Your Ultimate Guide to a Diet Plan to Get Pregnant
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Pregnancy is a gift to humanity and should be taken care of to ensure a healthy child. To get pregnant, it is important to lead a healthy and nutritious life for both the mother and the father. Especially the mother has to maintain a good diet plan to get pregnant easily without much artificial interference.
Nutrition is one of the most important aspects to maintain while one is trying to get pregnant. Nutrition, along with governing the entire health of a being, also determines the overall health of the female reproductive system, i.e., the health of the egg (ovum) and the uterine environment, and ensures a coordinated menstrual cycle. Thus, nutrition can directly affect one’s fertility.
There is no specific food that would miraculously determine pregnancy; a generalized healthy diet should be followed to maintain overall health.
Also Read: Pregnancy Diet Chart for Women -7 Days Diet Plan
Essential Food Items for Conceiving: Enhance Your Diet Plan to Get Pregnant
- Folic acid and Folate: Folic acid or Vitamin B9 is a well-known and important nutrient required during pregnancy and for a healthy conception. It is advised to intake around 400-600 µg of folate daily to prevent any neuronal defects in the baby.
- Fortified Cereals: In today’s generation, many fortified cereal options contain a higher content of folic acid.
- Green leafy vegetables: Vegetables like spinach, kale, cabbage, and lettuce are healthy and tasty options that add to the daily vitamin B9.
- Berries: Fruits like blueberries, strawberries, and other citrus fruits like lemons and oranges are also recommended to maintain healthy reproductive health before conception.
- Iron: It is a micronutrient that everyone needs in moderation. However, pre-pregnant and pregnant women need to ensure healthy fetal health. Often, women undergoing preconception check-ups are screened for iron deficiency. Hence, a proper iron content should be maintained even before pregnancy.
- Fortified cereals: Cereals like iron-infused cornflakes and oats are available and should be considered.
- Spinach: It is a good source of folate and iron.
- Lean meat: Meat sources like fish and chicken are easier on the gut but help attain daily iron and protein requirements.
- High-Fiber diet: A high-fiber diet ensures one is fuller for longer than normal. Consumption of such food helps lower any risk of developing gestational diabetes, as per research.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Raw fruits like bananas, berries, apples, oranges are high in dietary fiber. They are easily available in the Indian market. They can be eaten raw or prepared into a bowl of fresh fruit salad and consumed to maintain better reproductive health for the mothers-to-be. Along with fruits, vegetables, oats, and lentils are also high in fiber and can be consumed regularly.
- Whole grains: Like whole wheat roti and parathas, pasta should be chosen over flour. It would help maintain healthier gut health before conception.
- Beans: Items like rajma, black, and labia beans can be easily added to the daily Indian diet.
- A low-fat diet is to be followed: Bad fat like deep-fried items like oil cake fries should be avoided as much as possible. However, other fat options like nuts and almonds should be included in the diet.
- Zinc: Its supplements are often taken by preconception mothers and help in a safe conception and a safe and sound pregnancy in the future as well.
- Seafood: Proper cleaning and cooking could be a tasty and healthy option. It has the highest source of zinc.
- Fish: It is a white meat source that is highly consumed across India.
- Omega-3 fatty acids: Even though supplements are available, they are best consumed via diet.
- Nuts & seeds: Walnuts, macadamia nuts, and seeds like flax seeds and pumpkin seeds can be easily added to smoothies and oatmeal.
- Protein: Daily protein requirements should be maintained for a proper and healthier conception. However, the protein quantity should depend on physical activity and digestive ability.
- Chicken: It is a type of lean white meat that can be easily digested by the gut and is easy on the pocket.
- Fish: Fish is a major source of protein in certain parts of India, such as the west and east coasts.
Such points are to be considered while preparing and consuming one’s daily meals. However, it might become overwhelming for someone who is trying to be healthy to ensure a safe and easier conception. For such reasons, one should consider a board-certified dietician or nutritionist like Dietician Rukhsana Azhar. They are trained specially to provide such diet charts, keeping all the necessary health aspects and conditions in mind. Also, one can trust articles like these, frequently posted by DIET4UWELLNESS, for additional guidance. A 7-day diet plan has been provided to help all the would-be mothers, and they can be referred without any worry.
