Fuel your Pregnancy and Postpartum Recovery with Power Snacks
Snacks are an opportunity to get high quality nutrients into your diet during pregnancy and the postpartum period. I love using snacks to fill in the gaps in extra nutrients we might be missing during pregnancy. Easy, on-the-go snacks are essential in the postpartum period because we don’t always have a lot of time to prepare and eat full meals while we are recovering and caring for newborns. It’s a good idea to keep some basic ingredients in the house so that you can put nutrient dense snacks together that can serve as mini-meals while you are adjusting to life with a newborn.
Think of snacks as mini-meals. As with meals, balance is important. A combination of a complex carb, a healthy fat and protein will balance your blood sugars, satisfy your nutrient needs and keep you full longer than an empty calorie snack. A “power” snack is a nutrient dense mini meal that includes all the macros and a powerful punch of micronutrients you need while you are growing a baby and recovering from childbirth. If you don’t have a lot of time, and you need to survive on snacks, you can thrive on small, frequent nutrient dense meals or power snacks.
Choose a complex carb + fat + protein. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal complex carbohydrate. They house thousands of micronutrients in one small serving. These micronutrients boost your immune system, fuel a healthy gut microbiome and provide electrolytes needed for hydration and milk supply. Healthy fats help with hormone regulation and can increase the healthy fats in your milk supply which leads to optimal brain development. Protein is needed to baby’s tissues during pregnancy and heal wounds/stretching skin in the postpartum period. Many of these foods contain Iron, Folate and Omega-3 fats which are important nutrients in both pregnancy and the postpartum period. These nutrients can be helpful in improving our risk for prenatal and postpartum depression.
How to build a healthy snack:
Here are some power snack ideas.
Cucumbers + hummus
Roasted cauliflower + salsa
Carrots + tahini sauce
Peppers + black bean dip
Celery + peanut butter
Any veggie + ranch yogurt dip (mix plain greek yogurt with onion and garlic powder and herbs)
Any veggie + savory yogurt dip (mix plain greek yogurt with curry powder or chipotle seasoning)
Apple slice + nut butter + flax meal celery + almond butter + sunflower seeds
Smoothies (fruit + vegetable + milk of choice)
Protein Shakes (protein powder + milk or water + fruit + flax or flax oil)
Chia pudding (chia + milk of choice + fruit+ flax)
Hard boiled egg + guacamole
Cooked quinoa + fruit + milk of choice
Trail Mix ( 3 parts mixed nuts + 1 part dried fruit + 1 part dark chocolate chips)
Greek Yogurt Parfait (Greek yogurt + nuts + berries)
Turkey roll-ups (turkey spread with cream cheese and wrapped around a pickle or cucumber)
Nori roll-ups (Roasted Nori spread with quinoa and strip of cucumber or carrot)
Tuna Salad (tuna + chopped celery + almonds + greek yogurt or mashed avocado)
Mini Charcuterie Plates (nuts of choice + olives + grapes) Sub in any fruits or veggies.
Be creative with your combinations. If you are preparing for the postpartum period, plan combinations that appeal to you and stock up on these ingredients. You always have a go-to healthy mini-meal on hand to fuel recovery and lactation if needed. Be sure to plan some fun, less nutritious snacks too. We don’t have to eat perfectly all the time, but we do want to be sure to get the nutrients we need to feel good, fuel our growing babies and help our bodies recover.
GEORGINA LILE IS AN IN-NETWORK PROVIDER FOR AETNA, BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD, CIGNA, AND UNITED HEALTHCARE.
Many plans cover up to 6 visits with a lactation consultant if you need support with breastfeeding or a prenatal breastfeeding class; with no out-of-pocket cost to you.
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