How can you, as a pregnant woman, keep your pregnancy healthy and normal? Follow Dr. Tom Brewer’s Diet For Pregnancy. This diet is backed up by research and experience by care providers and pregnant mothers that proves this is the best way for mom to stay healthy and grow a healthy baby.

The Three Basic Principles (and Your Guilt Trip for the Day!) About Pregnancy Nutrition

  1. You and your baby are connected and whatever you eat or drink affects not just you, but also your baby. Having a good, healthy diet in pregnancy is the only way to nourish your baby.
  2. If you don’t eat well, you could cause you and your baby to be undernourished. Your pregnancy is a stress on your body. Though your body is designed to handle pregnancy, if well-nourished, the stress increases as your pregnancy continues and your baby needs nourishment to grow and develop properly. Your blood volume has to increase by 50%. If you don’t eat enough food or the right food, including protein, vitamins, minerals, calories, salt, and water you could cause many different pregnancy complications. Here are a few complications of pregnancy you want to avoid by eating a good pregnancy diet: pregnancy induced high blood pressure, baby not growing, preterm labor, a difficult birth, still birth, brain damage, among other pregnancy complications.
  3. Weight gain of 30-40 pounds during your pregnancy from highly nutritious foods can help you fend off normal life stresses like moving, divorce/relationship difficulties, work/career, overheating during exercise, excessive nausea or vomiting, depression/anxiety.

Keep Track of Your Nutrition Every Day During Your Pregnancy!
(Or at the very least, 3 days a week!)

Here 12 Sources of Good Nutrient Rich Foods That You Need to Eat Daily While You Are Expecting a Baby:

“Powdered protein supplements will not do the trick. In fact, recent studies have shown that high protein diets without sufficient high-complex carbohydrates can cause women to lose weight at a time when they should be gaining in order to build a baby (Kramer 2003c; Kramer 2003d). These studies are misinterpreted as indicating that too much protein is bad for women (Kramer 2003b; McKeown 2001). The major problem with these studies was that the women used powdered protein supplements, not dietary-food sources, and left out complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, dairy, nuts, beans, seeds, salt, etc. It was not a complete diet. What the studies really told us is that protein supplements don’t work. In order to supply the pregnant body with what it needs, dietary protein, along with high-complex carbohydrates and all the other nutrients, needs to come from real food (Kramer 2003b).” Amy V. Haas

4 milk products for calcium and protein

1 cup milk: whole, skim,1%, buttermilk
1 cup yogurt Icelandic, Greek
1 cup Kefir
1/4 cup cottage cheese (Artisa Brand has flavors)
Ricotta cheese
1 large slice cheese (1 1/4 oz): cheddar, Swiss, other hard cheese
Mozzarella cheese sticks

Other foods high in Calcium

Calcium fortified soy milk
Calcium fortified coconut milk
Spinach
Tofu
Salmon
Almonds
Kale
Baked beans

2 Eggs daily – boiled, scrambled, fried, anyway you can eat them.

6-8 servings of protein

1 ounce of any lean meat beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork (To measure without a scale, 3 ounces of meat is about the same size as a deck of cards)
1 ounce of fish (measure the same way as meat)
¼ cup canned salmon or tuna (up to 6 oz. a week is safe during pregnancy)
3 ½ oz tofu
¼ peanuts or peanut butter (peanut butter can be high in sugar)
1/8 cup beans + ¼ cup brown or quinoa: soy beans, peas, black beans, kidney beans, garbanzos, navy beans, lima beans, adzuki beans white beans
1/8 cup brewer’s yeast + 1/4 cup rice
1/8 cup sesame or sunflower seeds + 1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup rice + 1/3 cup milk
1/2 oz cheese + 2 slices whole wheat bread or 1/3 cup macaroni (dry) or noodles or 1/8 cup beans
1/8 cup beans + 1/2 cup cornmeal
1/8 cup beans + 1/6 cup seeds (sesame, sunflower)
1/2 large potato + 1/4 cups milk or 1/4 oz cheese
1 oz cheese: cheddar, Swiss, other hard cheese
1/4 cup cottage cheese

2 servings of preferably Fresh, dark green vegetables

1 cup broccoli
1 cup brussels sprouts
2/3 cup spinach
2/3 cup greens
collard, turnip, beet, mustard, dandelion, kale
1/2 cup lettuce (preferable romaine)
1/2 cup endive
1/2 cup asparagus
1/2 cup sprouts: bean, alfalfa
More ideas:
Arugula
Bok choy
Collard greens
Kale
Swiss chard
Turnip greens
Watercress

5 Servings of whole grains

1 waffle or pancake made from whole grain
1 slice bread
whole wheat, rye, bran, other whole grain
1/2 roll, muffin, or bagel made from whole grain
1 corn tortilla
1/2 cup oatmeal or Wheatena
1/2 cup brown rice or bulgar wheat
1 shredded wheat biscuit
1/2 cup bran flakes or granola
1/4 cup wheat germ

2 Servings of Vitamin C foods

1/2 grapefruit or any citrus fruit
2/3 cup grapefruit juice, or any citrus fruit
1 orange
½ papaya
½ cup black currants
½ cup kiwis peeled and sliced
½ cup guava
1/2 cup orange juice
1 large tomato
1 cup tomato juice
1/2 cantaloupe, or honeydew
1 lemon or lime
1/2 cup papaya
1/2 cup strawberries
1 large green, red, or yellow pepper
Brussel sprouts
Broccoli
cauliflower
1 large sweet potato or yam, any style

3 Servings of Fats and oils

1 tablespoon butter or margarine or ghee
coconut oil
MCT Oil
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 avocado
avocado oil
1 tablespoon peanut butter or almond butter

1 serving of Vitamin A foods

3 dried apricots
1/2 cantaloupe
1/2 cup carrots (1 large)
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup winter squash
1 sweet potato
Kale
Butternut squash
Spinach
Egg yolks

Liver–at least once a week (optional) I know, Yuck!
4 oz liver
beef, calf, chicken, pork, turkey, liverwurst
Here’s a great alternative to avoid becoming anemic or low in iron during your pregnancy – You can also take Energizing Iron – 2 with each meal – made by Enzymatic Therapy. It’s liquid liver in a capsule from organically raised cows.

An alternative to liver is Energizing Iron made by Enzymatic Therapy. It’s amazing stuff and easy to take.

Salt and other sodium sources–unlimited:

table salt, iodized–to taste
sea salt–to taste
kelp powder–to taste
soy sauce–to taste

Water–unlimited:

Drink to quench thirst, but do not force fluids.
64 oz/daily is good. Try to drink most of it at least two hours before bed time so you don’t wake up all night to pee.
Fresh juice or milk might make better use of limited stomach space.