5 Foods to Eat in the Second Trimester
The second trimester of your pregnancy is often considered the golden months. It's generally when you start to 'glow' and get your energy back. Usually morning sickness and nausea has started to dissipate and your appetite has returned.
This is great news because it's the perfect time to start putting nutritious food in your body again - before the increasing size of your belly makes digesting more difficult again!
In the second trimester the baby goes from the size of a lemon to the size of a cauliflower. It's when organs start functioning properly and sense start developing. The really development at this time is the formation of bones and skeletons, as well as the nervous system, cell health and muscle function, so bearing this in mind when it comes to nutrition can help ensure you're replenishing what baby is taking from your stores.
For mum, your immune and gum health continues to be potentially compromised so focusing on nutrients supportive to these is also important. In addition, your blood volume continues to increase to support the growing baby, and it's often at this point that iron levels can become low.
A really key nutrient for bone and immune health is vitamin D. This nutrient is commonly deficient in the UK, and pregnant mums have a higher need, especially if you're pregnant through winter or coming out of winter, when you levels are likely low if you haven't been supplementing. For more on the important of vitamin D in mums and babies, have a listen to my podcast episode on this.
It's important to know that nutrients in food work in synergy together in mysterious ways. Different foods might be rich in certain nutrients, but they're never alone and in isolation. So despite the need to focus on particular nutrients, it's more important to eat as wide a variety of food as you can to give you access to everything you need.
With that in mind, these are my top 5 foods to eat in the second trimester:
Eggs will probably always be on my top 5 list! Contain loads of nutrients important for baby and mum’s health, including choline, a nutrient needed in tiny amounts for proper brain health and development. It's also a really great source of protein. And so easy to prepare!
Grass-fed butter and cheese contain vitamin K2, a really key nutrient for bone mineralisation. We also produce vitamin K in our gut via our gut bacteria, so a healthy gut microbiome is really important in pregnancy, especially as our gut microbiome changes throughout pregnancy.
Green leafy vegetables, a great source of calcium and magnesium. Calcium important for bone health but magnesium is needed to absorb calcium properly. While dairy is generally what we think of when we think of calcium, it is a poor source of magnesium. In contrast, green leafy vegetables have a good calcium to magnesium ratio supportive of bone health. They're also a good source of plant-based iron, provided you eat them with a source of vitamin C (e.g. a squeeze of lemon juice) to help absorption.
Blackcurrants are a concentrated source of vitamin C, but beware sweetened syrups! Berries in general are a really great source of vitamin C; outside of summer it's best to buy them frozen as they are generally frozen within hours of picking, locking in the previous nutrients before they get a chance to degrade with time. Vitamin C helps with immune health, helps absorb iron from food and is a key antioxidant to protect cells from daily wear and tear, as well as supports healthy gum health.
Red meat provides the more absorbable source of iron, and the darker the meat the higher the iron content. Remember your blood volume increases throughout pregnancy, and your iron needs increase too, peaking around the middle of the second trimester, so being extra aware of eating enough iron is key at this point to support your needs now, and to store it for healing and recovery after giving birth.
The second trimester is often when mums feel at their very best and can start focusing on eating well again. Aiming for as much colour and variety on your plate as possible ensures you get a good range of nutrients just when your body needs it the most.
One of my favourite ways to get a quick boost of nutrients into the diet with minimal fuss is smoothies. I’m a huge fan of good quality, vegetable-focused, nutrient dense smoothies on a daily basis, either as a snack or a meal replacement. You can really pack in a lot of great ingredients - including at least three of the five I've included above! For inspiration and a guide to building your smoothie, download my smoothie ebook which includes 15 recipes specifically aimed at mums during pregnancy and when healing from childbirth.