Optimize Your Fertility: A Comprehensive Diet Plan to Get Pregnant
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
| Monday | It could include one whole banana along with one omelette. It can be paired with a glass of milk (considering the woman concerned is not lactose intolerant). | A bowl of rice paired with a mixed-vegetable sabji along with freshly cut salads like cucumber, carrots, onions and tomatoes would make an excellent balanced lunch. To add to the protein content, it would be best to have a bowl of curd or yoghurt. | Dinner: 2 rotis along with a bowl of chicken curry and freshly cut green salad. This would be protein-rich but fairly lighter dinner. |
| Tuesday | A bowl of oatmeal, garnished with crushed nuts and seeds. This would give the woman both good-fat and protein sources, to start the day. | A bowl of rice paired with egg curry and black beans. It would be a protein rich diet. | A bowl of rice along with paneer sabji, a bowl of lentil dal. The dinner could be ended on a sweeter note, by having a piece of nut-fudge cookies without any refined sugar. |
| Wednesday | The day can be started with a bowl of fortified cereals which contains more iron than the normal cereal bowls. It can be complemented with fresh fruits like grapes and a few berries. | A bowl of rice with palak (spinach) paneer (palak would provide iron and paneer has protein) along with lean meat sources like fish curry. A bowl of curd would add the required probiotics, thus maintaining a healthier gut health. | On days with less appetite, one can easily go for a bowl of healthy dalia with vegetables like beans, carrots and potatoes. Its rich in carbohydrate, hence it’s best to have a glass of milk right before bed-time. |
| Thursday | One can also opt for age-old Indian breakfast options like poha with cashew nuts, walnuts and garnished with freshly cut onions. It’s a carbohydrate mainly meal and the nuts in it, would give the good-fat content and the onions would give it a crunch. | A bowl of rice with rajma curry and mixed vegetable sabji. | 2 rotis with a bowl of curd and soya-bean curry. The curd will act as a relief in the summer months and would be a great alternative to ice-creams. |
| Friday | Masala oats with vegetables paired with one fresh orange. | A bowl of rice along with fish curry and mixed-vegetable sabji. A perfectly balanced lunch. | To amp up the dinner on the last day of the week, one can opt for fenugreek parathas without butter, paired with home-made pickle. It would be a treat after an week of strict diet. The pickle would give the good bacteria. |
| Saturday | A bowl of fruit salad along with a glass of warm milk. | A bowl of rice along with paneer sabji and egg curry. | 2 rotis along with chicken stew packed with vegetables. |
| Sunday | A bowl of oats garnished with cut bananas, berries and pumpkin seeds on the top. | A bowl of rice along with rajma curry paired with fish curry and green salad. | 2 rotis along with chicken curry, a bowl of greek-yoghurt topped with blueberries and grapes. |
What should you avoid if you are trying to get pregnant?
Avoid smoking: Smoking or chewing tobacco is extremely harmful to anyone and everyone. It causes cancer and deteriorates one’s health by an exponential factor.
Avoid alcohol consumption: People often fall for the myth that regulated consumption of alcohol is beneficial for health. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Alcohol is equally bad for health and is a big source of addiction. It directly affects the liver, leading to declining liver health.
Avoid seafood: It is best to avoid seafood like oysters and squids. They are hardly cleaned and washed properly before being served and directly cause food poisoning or serious diarrhea.
Limit fried, baked, and fast food: Eating fried and baked items like oil fritters and chips is tempting, as they’re easily available and tastier than regular home food. However, they are filled with unhealthy oils and fats, which would increase bad cholesterol levels in the blood, thus complicating matters before and even during pregnancy.
For more information about diet plans for getting pregnant, contact us.
FAQs Related to Diet Plan To Get Pregnant
Is a protein-rich diet needed to conceive?
Yes, a protein-rich diet is extremely important to prepare your body for a future conception and make it strong enough to house the needs of a fetus.
Is regular exercise important to get pregnant?
Yes, regular exercise is important for everyone. For conception, regular exercise would help with easier digestion and weight management.
Do I need to avoid red meat?
Yes, red meat like beef and mutton should be avoided. They are very high in fat and often can spike the cholesterol levels.
Can I still consume seafood?
SeafoodSea foods can still be consumed, but only if they are cleaned properly and cooked homely.
Should I consult a dietician?
It is always advised to consult a renowned dietician to make things easy and follow their diet plan for better reproductive health.
Hello My Name is Dt. Ruksana Azhar and I am a certified dietician and providing online & offline services for Weight Management, PCOS/PCOD Management, Diabetes Management , etc. I have 12+ years of experience in the Apollo Hospital Delhi , Max Super Specialty Hospital Delhi, Lilavati Hospital Mumbai and VLCC healthcare Mumbai. I loves to write healthcare and lifestyle related blog. My favorite part of being a doctor is the opportunity to directly improve the health and wellbeing of my patients and to develop professional and personal relationships with them.
