In the past week or so, I have received a number of questions on the DietDoc Message Board about diets during pregnancy, which have disturbed me considerably.
One reader asks if she can take diet pills in an attempt to lose weight so as to fall pregnant, another wants to start a slimming diet while she is pregnant, because she is frantic that the small amount of weight she has gained over 4 months will spoil her figure, and other readers want to use starvation diets from the day they have given birth to try and rid themselves of any weight they have gained during pregnancy. All these obsessions with weight gain before, during, and immediately after pregnancy can potentially har
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m the developing foetus, the newborn baby, and the infant.
Losing weight before pregnancy
Attempting to lose weight before pregnancy is basically a good idea and many gynaecologists encourage overweight women to lose some weight before they try to fall pregnant. However, this is not the time to use diet pills and potions, and unbalanced or starvation diets.
If you think about this situation logically, you will realise that diet pills, including so-called ‘safe and natural’ herbal preparations, all contain various chemical compounds which either mimic epinephrine (adrenaline) to suppress appetite, or cause your body to excrete food and/or water at an accelerated rate to cause ‘pseudo-weight loss’. Changes in weight due to laxatives or diuretics are ‘pseudo’ because they represent water losses, rather than fat loss.
When you are trying to fall pregnant you need to be in the peak of health, not dehydrated, suffering from diarrhoea which causes losses of vital nutrients, or taking chemicals which can potentially harm your baby.
To lose weight before falling pregnant the safest option is to stick to a balanced, low-fat, high-fibre diet and to do plenty of exercise. This will not only help to build-up maternal stores of important nutrients such as calcium, iron and folic acid, but also improve metabolism and stimulate blood flow. If you are bursting with health, vitality and fitness, you will probably be more relaxed and more likely to fall pregnant.
Weight gain during pregnancy
According to the USA Institute of Medicine, women who are thin or underweight at the start of pregnancy should be encouraged to gain between 12.5 and 18 kg of weight during the course of their pregnancy. The reason for this, is to ensure that these women do not give birth to underweight babies. Research has shown that underweight babies born to malnourished, underweight women who hardly gain any weight during pregnancy, are not only more liable to develop a variety of childhood illnesses, but also tend to be more prone to diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease in later life.
So, if you are bordering on anorexia when you fall pregnant, please stop worrying about gaining a few kilograms during your pregnancy. If you can improve your eating habits and gain up to 15 kg, you will be doing your baby a lifelong favour.
Women with normal weight at the beginning of pregnancy are advised to gain from 11.5 to 16 kg, while even individuals who are overweight can gain between 7 and 11.5 kg of weight during the 9 months of their gestation without there being cause for concern. Very obese women should try to limit their weight gain to 6 kg.
Please bear these figures in mind and stop fretting if your weight increases moderately during pregnancy. Water is responsible for nearly 62% of the weight gained by pregnant mothers, 30% is due to fat and 8% to protein. Of these amounts the developing baby accounts for approximately 25% of the weight gain, but only 10% of the fat that is accumulated. However, 60% of the protein which pregnant women store in their bodies, is concentrated in the foetus and the placenta. Which is why it is important to eat a balanced diet that contains sufficient protein and protective nutrients.
Weight loss after pregnancy
Most women lose about 10 kg when giving birth. This is often not sufficient for those individuals who get more and more frantic about losing their figures as pregnancy progresses. These are also the mothers who start dieting rigidly from the day the baby is born. If such women would relax and breastfeed their babies they would lose 0.5 to 1 kg per month while they are lactating.
Let’s take the example of a mother who has gained the maximum amount of weight during her pregnancy of 18 kg: she will lose 10 kg during, or immediately after birth, and if she breastfeeds for 6 months, she could well lose up to 6 more kg. In other words within 6 months of giving birth, this mother would only be 2 kg heavier than when she fell pregnant, and her baby would have had the immeasurable advantage of breastfeeding.
For those of you who are determined to lose weight ASAP after giving birth, please eat a balanced low-fat, high-fibre diet and breastfeed your baby. Don’t starve yourself and start popping those diet pills, as this will undermine your health which has already been put under strain by the pregnancy. Take it easy, enjoy your baby, breastfeed, go for long walks in the fresh air with your baby, and take care of yourself and your special child. It really is worth it.
If you have any diet queries, post a question or message on The Message Board. I am here to assist you with your Diet and Food Choices, so let’s interact.
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