Pregnant Diet Using Organic Foods

It can be a challenge to navigate pregnancy's lists of dos and don’ts. Of all the advice and details you're asked to consider or pay attention to, making healthy food choices is of primary importance. Proper pregnancy nutrition, including eating whole foods and avoiding potentially harmful foods, promotes healthy fetal development and supports your own good health at a time when your immune system is weaker than usual. Choosing organically produced food can help protect your baby's premature organs from the pesticides, growth hormones and antibiotic residues commonly found in conventionally produced food.

Basic Pregnancy Nutrition

The healthiest pregnancy diets include a variety of nutrient-dense foods and eliminate or keep empty calories to a minimum. This means centering food choices around a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa and whole wheat products, sources of lean protein including legumes, eggs, meat, poultry and fish, calcium-rich dairy products and plenty of water. Most health care providers also recommend taking a daily prenatal vitamin to help make up for any minor nutritional gaps. As part of a healthy pregnancy diet, you should avoid alcohol, too much caffeine, fish high in mercury, unpasteurized dairy products and uncooked and undercooked seafood, eggs, poultry and meat.

Pesticides and Pregnancy

Adult bodies are able to tolerate a certain level of toxins, which accumulate over time in stored fat. During pregnancy, however, the additional intake of pesticides through diet can stress your compromised immune system. More critically, such toxins cross the placenta and have been shown to impair fetal growth, adversely affect nervous system development and enter the fetal brain, resulting in learning disabilities and behavioral problems later in life. A University of Arizona study cited in “The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide” found that children who were regularly exposed to pesticides in the womb and later through their mothers’ breast milk had poorer memory, stamina and coordination than children who had minimal exposure.

Dairy Products

Barbara Kingsolver, author and proponent of organic food, is quoted in “The Complete Organic Pregnancy” as saying that if you could only make one organic food choice during your pregnancy, you should choose organic milk, because bovine growth hormones are unsafe for a developing fetus. The Consumers Union agrees, arguing that milk from cows treated with hormones has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. By consuming organic milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products, you’ll keep a good source of calcium in your diet while avoiding synthetic growth hormones, antibiotic residues and pesticide residues from the cows’ feed.

Fruits and Vegetables

Eating a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables is an ideal way to get your daily dose of vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. Depending on your local grocer, you may not always have access to a wide variety of organic produce. Steer clear of the most contaminated conventionally-grown produce, also known as the “dirty dozen.” Whenever possible, opt for organic strawberries, bell peppers, spinach, domestic cherries, imported grapes, celery, apples, raspberries, nectarines, peaches, pears and domestic potatoes. Apricots, cucumbers, string beans and winter squash aren’t on the list but are also highly contaminated and should be purchased organic.