craving something out of season, check the organic freezer section at the grocery store for foods that were frozen at peak ripeness.
Breakfast: Start your day with a high protein + fat breakfast
Recipe: Easy Breakfast Frittata
Snacks: Prepare to eat high protein + fat snacks throughout the day, whenever hunger comes around.
Recipe: Chia Pudding
Apples + nut butter - select organic peanut or almond butter with no sugar added. Add cinnamon and raisins + other nuts for added protein and fat.
Peanut butter & jelly - select organic peanut butter with no sugar added. These tend to have a lot of oil in the jar. TIP stir the oil into the jar using a butter knife and try to get all the way to the bottom as the nut butter in the bottom of the jar gets very dry. To avoid re-mixing the nut butter, turn the jar upside down and store it in the refrigerator. You might need to place a napkin under the jar in case some oil leaks out.
Jerky - there are many varieties of jerky and meat sticks available. Chomps is a good brand. Select an organic additive free brand when possible.
Smoothies - fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables can be easily blended into a smoothie. Add a low or no sugar protein powder for greater satiety.
Recipe: Add 1 frozen banana, a cup of fresh or frozen berries (cherries are a personal favorite and really yummy - packed with folate, vitamin C, and potassium!), 2-3 chopped dates, and a handful of spinach to a blender. Add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk or coconut water. Add protein powder if using. Sometimes I like to add a dash of cinnamon too! Blend and store in the refrigerator til about an hour before you’re ready to drink the smoothie. Our bodies more easily incorporate nutrients from smoothies that are not ice cold because, in the case of an ice cold smoothie, your body must first do the work of regulating your temperature before incorporating the nutrients. Your body is doing so much other work! Your smoothie is more easily digested when it’s not so cold.
Cheese!
Lunch - Notice how you feel, and eat based on this feeling. Do you still feel full? Do you have no appetite? Are you feeling snack-y? Do you want to eat a big meal to sustain your energy throughout the day?
Leftovers - the easiest way I found to eat lunch on a busy schedule is to have leftovers from dinner the night before.
Curry - buy the jars of curry sauce or finished curry with beans. My favorite brand is Maya Kamial. You can eat this over quinoa, lentils, or rice, you can add more beans and veggies if you want. I found this to be an easy way to get a fairly big lunch in with low prep when I was short on time and HUNGRY!
Peanut butter & jelly - I have never eaten as much peanut butter & jelly as I did when I was pregnant! This is such an easy go-to. It’s satisfying and filling. You might want to go ahead and make two!
Dinner - Are you tired from your busy day? Here are some quick dinners to prepare so you can feel full to get a good night’s rest.
Meat & veggies - it’s an old staple and for good reason. When it’s hard to feel creative about dinner, come back to the concept of having a filled plate: 1/3 meat, 2/3 veggies. Remember to buy organic veggies whenever possible. One of our favorite ways to have a quick and easy dinner is to buy a whole chicken to roast (you can also buy a cooked rotisserie chicken). We can eat half of the chicken for dinner and reserve the other half for soup for the next day! You can also use the chicken carcus (bones, skeleton) to easily make home-made broth.
Recipe: Roast Chicken
Recipe: Home-Made Chicken Broth
Veggie ideas: Roast sweet potato, greens, mashed potatoes, green beans, butternut squash, summer (yellow) squash + zucchini, beets
Soup - remember that roast chicken? Shred it up for an easy soup. You can add any veggies you want to your soup, fresh or frozen! Some suggestions: potatoes (cubed), carrots (sliced), lentils, summer squash (sliced), zucchini (sliced), mushrooms (sliced, quartered, or whole), onion (diced or sliced), butternut squash (cubed)
Recipe: Roast Chicken Soup
First Trimester
Take a prenatal vitamin
Drink nettle infusion daily
Read about benefits of reishi mushroom and decide if you want to use reishi tincture in pregnancy
Find a care provider, whether you want to birth in the hospital, at home, or in a birthing center
Commonly, in the first trimester of pregnancy, a person will experience nausea. This is sometimes coupled with loss of appetite/food aversions. If you experience nausea and/or loss of appetite/food aversions, eat what you want to eat when you want to eat it. Your baby will be okay if you are not able to eat “three square meals a day” or whatever frequency at which you normally eat. Lean into your cravings and find what works for you. There was a time when I had food aversions during pregnancy and I lived on turkey jerky, peanut butter & jelly, and chia pudding.
Try it: Having trouble sleeping? Restless legs at night? Sweet Sleep in Pregnancy tea is a big help. Send me a message if you’d like to buy some!
Second Trimester
Continue with prenatal vitamins
Add Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and Nettle Infusions
Eat 2 dates per day in the second trimester. Buy organic when possible. Dates are sweet and can be added to a smoothie, diced and sprinkled over peanut butter and eaten with an apple, or you can just eat them by themselves!
Continue meeting with your care provider
Enroll in a birthing class or check out online resources (Mama Natural is great)
Create a birth plan
Make and store freezer meals. If your partner doesn’t cook, teach them a few recipes.
Ask a friend to create a meal train for you for the postpartum days
This is sometimes referred to as the prime of pregnancy because often nausea and food aversions have subsided, your hormones are beginning to regulate, and your baby isn’t so big that you’re miserable. Continue with your new habits from the first trimester, and keep up the pace with your daily walk. A healthy body will help you to have an easier delivery.
Third Trimester
Continue with prenatal vitamins
Continue with Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and Nettle Infusions
Eat 3 dates per day in the third trimester. Buy organic when possible. Dates are sweet and can be added to a smoothie, diced and sprinkled over peanut butter and eaten with an apple, or you can just eat them by themselves!
Eat lots of iron-rich foods to bulk up your blood for delivery
Walk every day!
Get lots of sleep
Get a massage
Take your time nesting and loving your body
If you have a partner, go on lots of dates
Finalize birthing plans, pack your birth bag even if you’re planning a home birth. It’s better to have one packed just in case. Don’t forget to pack a few outfits for baby too!
Make and store freezer meals. If your partner doesn’t cook, teach them a few recipes.
Ask a friend to create a meal train for you for the postpartum days (if you haven’t already)
Baby is almost here I promise! My baby was born at 42 weeks and 5 days - no matter how “late term” you are, your baby is coming! Remember to take it easy on yourself in these days before baby arrives. Do things you love. This is a special and sacred time to be yourself before your life changes drastically! Keep feeding your body well. Notice how you feel each day. Take lots of deep breaths. Meditate or have quiet time when possible. It’s hard to eat a lot because of the size of your baby at this point, so don’t be surprised if you need to eat more small meals or have more snacks.
Fourth Trimester - Postpartum
Continue to care for your body as you did when you were pregnant. Continue taking prenatal vitamins and drinking nettle infusions. Continue supplementing with iron. Continue eating when you are hungry. Whether you are breastfeeding or bottle/formula feeding, your body is recovering from a massive feat! You just grew a human and THEN birthed them!!! Amazing! The place in your body where your placenta was is now a massive wound in your uterus. Think, road rash but inside your body. This is not meant to be scary, but it is serious. Care for your body so you can care for your baby. It took 9 months to grow your baby and it can take 18 months for your body to return to a pre-pregnancy state. Take it easy Mama.
