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The Pregnancy Pantry
Get Healthy by Taking Stock
By Kelly Burgess
Healthy Changes
The first step to a healthy pantry is to toss out the old and bring in the new. Nutritionist Joy Bauer, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Total Nutrition (Alpha, 4th edition, 2005), says we tend to eat a lot of artificially sweetened foods, and that's not the healthiest choice. In addition, pre-packaged snack foods, such as granola bars, cookies and crackers, are often loaded with unhealthy hydrogenated oils and may be high in calories, too. Bauer suggests making healthy replacements by paying more attention to food labels. The trend is toward healthier alternatives, often found in the organic foods section, but sometimes they are found right next to the less healthy brands.
"There are a couple of things that a pregnant woman wants to be cognizant of for an optimum diet," says Bauer. "One is foods that contain saturated fat, because during pregnancy you're at greater risk of your cholesterol going up. The other is portion control, because prepared foods are often packaged to look like one portion, when they actually contain two or more."
Bauer suggests the following healthy substitutions:
- Cocoa made with skim milk and lightly sugared instead of artificially-sweetened cocoa mix.
- Sparkling water with a squeeze or two of fresh fruit juice rather than diet soda.
- A cup of dry cereal made from whole grains instead of a granola bar.
- Regular yogurt mixed with fresh fruit in place of artificially-sweetened yogurt.
Dr. Ricciotti also likes to see healthy changes made in pantry staples, such as:
- Brown rice instead of white rice.
- Olive oil in place of vegetable oils.
- Whole-wheat bread in place of white bread.
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