Choosing safe and quality nutrition for pregnancy is something that every pregnant mother cares about. Nutritional cereals are considered the perfect food source to meet the needs of pregnant mothers. So specifically, what are the benefits of nutritional cereals for pregnant women and how to choose them? The following article will answer those questions in detail for pregnant mothers to refer to.
1. Benefits of nutritional cereals for pregnant women
- Preventing cardiovascular problems: Most nutritional cereals for pregnant women contain insoluble fats that are good for the healthy development of the fetus. On the other hand, this is also a source of fat that can reduce the amount of cholesterol that is harmful to pregnancy, so it will help pregnant women prevent cardiovascular problems that may occur during pregnancy.
- Preventing constipation, diabetes and preeclampsia: Constipation is a common condition that many pregnant women experience throughout their pregnancy. The main cause is poor digestive function. The fiber content in nutritional cereals for pregnant women is relatively high, so it will help the intestines function more smoothly, thereby helping pregnant women limit the risk of constipation. Not only that, maintaining cereals during pregnancy is also a way for pregnant women to stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent intestinal problems. On average, if pregnant mothers supplement 24g of cereals per day, it will help prevent the risk of preeclampsia.
- Prevent premature birth: Premature births are often caused by a lack of folic acid, cereals can provide this substance, so supplementing cereals will help mothers prevent premature birth, miscarriage, prevent birth defects or neurological problems that may occur in the fetus.
- Blood supplementation: Being anemic during pregnancy makes pregnant mothers dizzy, tired, lethargic, dizzy and can cause fetal malformations. Supplementing iron with nutritious cereals will help pregnant mothers’ bodies produce hormones in red blood cells and prevent the risk of anemia.
- Improve skin beauty: Due to hormonal disorders and hormonal changes during pregnancy, pregnant women often have dark skin, melasma, acne on the skin, etc. Nutritional cereals for pregnant women are rich in vitamins and calcium, especially vitamin E, which helps beautify the skin, so they will improve elasticity so that pregnant women have smooth, bright skin.
- Limit weight gain: A cereal diet helps pregnant women feel full faster and longer, so it also limits the intake of more food into the body due to cravings. This helps prevent uncontrolled weight gain that causes overweight for pregnant women while still providing the necessary vitamins for pregnancy.
- Reduce bad cholesterol: Because the fat in cereals is a good fat, it helps reduce bad cholesterol during pregnancy. In fact, many pregnant women, due to the mentality of wanting to nourish as much as possible for pregnancy, eat uncontrolled, which causes consequences such as being overweight, diabetes, fatty blood, etc., affecting the health of both pregnant women and fetuses. To reduce the source of bad fat in the body, pregnant women can supplement fat from cereals. This not only ensures pregnancy nutrition but also helps the body avoid bad cholesterol.
2. Notes when choosing and using nutritious cereals for pregnant women
Nutritious cereals for pregnant women bring many benefits as mentioned above, so pregnant women can choose a meal of the day with their favorite cereals.
When using this food, pregnant mothers should also note:
- Research to choose to buy cereals from reputable brands: There are many types of cereals sold on the market, but not all sources are guaranteed. Therefore, to ensure safety during pregnancy, pregnant mothers should research carefully to buy from reputable brands, this will help mothers buy quality nutritional products that do not contain preservatives that affect pregnancy.
Buy unflavored, sugar-free cereals: Almost all cereals do not cause weight gain for pregnant mothers if they buy the right pure type and use the right amount. If you can buy the type that does not contain synthetic flavors and sugar, it is even better for your health. - Mix cereals with warm water: If you use powdered cereals, mix them with warm water to avoid clumping. Do not mix them with cold water because it does not retain the natural aroma and nutrients of the cereal. Diluting the cereal will help pregnant mothers feel easier to drink.
- Use in moderation: Do not overuse cereals during pregnancy because excess can also cause gestational diabetes.
- Healthy processing: Processing is a factor that greatly affects the nutritional composition of food. Therefore, when eating cereal foods, pregnant mothers should prioritize processing by steaming, boiling, baking with olive oil to ensure that the inherent nutrition of this food is not lost.
- Combined with a diverse and complete diet: Nutritional cereals for pregnant women have very good benefits for pregnancy, but that does not mean that they can replace other foods. Therefore, in addition to supplementing cereals, pregnant mothers still need to maintain a diverse and nutritious diet to avoid nutritional deficiencies that can have a negative impact on pregnancy.
The above sharing hopefully will help pregnant mothers understand the correct uses and know how to use nutritional cereals for pregnant women effectively and have a healthy diet to confidently take care of their pregnancy, waiting for the day their baby is born.