The Brain Gain: Eggs and a Healthy Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a great time to feed the brain – baby’s brain, that is. Brain development for babies starts right after conception. This means the brain gain – the lifelong benefits your baby enjoys from good nutrition during fetal development –starts early.
If you are pregnant or just thinking of starting a family, read on….
Egg Nutrients and Baby’s Brain
Maybe it’s not surprising that eggs deliver critical brain nutrients your baby needs for healthy development. Take a look at these top 3:
1 – Choline in eggs supports a developing nervous system and brain. If you’re pregnant, your recommended choline intake goes up to 450 mg/day. (It goes even higher when you’re breastfeeding.) Two eggs (252 mg choline) provide more than half your recommended daily choline intake.
2 – Folacin (also called folate or folic acid) rates as a game-changer in pregnancy nutrition. Starting right away in the first trimester of pregnancy, folacin helps protect your baby’s developing nervous system from neural tube defects, explains the American Dietetic Association in its position paper on nutrition and healthy pregnancy.
As your pregnancy progresses, folacin continues to protect against other birth defects as well. Eggs are a reliable source of folacin in your diet. Experts say pregnant women, on average, are running low.
3 – Iron is a key nutrient, too, because pregnancy requires building up the blood supply. Red blood cells use iron to deliver oxygen to mom and baby. Just think of iron as the growth nutrient.
About 3 out of 10 pregnant moms aren’t getting enough iron, says the American Dietetic Association. Iron-deficiency anemia is common in pregnancy. It can lead to low birth weight and other risks.
Egg yolks give you iron in a form that’s easy for your body to absorb and use. They’re a great complement to a healthy eating plan.
Making Eggs Safe for Pregnancy
During pregnancy, you and your baby are at higher risk for foodborne illness. So, attention to egg safety keeps you both safe and healthy. Pasteurized eggs, just like pasteurized milk and cheeses, are great choices for healthy eating.
Check out the Safe Eggs website for more nutrition info on Safest Choice eggs, and visit the Moms & pregnancy page of the Safe Eggs website for wellness tips during pregnancy.
Happy growing!
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Thank you for the comment! We’re glad you found this post topic interesting. Yes, we feel the American Dietetic Association is a very reliable source for information on nutrition.