Protein in Your Pregnancy Diet

Contents:

• High Protein Diet Plan for Pregnancy
• What May be the Result of the Protein Deficiency During Pregnancy?
• What's Next?
• Are these Food Stuffs Often Found in Your Daily Menu?

High Protein Diet Plan for Pregnancy

What is protein deficiency? This is a pathological condition of an organism that occurs due to a lack of protein in the diet. Why is it so dangerous during pregnancy? It is because protein is the main building material for the body of your child.

In addition, the proteins in your body perform such functions as:

• transport of vitamins, nutrients, dietary minerals (including calcium and iron);
• immune protection (as antibodies are also proteins);
• maintenance of osmotic pressure of plasma is the property that prevents the liquid part of blood from leaving the vascular track, thereby preventing the occurrence of edema and blood thickening.

What May be the Result of the Protein Deficiency During Pregnancy?

The earliest signs of protein deficiency are represented by a lack of body mass gain and the increase of hemoglobin and hematocrit volume. Note that the high ratio of hemoglobin (above 120 g/l) in the second and third trimester is not the reason for rejoicing, but the cause to be on the alert, because it usually indicates the blood thickening because of insufficient protein and a decrease in volume of circulating blood (hypovolemia disorder).

What's Next?

• the appearance of edema (due to the fall of osmotic pressure of plasma, the liquid part of the blood runs out of blood vessels into the tissue);
• the increased blood pressure (this is the "reaction of despair"- due to the reduction of the volume of circulating blood, the body is forced to reduce the lumen of blood vessels and increase the pressure inside them to make the remaining blood circulate more intensely);
• the increase in liver enzymes, indicating that your liver suffers due to protein starvation;
• and finally, the preeclampsia and eclampsia (resulting in headaches, vision disorders and finally, convulsions) are the most terrible complication of gestosis, requiring an urgent hospitalization.

So, protein deficiency should seem so far away from you. After all, you don't starve, eat regularly … Or you don`t? How often do you forget to take dinner? How often do you have so much to do that you just don't have time for a full meal- you just take a coffee with sweets or at best a tea with a cake and run on? And what about your baby?

Let`s recall what products are the main sources of protein for your body. They are meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, mushrooms. Lovers of vegetarian cuisine should prefer a combination of legumes with cereals (this combination will provide complete proteins to your body): lentils with buckwheat, beans with rice.

Are these Food Stuffs Often Found in Your Daily Menu?

The protein content in the daily diet should be 2-3 g of protein per 1 kg of your body weight (provided that animal protein should not be less than 60 %, as proteins of plant origin do not have the required for your body amino acids that are present in animal proteins) — that is 180-240 g. in the form of cooked meat or poultry (60-100 g), fish (40-60 g), cottage cheese (100-120 g), eggs (1 PCs.), cheese (15 g).

And to make sure that you and your baby really have enough protein in your diet, take a look at your test results:

• the normal total protein of blood serum is 65-85 g/l, its reduction to 60 g/l already points to the severe gestosis;
• the normal serum albumin is 35-55 g/l, its reduction to 30 g/l develops edema;
• the normal hematocrit volume is 0,36-0,42 g/l;
• the increase of body weight for 2,3-4,5 kg during the period from the 24th to the 28th week is normal and indicates an adequate increase in the volume of circulating blood.

By the way, the hemoglobin is nothing else but a protein with tiny pieces of iron. Yes-yes! Therefore, if you have reduced hemoglobin, before the intake of tablets containing iron, pay attention on how much protein you consume on a daily basis, because the ratio of iron/protein in hemoglobin is about the same as if you compare the size of a brick and a rail wagon! So, can the reason of the low hemoglobin be not in the iron deficiency, which is not required in big quantities for the synthesis of hemoglobin, but in the lack of protein in your diet?