In case you aren't aware, pregnancy consists of receiving a series of contradictory information. When you become pregnant, you get a laundry list of food groups and servings of those foods you should be eating daily to meet nutrition requirements. But don't eat for two! But also this list is easily double the amount of food you would reasonably eat on a daily basis. But don't gain too much weight! But also, you better eat ALL THIS FOOD because you really only absorb so much from your prenatal vitamins.
But I digress. Since I've started my third trimester last week, there are a few things I need to focus on - specifically getting more protein and iron. Great, I thought, I've got this one - I've always focused on a well balanced diet which includes protein and iron-containing veggies and lean meats. But hey, just for funsies, let's see how much iron content is in the daily foods I'm consuming. The answer is, NOT NEARLY ENOUGH IRON!
Reading up on iron intake, it turns out that even before I was pregnant, I probably wasn't getting enough iron. I figured since I'm prone to anemia and I've made it my goal to eat a balanced diet of recommended food groups because of this, I was good. However, even things like lean ground beef and beans don't have as much iron as you would think. Apparently, around 80% of Americans aren't getting the iron they really need, and pregnant women are even more prone to getting less than they need since you should be getting at least 27 grams a day throughout your pregnancy (9 grams a day while - or if - you're breastfeeding).
So what is a up and coming momma to do? After reading several articles about iron-containing foods, and remembering that I still can't eat things like liver (not that I would because I hate liver, but anywho), I really need to refocus on grains; specifically grains I can eat like quinoa and oatmeal. And I need to eat more beans - I eat a fair amount of beans, but I really need to eat more chickpeas (which are good to focus on for the other vitamins that they contain anyways).
Something I may have neglected to mention previously is that I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and one of the very few ways I've found to control my IBS is by being on a gluten free (GF) diet. Side bar for those who think gluten intolerance is a hoax - Imagine you are having daily horrific digestive pain and inconsistent bowel issues even when you eat a healthy balanced diet, and the pain only gets worse the older you get. And also imagine after years and years of invasive tests, the only thing they can say conclusively is that you have IBS. Now imagine changing one thing about your diet and the pain goes away. Would you believe all the articles that say gluten intolerance doesn't exist, or would you continue eating in a way that prevents the horrific pain from coming back? Me, I prefer to live pain free. Fortunately, we live in a day and age in which being GF is easier than ever, and I thought I had added enough supplementary foods to my diet to balance out the lack of grains. Boy was I wrong!
Now, there is Iron in the GF cereal I eat; however, keep in mind that A) you don't absorb vitamins as well from foods in which those vitamins have been added and B) If you eat your cereal with calcium containing beverages like I do, you aren't absorbing as much iron because calcium prevents total iron absorption. Note: See edit below regarding additional information I found on this subject
Now, this last point is pretty controversial - a lot of people believe you can have your iron and calcium too without these repercussions, but again, life is all about contradictions; especially in pregnancy it seems, so I would rather be safe than sorry.
Isn't nutrition fun?!
So, what is the actual point of this blog entry? Nutrition is tricky. Unless you are already obsessed with nutrition like I am (and even with my obsession, I still missed my lack of iron intake), it's probably a good idea to consult with a nutritionist if you really want to get the most of the foods you eat - pregnant or not.
In case you prefer to learn these things on your own like I do, here's some helpful articles I ran across today:
- Here's a list of iron-rich foods that will help you in your pregnancy diet:: Iron in Your Pregnancy Diet
- Hate Baby Center? Here's a similar article on WebMD: Iron Rich Foods
- And here's another article from WebMD : Are You Getting Enough Iron
- Want to break down further the type of iron you need even if you aren't pregnant? Here's another nifty article I ran across today: Iron Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet
- Here's a little summary from this article in case you just want to know what I mean by type of Iron -- There are two types of iron in foods:
- Heme iron is the type your body absorbs best. You get heme iron in beef, chicken, turkey, and pork.
- Nonheme iron is the other type, which you can find in beans, spinach, tofu, and ready-to-eat-cereals that have added iron.
Breakfast Cereals High Iron
"Absorption Boost
The iron in breakfast cereal, whether it’s naturally occurring or added during processing, is not as readily available as the iron from animal sources. You can significantly boost the amount of iron you’re able to absorb from cereal by consuming it along with a glass of orange juice, some fresh strawberries or any other vitamin C-rich food. Just as vitamin C enhances iron absorption, however, other phytonutrients interfere with it -- drinking coffee or tea with your bowl of cereal will decrease the mineral’s availability."So if you eat your cereal with a glass of OJ, you're much more likely to absorb the iron from Iron enriched cereal! This is great information for me. Now OJ gives me terrible heartburn; however, I'm going to try incorporating some other high Vitamin C fruit combination with my cereal is in order to better absorb the Iron.
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