March 23, 2021

Healthy Pregnancy Snacks

Paying attention to your nutrition during pregnancy is of the utmost importance. You’re creating an entirely new human, and you’re going to get really hungry and sometimes nauseous. So having a great idea of healthy pregnancy snacks and keeping some with you at all times is vital to having healthy pregnancy.

Why are Healthy Pregnancy Snacks Important?

First off, congratulations on your pregnancy! This is such an exciting time so try to cherish every moment of it.

If it’s your first pregnancy it might feel really slow and long… if it’s not, it might feel like it blows by.

Personally, I’ve gone through three pregnancies already and while it’s true that a lot of pregnancy is exhausting and really tough, there’s something that’s so magical about growing a precious little human inside you.

If you’ve already gone to your doctor and gotten your pregnancy verified they probably told you to start on a high quality prenatal vitamin.

In addition you might have been told some sort basic things like:

You shouldn’t eat like raw eggs
Avoid fish that are high in mercury
And drop eating sushi

There’s a good chance you might have been told a smidge beyond that but not really much detail at all regarding prenatal nutrition.

But don’t worry… I’ve got ya!

It’s really a shame that our OBGYNs and midwives aren’t given the most up-to-date nutritional information for pregnancy. They deserve it, as do you!

What’s awesome is there is one program out there that you can pick up online that has all of the most up-to-date prenatal nutrition information.

This program, aptly named The Perfect Pregnancy Plan, goes far beyond telling you the old fashioned information of staying away from soft cheeses, runny eggs, and fish. This singular program is built around the most recent scientific studies– I’m talking dozens and dozens of them– that reveal all the most recent findings regarding prenatal nutrition.

All the most recent studies in regards to prenatal nutrition are directly related to epigenetics during pregnancy. These studies all reveal that what we eat while we’re pregnant (including our healthy pregnancy snacks) directly affect the genetic makeup of our children.

Can you believe that?

When I first learned about the vital importance of prenatal nutrition and how it was directly related to epigenetics it blew my mind!

I’m so glad I found the Perfect Pregnancy Plan and that I’ve gone through, personally utilized, and can point you toward so that you can easily understand and apply optimal prenatal nutrition too.

Are These Healthy Snack Ideas Going to Help Grow a Healthy Baby?

A lot of the healthy snack ideas in this post are based on what can best benefit your child’s genetics and their health in utero while also satisfying those hangry pregnancy cravings.

And don’t worry:

I tried to make this list not only beneficial to your baby, but also easy to implement. Let’s be real, hunger cravings strike frequently during pregnancy. They happened fast and almost without warning.

I’ve noticed that sometimes while pregnant I feel absolutely starving after only an hour, even after eating a nutritious meal. That is why it is so imperative to have healthy pregnancy snacks on hand at all times! And have a good stock of them in your fridge too.

The Best Healthy Snacks for Pregnancy

Hard Boiled Eggs

One thing that is pointed out in The Perfect Pregnancy Plan is the vital importance of consuming eggs during pregnancy. There is nothing higher in choline than eggs. And we actually know that choline is just as imperative as folate (or you might have heard it called folic acid) during pregnancy. You know… That vitamin that we’ve known for a long time helps to prevent neural tube defects

There’s a good chance you’ve heard of the importance of folate, so you will now know that choline is really important too. Especially in the beginning of pregnancy, but all throughout your gestation really.

What’s awesome about hard boiled eggs is that the egg is fully cooked. You do need to be careful to cook your eggs fully during your pregnancy because there are some nasty germs that can actually cross the placenta from eating undercooked eggs.

But do not let that deter you from eating eggs throughout your gestation. The nutrients eggs contain (especially the yolks) are imperative to growing a healthy baby. While there are tons of ways to incorporate fully cooked eggs into your prenatal diet, hard-boiled eggs are probably the simplest.

Plus it’s really easy to keep some on hand at all times for a grab and go health pregnancy snack.

String Cheese or Other Cheeses

You want your food to be as close to the source during pregnancy as possible. Cheese isn’t really that far off from milk.

You don’t need to be concerned about the extra fat in cheese as long as you are at a healthy pregnancy weight and are eating it within reason.

The calcium, vitamin d, and other nutrients that are in cheese are really good for your pregnancy and as long as you have no aversions to dairy.

