Healthy lunches during pregnancy are similar to any other person's healthy lunch. Emphasizing a variety of whole, natural foods that offer a balance of protein, carbohydrates and heart-healthy fats supports your body's health, which in turn influences the health of your baby. Avoid skipping lunch even if you are feeling tired, slightly sick to your stomach or unmotivated to prepare a meal.
Nutrition
While you always should aim to eat healthy, you should be extra vigilant during pregnancy. Your growing fetus and changing body require you to consume extra amounts of certain nutrients, including iron, folate or folic acid, calcium and vitamin D. Iron helps promote red blood cell health and prevents anemia. Adequate calcium intake ensures you have enough to share with your baby and support your bone health. Folate protects your baby from certain neural tube birth defects. Vitamin D supports the growth of your baby's teeth and bones.
Calories
Although weight gain during pregnancy is inevitable, you should not set out to eat just anything. Being pregnant requires just 300 extra calories per day, or an extra 100 calories at each of your three meals. Adding a banana, a glass of low-fat milk or a cup of vegetable soup to lunch are ways to add this 100-calorie boost to lunch.
Foods to Choose
Spinach, beans, asparagus, peanuts and oranges are foods with significant amounts of folate. Milk, fortified juices or soy milk, yogurt, canned salmon with the bones and cheese provide calcium. Fortified cereal, red meat, poultry and pinto beans provide iron. Fatty fish such as salmon provide vitamin D along with heart-healthy omega-3 fats that support your baby's brain development. Fortified juices and milk are other sources of vitamin D.
Sample Meals
A large salad made with baby spinach, orange slices, white beans and olive oil dressing alongside a cup of plain, low-fat yogurt with fresh blueberries is one healthy option. You might also have 3 to 4 oz. of grilled salmon with steamed asparagus, brown rice and a glass of skim milk. You could make tacos with pinto beans, low-fat cheese, sliced avocado and salsa. A smaller, portable meal might include 1 1/2 cups of low-fat cottage cheese with chopped apples and raisins and a handful of whole grain crackers. If you are too tired to prepare a whole meal, you could have a bowl of fortified whole grain cereal with a sliced banana, low-fat milk and orange juice.
Caution
Avoid raw milk and cheese and undercooked meat, fish, poultry and eggs during pregnancy. You also should stay away from fish high in mercury, such as shark and mackerel. Your health care provider might recommend you take a prenatal vitamin to ensure you get all of the nutrients you need because no diet is perfect.
