Good nutrition during pregnancy is vital. Sometimes it can be a mission to sift through the boundless piles of information thrown at you during this time. This information comes from a variety of people, experienced and unexperienced all with the best wishes. Here are 5 myths about pregnancy and nutrition that will empower you to filter through the right and wrong information of pregnancy.

1.      You are eating for two.

Myth, myth myth myth. No you are not eating for two. A baby is 3-4kg that’s not 2 people that’s 1.05 people 🙂. Your calories don’t need to increase until the second trimester and they don’t need to increase by much. In the second trimester they should only increase by 150-300 calories and then 300-500 calories in third trimester. Hmm that’s like a large green smoothie and a banana to a ½ cup of low fat cottage cheese on a large slice of multigrain sourdough. Of course these ranges depend on the pre-pregnancy weight.

2.      You need to gain 15kg

There is not an all rounder weight gain for every pregnancy woman. The healthy amount of weight gain depends on the pre-pregnancy BMI.

If you are underweight: 12.5 to 18kg

Normal weight: a healthy weight gain is between 11.5-15kg

Overweight: 5-11.5kg

3.      Don’t eat allergens to deliver a child void of allergies

This is false. Go on, eat the soy, dairy, eggs, peanut and eggs it won’t impact on your child health.

4.      Don’t eat fish particularly tuna

Fish can play a big part of a healthy diet in pregnancy. It’s a great source of protein, iodine and omega-3 fats, which are essential for the growth of your baby’s eyes and brain. The reason why there’s a miscommunication about fish in pregnancy us because of the mercury content which can be harmful to your baby. Only some fish accumulate mercury.

The Food Standards in Australia and New Zealand state that Pregnant women can have 150g of fish (sardines, tuna, salmon, herring and trout) 2-3 times per week, but if its shark (flake), swordfish 1/fortnight or if orange roughy or catfish no other fish that week.

5.      To maintain your weight, eat less carbohydrates

I don’t know where this came from, but it’s harmful. Any restricted diet is risky whilst pregnant. As well as that, bread is fortified with folate and iodine, which is essential for a growing baby and it was fortified for a reason – we weren’t getting enough from our food! When you go on a low carbohydrate diet your body is switching from one source of fuel to another. There have been some small studies that indicate that a ketogenic diet (low carb, high fat diet) can cause foetal implications, but otherwise there simply isn’t enough evidence to show that this particular style of eating is safe for a growing baby. Why would you put your child a risk?

Shadia Jammal
Dietitian & Nutritionist APD, MNutrDiet, BAppSc.
Shadia is available for private Diet Consultations at the Fine Form Clinic on Thursdays and Saturdays. Call 80686776 or email admin@fineformphysio.com to organise an appointment.