The Best Pregnancy Food

Good news, expectant moms: Nina Planck wants you to eat good, real food. Raised on a vegetable farm among cows and chickens in Virginia, food writer and farmer’s market expert Planck grew up eating whole meats, whole fats, and whole vegetables. After a brief stint on fad diets, Planck returned to her roots and now advocates for simple, healthy eating. Her books include The Farmers’ Market Cookbook, Real Food: What to Eat and Why, and Real Food for Mother and Baby, and her next book, The Real Food Cookbook, is slated to come out in the spring of 2014. She’s married to Murray’s Cheese owner Rob Kaufelt (so you know she understands the importance of tasty, indulgent foods) and they have three children together: Julian, 6 (pictured with Planck), and twins Jacob and Rose, 3. Planck talked with us about how eating during pregnancy is all about feeling comfortable and loading up on nutrients – and not about freaking out!

How would you describe your philosophy toward eating during pregnancy? Is it different than you’re approach to eating in general?
It’s not very different at all. You’re eating more of the more nutritious foods, and there are a couple of nutrients to watch out for, but generally it’s just about eating whole foods.

If you had to come up with a list, what would you say are about the 5 most important foods moms should be eating during pregnancy, and why?
1. First, there’s protein, so the baby can grow. Any clean, lean protein works — not junk salami from the corner deli!
2. Fish or fish oil. Even though there is a risk of mercury poisoning from fish high in mercury, we still find that women who eat fish have babies with healthier brains. The importance for brain and eye development outweighs the mercury risk, but eat fish low in mercury.
3. Calcium. The best calcium, contrary to some advice, is found in dairy foods, especially full fats, or in bone marrows, like in chicken soup or beef soup. Calcium is very important in the second trimester.
4. Iron. If you’re eating lots of clean protein, you’ll get plenty of iron. The best place to get it is from meat.
5. The last important thing is anything that makes you comfortable. If you need a lot of liquids so you don’t get constipated, or an occasional glass of wine, that’s you, so the fifth major category should be strictly personal. It’s whatever gives you a comfortable pregnancy. There are women who worry too much about tiny amounts of alcohol and caffeine when you should be focusing on feeling good and healthy.

Besides over-worrying, what is the biggest mistake you think pregnant moms make in their approach to eating during pregnancy?
They don’t eat enough nutrient dense foods. They need saturated foods like butter and liver, which is a very high quality food in pregnancy, with vitamin K, iron, and B vitamins. I see too many women who are somewhat on a diet. They’re sitting there eating low fat yogurt or maybe a bagel.

The first trimester especially is often accompanied by nausea and lack of appetite for some women. Any tips for still eating healthy even though you may not be craving it or feeling up to it?
It’s so miserable. Seventy percent of women are affected by nausea and pregnancy. The good news is that your baby is probably healthy and that you should just be eating real food that makes you feel better. The answer is not to live on white crackers and rice if you can avoid it. The good news is that your baby mostly needs micro nutrients, so if you’re well nourished before you get pregnant, then the baby knows what to do in the first trimester. If you’re taking a multi-vitamin, then you’re set for the first trimester.

It’s great to want to eat so healthy during pregnancy–but everyone experiences cravings and pines after some Doritos or Ben & Jerry’s here and there. Is a little of that kind of food in moderation OK? Was there a junk food you craved or had to have during pregnancies?
No one knows what causes them, and no one knows why they’re different from one woman to the next. Eating well should mean eating good quality food. Your cravings are your own problem and you need to find your own solutions. If you have a craving and it doesn’t make you feel unhealthy, then it’s okay. The whole conversation is over-hyped in my opinion. You’re eating for 40 weeks not 3 days, so you’re bound to crave something at some point. For me, I could not survive without carbs with my twins. I was completely nauseated and disoriented without them. But did I send my husband out for pickles? No. So much of that is hype.