If you're wondering: what should I eat if I have preeclampsia?
Worry no more!
In today's episode of Nourish, I'm going to update you on the latest evidence on nutrition
for pre-eclampsia.
Stay tuned!
You probably know by now that pre-eclampsia is pregnancy complication characterised by
high blood pressure.
And, typical dietary strategies for high blood pressure include a low salt diet and a calorie-controlled
diet to help optimise weight.
BUT current guidelines DON'T recommend these two dietary strategies for pre-eclampsia unless
undertaken under the supervision of a health care professional.
Why's that?
Reducing your salt intake rapidly can cause your fluid levels to drop which can be harmful
to your baby.
You certainly want to avoid high salt foods like pizza and potato chips, but it's not
recommended to follow a super low salt diet.
And, rapid weight loss is not recommended during pregnancy as you could starve your
baby of nutrition.
Saying that, if you have pre-eclampsia, it is very important that you monitor your calorie
intake to make sure that you're not gaining excessive weight during your pregnancy, as
this could make things worse.
So, what should you eat if you have preeclampsia?
Well, because preeclampsia often causes problems to your circulation, it can reduce the amount
of nutrients that your baby is getting.
So, it's more important than ever to eat a nutrient-rich diet.
Include plenty of healthy foods like wholegrains, fish, nuts, legumes, fruit, vegetables and
dairy products.
However, there's three key nutrients that I'd recommend that you focus on....
Number one - antioxidants.
Research suggests that antioxidant rich foods such as fruits and vegetables are particularly
important to reduce oxidative stress caused by preeclampsia, so ensure that you have a
variety of different coloured fruit and veg each day, as this is indicative of eating
a variety of different antioxidants.
Number two - omega 3.
As I mentioned earlier, preeclampsia can impact the amount of nutrition that your baby gets,
so animal studies have found that preeclampsia can impact your babies brain development compared
to babies of mothers who don't have preeclampsia.
This means that brain-building nutrients such as omega 3 are particularly important if you
have pre-eclampsia.
Fish is one of the best sources of omega 3, so ensure that you're eating low mercury,
omega 3 rich fish two to three times per week during the rest of your pregnancy.
And, number three - calcium.
Research shows that adequate calcium intake is one of the best preventatives for developing
preeclampsia, and although I couldn't find any studies specifically looking at the impact
of calcium for women who already have it, it makes sense that it would be helpful for
mums who have pre-eclampsia to help prevent it from getting any worse.
Although the reasons why calcium is so beneficial are still unclear, it's thought to be related
to relaxing the blood vessels so that they don't pump blood around your body so quickly.
Obviously milk, yoghurt and cheese are some of the best sources of calcium, so aim for
two to three serves every day - but just make sure that you avoid cheeses which have a high
listeria risk such as feta.
Now, to make things a little easier for you, I've developed a free pregnancy meal plan.
Just go to www.melaniemcgrice.com/pregnancy to download it.
And make sure you subscribe so that you receive my weekly videos to help keep you focused
on having the healthiest pregnancy that you can.
In the mean time, check out some of my other Nourish videos such as 'Is caffeine safe during
pregnancy?' and 'What to eat when your baby is small for gestational age'.
I'll see you in my next video!