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Barn Isabelle

Nutritious Food for Pregnant Women

Food for pregnant women should be nutritious and free from dangerous chemicals. This is why it is important to eat seafood with low levels of mercury, as well as organic animal products, fruits and vegetables. These types of foods reduce your likelihood of ingesting toxins that can cross the placenta and jeopardize your unborn baby's health.

Organic Meats, Poultry and Eggs

Industrial farmers use growth hormones to make their animals meatier and to help them produce more milk. The more livestock farmers can shove into their pens and barns, the more money they can make. When animals are packed together, the conditions become filthy and disease-ridden.

To manage the illnesses that occur as a result of crowded and unsanitary conditions, farmers use loads of antibiotics. All of the chemicals used in industrial livestock end up in the food you eat everyday. When you eat these foods while you're pregnant, the toxins can get into your unborn baby's system.

You can reduce the likelihood of ingesting toxic chemicals by buying all of your animal products organic. Organic meat, poultry and eggs may cost a bit more, but they are worth every penny when you consider the damage chemical-laden foods can do to your baby's health.

The standards for natural farming are far more stringent than those of industrial farming. Organic farmers are prohibited from using growth hormones in their animals. And the only time that antibiotics are used is when there is illness present. Since organic farmers keep their animals in non-crowded conditions, they stay healthier, so the use of antibiotics is rarely necessary.

Safe Kinds of Fish

Fish is an excellent source of omega-3. This nutrient is vital for the healthy formation of your unborn baby's brain, retinas and nervous system. Omega-3 can also help reduce your risk of preterm labor and postpartum depression. Over the long-term, exposure to omega-3 in the womb can reduce your child's risks of behavior problems and developmental delays.

Not all types of fish are safe to eat during pregnancy. Some fish contain high levels of mercury that can affect your baby's nervous system. It's especially important to avoid eating large predatory fish such as shark, swordfish and king mackerel when you're expecting.

You can safely eat two 6 oz servings of the following fish:

• anchovies
• caviar
• crab
• whitefish
• ocean perch
• hake
• herring
• sole
• crayfish
• wild salmon
• shrimp
• clams
• tilapia
• oysters
• sardines
• scallops
• butterfish
• rock lobster

Organic Fruits and Vegetables

Industrial fruits and vegetables contain pesticides and herbicides that are used to control pests and diseases. Industrial farmers also use treated sewer-sludge to grow their produce because it's cheaper than natural fertilizers.

Organic fruits and vegetables are much safer for you to eat while you're pregnant because synthetic toxins are not used to grow them. Organic fruits and veggies are also healthier because the farmers use natural fertilizers instead of chemically-treated human waste.

The most important types of fruits and vegetables to buy organic include those with thin skin. Chemicals can easily penetrate this type of produce and affect the entire product. So even if you wash and peel thin-skinned fruits and veggies, you won't get rid of the chemical residue.

Some examples of produce with thin skin include:

• grapes
• peaches
• potatoes
• celery
• strawberries
• pears
• cherries
• nectarines
• apples
• bell peppers

When you're pregnant, every bite of food you put into your mouth should be safe for your unborn baby. Eating organic foods and fish with low mercury levels can help you provide your fetus with the kind of safe nutrition he needs to thrive.

About the Author

Food for pregnant women should be full of nutrition. Learn to follow a nutritious eating program at http://www.whattoeatwhilepregnant.com/.

How often do you ride/go to the barn?

Isabelle Morris's question got me thinking

I take my weekly lessons on Fridays at 5, then I hang out at the barn and help out until 8-8:30 ish. Thursdays are my working student days, so I'm at the barn from 5 until 6:15 on 4-H nights, and 5 until 8-8:30 if I decide to ride. Then on Monday I usually go ride and hang out, and our Monday night trainer has me help her teach lessons. Starting up soon, on Saturdays the barn owner would like me and my sister to come out and help her train 2 little ponies to jump, and I'll probably get a lease ride in on those days, too.

So that makes 3 to 4 times a week

How often do you ride or go to the barn?

I'm at my yard 6 days a week 9am to 5pm. I keep both my ponies there and I work there too. I'm always looking forward to a day off, but when I have one, I get soooo bored and really miss my work friends and my ponies, and all the yard ponies! i have a day off today and have spent most of my day trawling through y!a. xxx

Disco EM 2010- Singel Barn, Isabelle Fagerberg

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 7:21 pm and is filed under bedding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.