Keeping healthy during your pregnancy decreases your risk of illness and birth complications. Here are some ideas for keeping healthy while you’re pregnant:
Stop Smoking: during pregnancy, poisonous chemicals in cigarettes are transferred to your baby. Smoking while pregnant increases the chances of your child being stillborn or having serious birth defects. You should also avoid inhaling secondhand smoke.
Maintain a Healthy Diet: What you put in your body keeps you and your baby healthy and happy. Your daily diet should include two servings of fruits and five servings of vegetables, a serving of high-protein food, some low-fat, calcium-rich dairy and low-GI carbohydrates, to keep you and baby fit and healthy.
Brush Your Teeth: you might notice your gums become swollen and tender, and bleed when you brush your teeth. The pregnancy hormones cause irritation to your gums, leading to “pregnancy gingivitis”. Good dental hygiene can combat pregnancy gingivitis, so brush your teeth twice daily with USANA Sense Natural Whitening Toothpaste and a soft toothbrush, floss regularly, and see your dentist if you experience any pain
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Take Vitamin Supplements: No matter how well you eat, you may not get all the necessary nutrients your baby needs from food alone. Essential vitamins and minerals during pregnancy include folic acid, iron, vitamin C, omega-fats and vitamin D.Folic acid is particularly important during pregnancy, preventing spina bifida and other harmful diseases and birth defects. You can obtain folic acid from vegetables, cereals, certain breads and brown rice, or a nutritional supplement like USANA Essentials which contain 500 mcg of folic acid.
USANA’s nutritional products complement your diet to provide the daily nutrition and antioxidants needed for baby and mum.
Exercise: Keeping yourself active helps your body to adjust to pregnancy. Just 20 minutes of exercise each day will improve blood circulation, strengthen your spine and help you keep your figure after the birth.
Any exercise you undertake should be light and low-impact. Ask your doctor or fitness instructor what kinds of exercises are the best for you.