Planning
Diet & getting pregnant
This article may help answer:
What are the best foods to eat when trying to get pregnant?
What are the foods to avoid while trying to conceive?
How do I get enough folic acid, iron and iodine?
Find out more:
Did you know that for the best chance to conceive it’s important for both parents to eat a balanced and healthy pre pregnancy diet? The right foods contain nutrients that give women energy and optimum health – an environment we need to conceive – but can also give men a boost when it comes to their fertility and sperm health.
Here are some nutrition guidelines for what you need to eat every day to reach the recommended nutrient intake for the best opportunity to conceive:
- Folic acid (or folate): around 700g of cooked spinach or 15 slices of bread. Guideline for Folate (Folic acid) in pregnancy is 600 mcg/day.
- Iodine: around 200g of oysters or 6 eggs. Guideline for Iodine in pregnancy is 220 mcg/day.
- Iron: around 900g of red meat or 250g of chicken livers. Guideline for Iron in pregnancy is 27 mcg/day,
- Vitamin D: Vitamin D3 mainly comes from animal sources such as liver and oily fish, as well as egg yolk. Some manufactured foods are enriched with vitamin D like breads, cereals and milk products. Sunshine is another natural source of vitamin D, though care needs to be taken with how much time you spend in the sun16. Guideline for vitamin D in pregnancy is 5 ug/day.
- Choline: around 3 hard boiled eggs. Guideline for Choline in pregnancy is 440 mg/day.
- Omega-3 DHA: around 15 grams of salmon
Hitting these recommended targets can be tricky with food alone, but don’t worry. This is where Elevit Pre-conception & Pregnancy multivitamin can help. Taking an Elevit pregnancy multivitamin daily is a simple way to get a large variety of the micronutrients you you need to meet the RDI (recommended daily intake) guidelines to support you with a healthy pregnancy.
And if you aren't reaching your recommended serves of DHA or Choline each day you may like to learn more about Elevit DHA & Choline pregnancy.
Guidelines for above micro-nutrient requirements in pregnancy are taken from National Health and Medical Research Council. Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand Including Recommended Dietary Intakes, 2006.
Estimates based on Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Australian Food Composition Database (January 2022. Available at https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/afcd/pages/default.aspx).
It’s time to plate up! Piling your plate with the right foods won’t only give you the best chances of a healthy conception, it will also make you feel great. Here’s what to stock up on:
Fibre-rich carbs – Think veggies, fresh fruit and grains. And remember, the more colourful the plate – red capsicum, orange carrots, green spinach - the greater range of vitamins and minerals you’re getting.
Dairy – Keep the sugar content under control by choosing plain Greek yoghurt over ice-cream or sugar-filled, flavoured versions.
Choose organic – Pesticides may affect delicate hormone balances and male sperm production, so where possible choose whole foods, unprocessed (or minimally processed) foods such as fruit and vegetables, meat, eggs and legumes, and dairy.
Alcohol and caffeine – choose water or decaf when you can. If you can’t live without your coffee, limit your intake to 200mg per day, which is about two espressos or 3-5 cups of tea. You should also avoid energy drinks.
Foods that may contain listeria – deli favourites such as soft cheese, pate, cold meats, pre-prepared salads, raw or smoked fish and raw eggs contain listeria and should be avoided.
The medium rare option – Ask for meat to be cooked all the way through to reduce the risk of bacteria-caused infection.
Fish – Aim for 2-3 serves of fish per week, but avoid types that contain high levels of mercury, including roughly (deep sea perch), catfish, flake (shark), swordfish and marlin.
You’ve read advice on:
The benefit of Elevit Pre-conception & Pregnancy multivitamin daily
The best foods to eat when trying to get pregnant
Drinks and food to avoid while trying to conceive
Nutrient guidelines for pregnancy
