Nutritional Needs for Moms: Fueling Your Body for Optimal Health

By Jenny Tschiesche

This Mother’s Day we would like to celebrate every stage of motherhood by helping you understand your changing nutritional needs as you move from hopeful mum to empty nester. There are some distinct nutritional considerations that should be made at each stage.

Also, get 30% off our selected Mother's Day range mentioned in this article with code MOTHER30.

Code valid till 19/03/2023 11:59 pm

The Hopeful Mum

Nutrition is hugely important for women who want to get pregnant. Firstly, the following nutrients have been proven to help women become pregnant naturally: folic acid, vitamin B-12, and omega 3. Furthermore, consumption of sugar and sweet drinks has been linked to lower fertility. Studies show that women who consume higher amounts of fast food and low amounts of fruit take longer to become pregnant than those with healthier diets.

Furthermore, couples who eat more seafood become pregnant sooner than those rarely eating seafood. It is recommended that you try and consume 2 to 3 servings of lower mercury fish such as salmon/scallop/prawns per week.
Finally, try to maintain a healthy weight and if using a multivitamin make sure it is one with a low level of or no vitamin A as this can interfere with the development of a baby if you were to become pregnant. Nutriburst’s women’s multi contains 100% of your folic acid needs, no vitamin A and 400% of your vitamin B-12 needs.

Mum to Be

Congratulations! Your needs from now on change. Your nutrition is of upmost importance. You need to make sure you’re not just eating for yourself but also providing nutrition to your baby.

Eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet and start taking a pre-natal multi vitamin and mineral. Make sure that your food is safe. Stick to hard cheeses, made from pasteurised milk. Enjoy fish, but no longer shellfish and ensure chicken, pork and beef is cooked through, and be especially careful with poultry, sausages, and burgers. Avoid liver and liver products, as well as all types of pates and game meat, such as goose, partridge, or pheasant.

Mum and Baby

This is a whole new stage entirely. First of all, you need to think about optimising sleep as you will be doing without and when you do get the chance, it’s best to be able to grab it with both hands. Try and consume the foods known to support sleep such as wholegrains, seeds, nuts, poultry, fish and dairy. Furthermore, if you are breastfeeding then bear in mind, you will need to eat more calories to meet the nutritional demands, in fact, an additional 330 to 400 kcal per day is recommended for well-nourished breastfeeding mothers compared with the amount they were consuming before pregnancy. Note, Nutriburst‘ s women’s multivitamin contains both iodine and choline which are required in increased amounts during lactation. Choline can also be found in dairy as well as in protein food groups, such as eggs, meats, beans, peas, and lentils. Also, iodine can be found in eggs, dairy products, and seafood.

Mum with Children

At this stage of life, you will need enough energy to keep up with the kids. Try to have a home-cooked meal every evening but also using a multivitamin as a foundation can be helpful. B vitamins may well be depleted due to heightened stress levels, and ashwagandha can be useful in reducing stress and anxiety. If you are feeling rundown, then you may well want to support your immune system. Nutriburst have a range of gummy supplements and at this stage of life you may find it beneficial to combine the Triple Immunity and Ashwagandha KSM-66®. 

Mum with Teenagers

Be aware that your teenagers’ nutritional needs increase during their teenage years as they start to become young adults, so they’ll be eating a lot more food than you need to eat. Keep an eye on your own portion sizes. Again, a balanced diet is important, but also making sure that you have the stamina to keep up, you may well benefit from the Ashwagandha KSM-66® gummy from Nutriburst.
Empty Nest Mum

Now it’s time to focus on your own needs. It’s a great time to look further into your own health and identify any specific health risks or concerns that you may have, including hormone imbalance as you transition through menopause, but also heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes and figure out the best way to take care of you! At this stage of life try and focus on your own nutritional needs with foods you enjoy but that will also help you meet your nutritional needs and if you want some support in that department then a Women’s Multivitamin may well be useful.

Don't forget to use code MOTHER30 to get 30% off the Women's Multivitamin, Ashwagandha KSM-66®, Triple Immunity, 

Code valid till 19/03/2023 11:59 pm