Originally published October 18 2005
Dietitian designs a healthy diet for pregnant women
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Rose Catanzaro, a dietitian at St. Louis University who specializes in pregnancy, along with other nutrition experts, talks about the conflicting ideas surrounding the dietary needs special to pregnancy.
When Carla Trampe was pregnant the first time, she gained 47 pounds.
Rose Catanzaro, a dietitian at St. Louis University who specializes in pregnancy, says pregnant women only need to add about 300 calories a day to their diets - less in the first trimester, more in the last.
It's making a difference in how I feel, too."
But now that Trampe has the eating healthy thing down pat, she's still a little confused about all those things you "shouldn't" eat or drink while pregnant.
"The first go-round (when she was pregnant with her daughter, Rebecca, 16 months) I was stressed out all the time about what I could and couldn't eat and whether it would hurt the baby.
"What we are telling women today is not what we were telling them five years ago, in some cases," says Dr. David Weinstein, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.
Murkoff says eating when you're pregnant doesn't have to be difficult.
Fish: Because high mercury content in fish can affect the unborn baby, doctors recommend you limit your intake of all seafood to 12 ounces a week.
"Pregnant women need to be concerned with food-borne illnesses, and with raw fish, there is a higher risk of that," says Catanzaro.
Raw eggs: Raw eggs are a danger because of the risk of salmonella.
Caffeine: Official guidelines say no more than 300 mg of caffeine while pregnant.
Nuts: Studies are not conclusive on this one, but some experts have suggested that a mother's intake of nuts could have an effect on her baby's propensity for a food allergy.
Alcohol: In some cultures, a glass or two of wine a day while pregnant is perfectly acceptable.
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