Tara Gidus

What you eat and drink throughout your pregnancy is critical to the growth and development of your baby. Healthy food choices, combined with a prenatal vitamin, provide the many critical nutrients your baby needs. (Of course, they help keep you healthy, too!) Making healthy food choices means knowing which foods and beverages to stay away from — or at least reduce your intake of — and which foods are pregnancy nutrition all-stars.

You may have been told that pregnancy is a time to eat whatever you want, but that’s not entirely true. Not all foods and beverages are safe to consume while pregnant. Some can cause serious infections in you or your baby; others can lead to miscarriage or developmental issues in your child. The following table shows you which foods to avoid throughout your pregnancy and why.

Some nutrients are more important than others during pregnancy, because they play a vital role in your baby’s development. The following table lists the most essential nutrients for pregnancy, in order of importance. It also clues you in to why each nutrient is so critical, how much of it you need to get per day, and where you can find it in your food.

Eleven foods win the prize for providing the most pregnancy nutrition. These foods are nutrient-dense, meaning they contain good amounts of several of the most important nutrients you and your growing baby need during pregnancy. Here they are, along with a breakdown of the critical nutrients they offer: Aspar

One of the tricks to good pregnancy nutrition is keeping healthy snacks around. If you do, you’ll be less likely to raid the vending machine at work or tear open that bag of potato chips in the pantry. Plus, you’ll be less likely to experience that all-too-familiar nausea that occurs when you don’t have enough food in your stomach.