Women are gifted because they have chances to experience pregnancy because pregnancy itself is a beautiful and wonderful gift directly given and blessed by the Mighty God Himself. For mothers to be, during pregnancy they will experience a wonderful time not only when the baby bump is starting to appear but also the connection created that only mothers and the babies could understand. That is why during pregnancy, a mother should eat only the best foods, listen to the best music, free from stress and be loved by people around her.
The Best Food during Pregnancy
When it comes to the list of the best foods for mothers during pregnancy the list will be very long. It is essential that mothers should take all the health benefits of diet high in fruits and vegetables but there is also one food that mothers should have in daily basis because this kind food brings a lot of benefits both for the mothers and the babies. What do you know about the health benefits of fish diet during pregnancy? Do you know why the Jewish always give birth to smart children? Why most of Japanese are so smart? It is because they add fish to their daily diet especially during pregnancy.
Types of Fish Recommended during Pregnancy
There are a lot of types of fish but not all of them are recommended to be consumed during pregnancy. Some parts of fish are also forbidden to be consumed for pregnant mothers. To learn more about which fish that are good for pregnancy, the list below may answer your question.
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Sardines
- Mackerel
- Catfish
Those are the top five fish recommended for mother to eat during pregnancy. Those types of fish are quite easy to find and packed with nutrients that bring a lot of benefits for both mother and the babies. Below is the list of health benefits of fish during pregnancy you should know.
For Mothers
- Controls Weight Gain
During pregnancy a mother is recommended to eat often but in small portion. In other words, snacking is okay during pregnancy but if you are not careful, weight gain is another problem you should face. So, instead of consuming unhealthy food, you could add fish to help you controlling the weight gain.
- Reduces the Risk of Gestational Diabetes
There are a lot of types of diabetes and gestational diabetes is one type that suffered only by women during pregnancy. Fish contains healthy fat such as omega 3 fatty acids health benefits that could help reducing the risk of gestational diabetes by controlling the blood sugar level.
- Optimizes the RBC Production
Fish is an excellent source of mineral especially iron that has prominent function to optimize the production of red blood cells. Red blood cells are essential for the development of the fetus and also to maintain the health of the mother during pregnancy.
- Improves Appetite
Morning sickness is the shortcut to wipe out the appetite. A mother should not fall to this trap because no matter what babies need nutrient to grow inside the womb. You could add fish to your daily diet to help improving the appetite. Besides, fish could be cooked in several ways and very tasty.
- Excellent Source of Healthy Fat
Though fat is closely associated with weight gain and unhealthy habit but still fat is essential for human body to produce energy. During pregnancy, mothers will suffer fatigue and get tired easily. Consuming fish regularly will make sure mothers have enough energy without worrying of the side effect of excessive fats in their body.
- High in Protein
What do you know about the health benefits of protein? Without protein, muscle will lose its mass and strength. It is a common knowledge that fish is super high in protein and during pregnancy protein is essential for mothers.
- Reduce the Risk of Post-Partum Depression
Some studies have proven that there is a strong connection between the regular consumption of fish with the reduction risk of post-partum depression since fish is packed with omega 3 fatty acids that could help reducing the symptoms of depression.
For Babies
- Good for the Development of Nerve System
The first trimester is the most important time for the fetus; during this time brain and nerve system are under development. Consuming foods rich of omega 3 and folic acids are highly recommended and fish is among the foods recommended to eat during this period.
- Excellent for Brain
The reason why the health benefits of omega 3 fish oil is good for babies is because it is excellent for brain. It could help optimizing the brain development since the babies are still in the womb.
- Reduces the Risk of Baby Born with Birth Defect
Birth defect, miscarriage and premature birth are things that should be avoided. Consuming fish rich of omega 3 fatty acids could help reducing the risk.
- May Improves the IQ
Though there are some studies that are not seeing the direct connection between fish-consumer mothers to the IQ improvements to the kids but more studies showed significant result that mothers who are regular consumer of fish are likely to have smarter and higher IQ of kids.
- Good for Cognitive Development
Not only the nerve system and brain development, the cognitive development should be a main concern of parents. Regular consumption of fish is also good for children cognitive development.
Cautions of Eating Fish during Pregnancy
Though there are a lot of health benefits of fish during pregnancy but there are some cautions you should aware because fish is vulnerable to the mercury contamination. So, to be in the safe side, learning about the cautions below may save a lot of lives.
- Choose fish with the lowest level of mercury contamination such as salmon and avoid fish in the higher or predator level like shark because the risk of being contaminated by mercury is higher.
- It is probably impossible to avoid mercury at all cost, that is why consuming fish in moderate amount is highly recommended because mercury could cause critical mental and brain development problems if entering human body in high dosage.
- Some studies also found out the link between mercury and some heart problem in children during development time.
- Be aware of allergic reaction you may suffer after consuming some varieties of fish. Contact your doctor immediately when the reactions appear.
From the list of cautions above surely you should know from where your fish came from. It is better to buy fish from respectable supplier only and you have to make sure to buy fresh fish instead of the frozen ones. If it is difficult to find fresh fish you could choose canned fish as the best alternative solution because it is a much better option than the frozen ones.