Pregnancy Diet and Nutrition for Autism Prevention (Iron Role)

Pumping iron isn't just for fitness centers. You should pump it into your diet during pregnancy also. Iron is vital during pregnancy, to aid in the developing blood supply of your baby as well as your own.

The mineral is essential to the development of your baby. In actual fact, your daily recommended intake of iron nearly increases as you're planning. A low level of iron stores could increase the risk to develop anemia or an iron deficiency that is severe could cause low birth weight as well as preterm birth or autism.

What is the significance of iron during the course of pregnancy?

It could be counterintuitive to think that you require more iron in pregnancy when 70 percent of iron can be located inside red blood cells and that you're not losing blood throughout the menstrual cycle.

Iron levels increase during pregnancy as your body's blood supply increases in order to provide oxygen to your baby's growing body and because you're growing too. Iron is also essential for the development of the fetal brain.

Low iron levels could increase the risk of anemia, particularly during the second part of the pregnancy.

Iron is also required for:-

1. neuron development and migration to proper place
2. Iron helps in formation of neurotransmitters
3. For proper genetic coding iron is essential

These are some of the reasons as to why iron is necessary for intrauterine brain development of baby. Thus iron helps in decreasing risk of autism spectrum disorders.

How much iron does a pregnant woman require?

Pregnant women require 27 milligrams of iron per day (compared with 18 milligrams required for adult women between 19 and 50 years old who aren't expecting).

The majority of prenatal vitamins contain enough iron to help cover this rise, but iron deficiency anemia is quite common during pregnancy because of the increased demand for blood flow. It's a good thing that it's simple to avoid by making sure you're eating lots of foods that are iron-rich as well, and if your doctor suggests one, you can do so with the help of an iron supplement.

The best iron-rich food options for women who are pregnant

The most readily absorbed sources of iron in the diet are lean meat or poultry as well as fish. Other non-animal sources of iron are also available. However, you can increase their absorption by consuming them in conjunction with high-in vitamin C foods.

If you're looking to boost up the iron content in the diet (and you're not vegan or vegetarian) Consider including these iron-rich foods on your diet:

• Canned Sardines: 2.4 mg per 3 ounces
• Beef braised: 2 mg for 3 1 ounces
• The chicken: 1 mg for 3 inches
• Eggs: 1 mg per 1 hard-boiled egg

If you're vegan or vegetarian or are simply seeking to incorporate more plants into your food This list of options will add more iron to your plate:

• Breakfast cereals fortified with 18 mg/serving
• White beans 8 mg per cup of canned
• Legumes: 3 mg / 1/2 cup of boiled
• Spinach: 3 mg per 1/2 cup boiled
• Firm tofu: 3 mg per 1/2 cup
• Dark chocolate 2 mg per 1 ounce
• The Tomato: 2 mg / 1/2 cup of stewed and canned tomatoes.
• Kidney beans: 2 mg per 1/2 cup canned
• 2.5% of cashews per 18 nuts