Meat

When pregnant, you need 27 mg of iron per day, which is 1.5 times the RDA for women who are not pregnant. Meat is a good source of iron. Iron found in meat, also known as iron in the heme form, is more effectively absorbed than iron found in plants, which is non-heme iron. Therefore, add lean ground beef, turkey, chicken, and lean pork to your shopping cart and eat once or twice a week.

Enjoy grilled meat with veggies and nutritious grains, or schedule a weekly taco Tuesday. Using the bones to make a mineral-rich broth with calcium, potassium, and magnesium, all crucial for fetus bone development will also help you to optimize the nutrients in meat. Glycine, an amino acid required to support growing/stretching skin for mom and baby, may be found in meat and bone broth.