Weird fact: Many women who suffer from lactose intolerance no longer feel the affects during pregnancy. (I’m one of them!)

If you can, cheese is something that you should include in your prenatal diet. What’s cool is that cheese comes in these little prepackaged amounts for the same price as a block these days.

Whether it’s string cheese or some other version, cheese snacks are really easy to keep on hand in your fridge or in your work bag at all times.

Fresh Veggies Dipped in Hummus

Fresh vegetables alone are a great snack that are rich in nutrients. But let’s be real, during pregnancy you’re usually starving. And it’s much better to pair a vegetable with a healthy fat and a bit of protein anyways to help your body sustain energy, stay full, and fully absorb the nutrients within the vegetables.

Veggies are super loaded with nutrition but it’s awfully hard to absorb. I learned so much about how to properly absorb the nutrients I was eating through The Perfect Pregnancy Nutrition Plan.

Eating your vegetables alongside a healthy fat will increase the absorption rate of the nutrients in the vegetables substantially!

You can get a store-bought hummus or you can make your own.

Energy Balls

Energy balls are a really delicious way to feel like you’re indulging, and get a chalk ton of nutrients all at the same time.

Energy balls are a dessert, a snack, or can be part of a meal in a healthy and balanced prenatal nutrition plan. You will find in a well rounded prenatal nutrition plan that you can definitely consume energy balls. In fact you should be encouraged to have a snack or to add a healthy snack like an energy ball on to a meal if you’re having something light. My favorite way to incorporate my energy balls into my diet when following the Perfect Pregnancy Plan was to have a pregnancy smoothie for breakfast along with 2 energy balls. It ticked all the craving boxes and would always start my day loaded with nutrients!

In case you’re unfamiliar with energy balls:

they’re usually oat based but do not have to be
They usually contain coconut oil but don’t have to
and they are really fast, easy
They’re always no bake snacks that you can keep on hand at all times by making large batches and just keeping them in the fridge.

Plus, energy bites really help with the sweet cravings that you absolutely will have during pregnancy.

Pregnancy Smoothies

Smoothies are an amazing way to increase the nutritional density of your pregnancy diet.

Nutritional density refers to how many nutrients there are in relation to the amount of calories in your meal.

During pregnancy, it is vital that you pay attention to the nutritional density of your foods.

Reason being is that your nutritional requirements to sustain a healthy fetus and positively benefit the genetic makeup of your child is about triple what your normal nutritional requirements are.

That’s a lot of nutrition that you need to be consuming. Unfortunately you’re not actually “eating for two,” or at least not the caloric requirements of two adults as that addage would make us all assume.

In reality you only need about 100 to 300 additional calories per day depending on where you’re at and your gestation.

Taking into account how hungry you are during pregnancy and how many nutrients you need to increase the additional caloric requirement sounds super low. It’s about 300 calories a day on average.

So that’s why it’s imperative to focus on increasing the nutritional density of your meals!

One great way to do this is to add in a smoothie with a pregnancy safe protein powder blended into it.

With a delicious pregnancy smoothie you’re getting additional nutrients, getting close to a full meal because of how much it will satiate you, and keeping the calories pretty low while keeping something that tastes super indulgent a completely whole food.

Wrapping Up Healthy Pregnancy Snacks

This handful of pregnancy snacks is something that you can incorporate to your prenatal diet daily. They are all things you can always keep on hand, they are things you can bring to work, and they are things that you can make in bulk or prepare ahead.

Prenatal nutrition is the most important thing that you can focus on to give your baby the best head start in life.

The PPP is the most up-to-date prenatal nutrition program that can walk you step-by-step through these tips. Bonus is it come with a prenatal workout plan too! Because staying active during pregnancy also creates a healthier child.

But even if you just choose to incorporate these snacks into your diet, you’re still giving your baby a huge step up in life.

You’ve got this mama!

This post was contributed by Allie Edwards. She is a busy online entrepreneur, homeschooling mom of 2 little girls plus a baby, and happens to hold quite a few certifications in fitness and nutrition. You can catch up with her on Instagram @vigoritout

Healthy Pregnancy Snacks

Why are Healthy Pregnancy Snacks Important?

Are These Healthy Snack Ideas Going to Help Grow a Healthy Baby?