Healthy Eating In Pregnancy: Month On Month Plan

When I was pregnant, my mom’s very good friend gave me a list of things that I needed to eat every month of pregnancy. These foods are recommended by Ayurveda and Naturopathy practitioners.

Remember, these foods don’t compensate for  your overall nutrition. It’s over and above your normal pregnancy diet.

So Here it is:

First, let me tell you what not to eat or  avoid during pregnancy:

Papaya, pineapple, tindora (ivy gourd), guar fali (cluster bean). Papain in papaya is known to induce premature contractions. Not sure about guar fali’s active role in miscarriage; I just know this that guar fali causes a lot of gas and intestinal distress. Better to be safe than sorry.

What to eat during:

1st and 2nd months: Most women are hardly aware that they are pregnant by this time. Hence, this nutrition diet starts only from 3rd month onwards.

3rd month:

Make a halwa of bottle gourd in milk. Don’t use mawa.

You may even eat petha.

Bottle gourd and petha have cooling properties, which is required in the first trimester.

4th month:

Almond Balls

Crushed almond – 150 gm

Crushed candy sugar (mishri) – 150 gm

Crushed cardamom – a pinch

Long pepper (peepramul) – ½ tsp

Ghee – as required

Warm a little ghee and add crushed sugar in it. Mix well. Once it cools off, add almond powder, peepramul and cardamom in the pan. Mix well. Make small 30 balls, out of the mixture, for each day of the 4th month.

Now take an earthen dish and fill some water. Put one almond ball in a small silver bowl and cover it. Now place that bowl in the earthen dish and leave it overnight.

Eat this ball the first thing the next morning.

5th month:

Eat 1 spoon Chyavanprash every morning with milk.

Grated coconut – 150 gm

Crushed candy sugar – 75 gm

Jaggary(molasses) – 75 gm

Ghee – as required

In a pan, warm some ghee and add sugar powder and jaggery. Turn off the gas. Now add grated coconut in the pan and mix well. Pour the entire contents of the pan on a greased plate, spread it well and let it cool. After some time, cut into diamond shaped pieces. Eat one daily for the whole 5th month.

6th month:

Oh, this one’s simple and every one can do it.

Every morning, drink 1 glass of warm milk to which a little saffron and cardamom powder is added.

Every night, drink 1 glass of warm milk to which ¼ sp turmeric is added.

It’s supposed to help your child have a fair complexion. I doubt this claim. I guess they are eaten for their medicinal benefits rather than the colour advantage.

7th month:

This one, I had simply hated and didn’t follow it. Well, I was totally put off by cumin in my entire pregnancy.

Caraway seeds (Othmir jeera – I guess that is shahi jeera)   – 50 gm

Cumin seeds (sada jeera) – 50 gm

Candy sugar – 100 gm

Mix all these ingredients in a jar. Take 1 spoon every day for the next 30 days

8th month:

Fenugreek balls

It was ugh, so bad that I had nightmares of eating it even after my delivery. But it has lots of health benefits. That’s what counts, isn’t it?

Wheat flour – 200 gm

Fenugreek seed powder (methi) – 75 gm

Crushed almond – 50 gm

Crushed candy sugar – 350 gm

Long pepper (peepramul) – 1 tsp

Ghee – as required

In a pan, roast wheat flour in ghee. Turn off the gas as soon as the flour changes its colour. Now add the ingredients and mix well. Now make small 30 balls. Have 1 ball every morning with milk.

9th month:

There’s no dietary restriction. I remember eating everything from papaya to pineapple. As your baby is entirely formed in the womb, I didn’t see any harm in eating a little of everything. As such post delivery, there are dietary restrictions for 40 days.

Be active and have a healthy pregnancy.

Disclaimer: The information in the article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor.

Also read: Are scans and vitamins really needed during pregnancy?

#pregnancyfoods #healthypregnancy #pregnancydiet