Healthy nutrition for mother and child

Organically grown food and a balanced biorhythm guarantee optimal supply

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, it is especially important to pay attention to your body and its needs. Regional foods and seasonal produce are crucial for a varied diet that respects your biorhythm and provides enough plant-based bioactive substances.

Smart selection for optimal care
Pregnancy and breastfeeding provide many months in which the diet is refined, perhaps thoroughly reconsidered or even reorganized: "You feel more intensely what you eat and how you eat, simply because your body reacts sensitively to nutrients and vital substances," says the well-known nutrition expert and guide author Dr. Barbara Rias-Bucher.
Together with the former university professor of gynecology, Prof. Dr. Ingrid Gerhard, she has written a nutritional guide that helps expectant mothers to choose foods wisely in order to provide themselves and their baby with all the nutrients they need. The two authors also incorporate their medical and naturopathic knowledge, because anything that disrupts the biorhythm can also harm the baby. In particular, organic quality should be considered when buying food, as it is less contaminated with environmental toxins than industrially processed products.

Organic quality during pregnancy
Studies on environmentally friendly agriculture have shown that organic products contain more nutrients and healthy fats than industrially processed food. Two other reasons make regional organic fruit and vegetables particularly valuable for pregnant women: Firstly, organically grown plants produce more healthy bioactive substances. Secondly, the fresher the plant-based foods are, the better they can be utilized - a clear argument for cooking and eating according to the season and from the region. What grows here can be harvested ripe, tastes better, is easier to digest and is often even beneficial for pregnancy-related problems.
Vegetables, fruit, potatoes, herbs and salad from regional cultivation are also usually less contaminated with pollutants because the regulations in Germany are stricter than in other countries. In general, organic products contain fewer environmental toxins than conventionally grown products. Since the detoxification systems only mature during childhood, babies and toddlers react much more sensitively to environmental toxins than adults. Many expectant mothers are sensitized to ecological problems - this heightened awareness does not have to lead to a vegetarian diet or vegan lifestyle - it is enough to shop in a targeted and informed manner.

Nutrition in biorhythm
Pregnancy is the beginning of a time when women perceive their bodies with particularly keen senses. They experience how their emotions sometimes go on a rollercoaster ride. This is all a result of the hormonal changes, which can initially throw the biorhythm completely out of balance: "Pregnancy is not an illness, but a completely natural, blissful state. If you listen to yourself and learn to understand your biorhythm even better, you will increase your well-being and that of your child." During pregnancy, the immune system is weakened due to the hormonal changes, so the two authors advise paying particular attention to hygiene when cooking.
The recipe section of the guide contains 70 recipes for small dishes to replenish energy reserves and main dishes to fill you up. There are vegetarian options as well as light dishes with fish or poultry. All meals must be rich in vital nutrients, combined with protein, complex carbohydrates and a small amount of healthy fat in order to be prepared against nausea, exhaustion and blood sugar fluctuations during pregnancy.

Book tip:
Prof. Dr. Ingrid Gerhard / Dr. Barbara Rias-Bucher: Eating properly during pregnancy and breastfeeding - tips for a varied, wholesome diet - 70 recipes for simple mini and maxi dishes - 30 recipes for savory and sweet baby food. Mankau Verlag, 1st edition October 2016, flexi-brochure, full color, 174 pages, 15.95 euros (D) / 16.40 euros (A), ISBN 978-3-86374-308-6.

Link recommendations:
More information on the guide "Eating properly during pregnancy and breastfeeding"
To the reading sample in PDF format
More about the author Prof. Dr. Ingrid Gerhard
More about the author Dr. Barbara Rias-Bucher
To the Internet forum with the authors