Pregnancy vitamins: more about A and B

Vitamins A and B (especially group B) play a very active role in the fate of a pregnant woman. In particular, they activate the digestion process, regulate metabolic processes, help the skin look healthier and more beautiful. And, of course, they enable the baby to develop properly. Let's talk in more detail about these vitamins that are useful for mother and child.

Vitamin A and the Health of Pregnant Women

Retinol, or vitamin A, is very important for the expectant mother and her baby. It helps to form visual pigment (i.e. ensures the quality of vision), helps nails and teeth develop correctly, and actively participates in the development of bone tissue.

Without vitamin A, the development of the placenta, from which the baby takes nutrients, would be simply impossible. With its help, the mother and baby also form blood cells - erythrocytes. Vitamin A helps the development of soft tissues, and also has the useful property of protecting the skin from external influences - making it healthier and stronger, less vulnerable to infections.

If it weren’t for vitamin A, a pregnant woman’s hair would be brittle and dull (which is what happens to those pregnant women who don’t take care of their vitamin intake).

Where to get vitamin A?

From butter, cottage cheese, fish oil, eggs, entrails (liver, kidneys), fruits, vegetables, green salads, dill, parsley, sorrel.

Other sources of vitamin A include rowan berries, apricots, cherries, rose hips, currants, and salad peppers.

B vitamins and the health of pregnant women

B vitamins and women's health are the most compatible things in the world. Because without this vitamin, many processes in the life of the expectant mother and her baby will simply be of poor quality. But group B includes several vitamins, and each of them has its own separate name and serial number.

Vitamin B1 and its effect on pregnancy

Vitamin B1, or, in other words, thiamine, controls the processes of carbohydrate absorption. This is a very important vitamin that helps a pregnant woman to tolerate her condition normally. With a lack of thiamine, the expectant mother experiences toxicosis, it is very difficult for her to bear a child.

If there is enough vitamin B1, then the pregnant woman has a good appetite - this vitamin helps to activate it. It also controls and activates the work of the nervous system, heart, the state of blood vessels, and is responsible for the speed and quality of blood flow.

Thanks to vitamin B1, a pregnant woman will not have vitamin deficiency and her blood pressure will not drop (in case of hypotension).

Where to get B1?

From cereals, first of all: buckwheat, oats, wheat, and also beans.

Vitamin B1 is abundant in carrots, radishes, rose hips, nuts, beets, cabbage, spinach, as well as in such products as fish and meat. And also in yeast and milk.

Vitamin B2 and its effect on pregnancy

Vitamin B2 is also called riboflavin. This vitamin helps iron to be better absorbed, controls and activates the liver and lungs, improving the quality of breathing, and regulates metabolic processes: fat, carbohydrate and other types.

Vitamin B2 helps the baby grow quickly and efficiently. It is also called the growth vitamin. It helps the child develop normally by controlling the growth processes of the skeleton, muscles, and the functioning of the respiratory system.

Where to get vitamin B2?

It is necessary to take it from liver, leafy green salads, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, as well as milk and eggs. Good sources of vitamin B2 are beans, yeast, apricots.

Vitamin B3 and its effect on pregnancy

Vitamin B3 is also called nicotinic acid or niacin, and also vitamin PP. It has a very good effect on oxidative processes in the body, participates in the formation of proteins, fat metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and is also a good assistant for the gastrointestinal tract.

Thanks to vitamin B3, bad cholesterol is removed from the body, as well as toxins. Thanks to this vitamin, blood pressure is normalized in pregnant women, and blood flow also works well.

As for the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, vitamin B3 helps to establish the production of gastric juice.

Thanks to this vitamin, the liver works more actively.

The heart and blood vessels are strengthened by vitamin B3 and actively influence the functioning of the entire body.

Where to get vitamin B3?

From meat, liver, eggs, milk and dairy products, flour (only coarse flour), as well as buckwheat, mushrooms, and legumes.

This is important for a pregnant woman.

Pregnant women, know that eating healthy foods is not enough. They also need to be cooked properly.

Berries, fruits and vegetables should be eaten raw, with rare exceptions (except potatoes, for example).

It is best to add vegetable oils to salads for better absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. It should be remembered that fat-soluble vitamins from carrots will not be absorbed without fats.

As for the water in which you cooked meat or vegetables, it is better not to pour out the broth - during cooking, the maximum amount of vitamins and nutrients (more than a third) goes into it.

It is very good to steam vegetables – this way more nutrients are retained in them – only 25% are destroyed.

Vitamins for pregnant women from cereals

What did you think, there are no vitamins in porridge? There are, and in good quantities. What do porridges consist of? Of cereals. They contain many useful substances. Especially if the cereals are whole grain and unprocessed. This is especially true for rice. But in order to preserve this maximum of useful substances, it is important to cook the porridge in water, not milk. And add milk and oil (butter or olive oil) 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

You can not only boil the porridge, but also steam it with boiling water. Put the washed grain in a pot or saucepan, pour boiling water over it and cover it with a lid. You can also wrap it in a towel. Let it stand and the porridge will finish cooking. This way, more vitamins and other useful substances will remain in the cereal.

Maintain your health and the health of your future baby with the help of useful substances and be happy, future mothers!