Pregnancy Diet

Diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments. In ancient times,it is said that eating is just not filling the belly but a sacred act (yadna karma) of offering to the fire that keeps us alive. Before offering we need to see if the fire is strong and big enough to burn the offering because if the fire is not immense it won't burn the offering properly. Similarly to our diet we should consume food when our digestive juices are strong. In the sense when we are completely hungry only then we should eat for better digestion.If we eat when our digestive juices are not strong or when we are not actually hungry then the food that we take should not digest completely and nutrients from the food are not utilized properly by the body, leading to a weaker digestive system. There is a Sun-cycle in the universe,our digestive system closely related to this Sun-cycle. In the morning the sun rises till the afternoon it is sunny and bright, from afternoon to evening it slows down, as the evening begins it slowly darkens down and begins to set similarly with our digestive juices as the sun rises the secretion of our digestive juices begins till the afternoon the digestive juices are at its peak and as the sun goes down the secretion of digestive juices also decreases. So we need to keep in mind that we should consume a heavy diet between morning and afternoon time, after evening and at night avoid eating much food, heavy stuff also prefer only light and liquid diet. You've probably heard that the human body is made up of over 70 percent water, and that drinking enough every day is essential for everything from maintaining energy levels, carrying nutrients, oxygen,and flushing toxins out of the body.Water travels throughout your body and keeps your body cool as part of your body's temperature regulating system. Digestive system depends on water. Water is the most important part of our diet but unfortunately there are lots of misconceptions about water consumption. Health experts commonly recommend eight glasses, which equals about 2 liters. However, some experts believe that you need to sip on water constantly throughout the day, even when you're not thirsty. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is: ● About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men ● About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women No single formula fits everyone. We get naturally thirsty when our body needs water. We should drink water till the point we are thirsty, not more nor less. Our consumption of water depends on physical activity and climatic conditions also. Hot or humid weather can make you sweat and requires additional fluid. In winter, the body does not lose any water, that is why we tend to need less water.If you do any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to cover the fluid loss. There is a close relation between jatharagni( the digestive fire in the body that is responsible for metabolizing food) and water. If we drink water when our digestive juices are active it can douse the fire. If we are starving and we eat our meal properly and drink water immediately after that, there would be a problem with the digestion of food because it could douse the digestive fire. Similarly, if we drink water before eating still it could douse the digestive fire. We can drink little water while having food or after half an hour or 1hr after the meal to balance our digestion. Pregnant women should drink boiled water by boiling the water so all the microorganisms from the water are killed and making it safe to drink. there are fewer chances to get infected. Boiled water also helps in better digestion. During pregnancy, many things come to mind. For example: What diet should we follow, what food should we eat, whatever we are eating, is it healthy for the baby or not? There is a simple rule for this,Ayurveda identifies 6 Tastes by which all foods can be categorized: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Pungent, and Astringent. There should be a balance of flavors of each of these tastes in our diet. Protein, iron, and calcium are the prominent requirement during pregnancy.we get proteins from pulses, milk, meats,sprouts, etc.we get calcium from ragi, amaranth, milk products, etc, also ajwain leaves are a good source of calcium, green leafy vegetable, jaggery, pomegranate, dates and black resins are good source of iron. Pregnant women must take seasonal fruits, vegetables, coconut water, and soaked nuts in their diet. They should include a blend of mint leaves, green chilly, coriander leaves, ginger,black salt, cumin seeds and lemon juice in a mixture as a chutney. This mixture could help in gaining the nutrients and also helps in better digestion so consume it in daily diet. There is a simple formula for diet. Food is categorized into 2 parts. 1: GOD made 2 Manmade in GOD made the edible like fruits, vegetables, milk, nuts, sprouts , coconut water, etc which are naturally available to humans whereas man-made food is processed food,May be cooking, processing,adding chemicals, adding preservatives and artificial flavorings. God made food is in its natural and raw form so digestion takes place efficiently and all the nutrients are absorbed by the body effectively if we consume them in their natural form. Whereas in man-made food it takes time to digest the food because it is in processed form and nutrients absorption rate is low. In the end, I would just like to tell the expectant mother that whatever you eat, whenever you are eating, just be grateful for every bit of food you consume and have the feeling of gratitude within you.Be grateful to nature for offering us such delicious fruits, vegetables and grains, be grateful to farmers who work hard in all seasons to produce it, be grateful to supply chain , be grateful to all our helpers and workers, be grateful to GOD for giving such wonderful mind, body, soul,and hunger to eat. No duty is more urgent than giving thanks.