Iron Rich Diet During Pregnancy

As a woman, even before you get pregnant, your body requires iron for many reasons:

1. Iron helps in the synthesis of haemoglobin, the protein present in red blood cells which carries and transfers the oxygen to other cells.
2. It is an important component of myoglobin – a protein which supplies oxygen to your muscles, collagen – a protein in your bones, cartilage and other connective tissues, and many enzymes.
3. Iron helps maintain your immune system.

During pregnancy, you need iron in more amounts than before because:

1. Due to increased blood volume during pregnancy – about 50% more than normal, your body needs the extra iron to make extra haemoglobin.
2. Now that you are becoming two with a growing baby inside your womb, extra iron is required for the baby and the placenta which provides the nutrition, especially in the last two trimesters.
3. Many women are already low on iron before pregnancy, hence they need more to suffice their daily stores of iron.
4. Hence iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy is very common and is associated with preterm delivery, infant mortality and low birth weight babies. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), during the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy, iron-deficiency anemia increases the risk for preterm labor, low-birth-weight babies, and infant mortality and predicts iron deficiency in infants after 4 months of age

Overall, a pregnant woman needs about 2 to 4.8 mg of iron per day. The woman must consume 20 to 48 mg of dietary iron to absorb this quantity of iron daily. An average vegetarian diet does not provide more than 10 to 15 mg of iron per day.

The following iron-rich foods will help you maintain your iron levels during pregnancy:

1. Green leafy vegetables – Fenugreek (methi), Spinach (palak), coriander (dhania) and mint (pudina) can be consumed in a variety of ways. You could make a salad, sandwich or stuff them in paranthas or rotis along with a raita.
2. Spices – Cumin (jeera), bay leaf (tej patta), turmeric (haldi) can be used to enhance the taste of your favourite (vegetable) sabzi.
3. Soybean – Soybean is high in iron content and can be cooked into pulaos, salads, or even mixed with vegetables like capsicum, peas.
4. Legumes – Lentils and beans such as chickpeas (kabuli chana), bengal gram (chana), kidney beans (rajma), yellow gram (moong dal) can be used to make dals, sprout salads, or even sweet dishes like moong dal halwa. Increase the richness of iron in your dal, by adding green leafy vegetables like spinach, fenugreek etc.
5. Nuts – Nuts like almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts and peanuts are known to be very rich in iron.
6. Ragi and Bajra– Ragi or nachni is an excellent source of natural iron. You could make a porridge or dosa out of ragi and consume it during pregnancy. You can simply mix some nachni flour to your regular wheat flour and make rotis or parathas. Bajra or millet has been a part of our daily diet since ancient India. It is known to have a very high fiber content which makes it healthier. Also, it is rich in iron, 100 gms of Bajra can give you 8mg of iron.
7. Seeds – Flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, squash seeds are all known to have high contents of iron. Roast the seeds and have them as a crunchy snack.
8. Jaggery– Jaggery is an unrefined sugar product made in Asia and Africa. About 70% of the world’s jaggery production takes place in India, where it is commonly called “gur.” 100 grams (half a cup) of jaggery gives you 11 mg of iron.