Your Baby Today

Pregnancy

YOUR MINERAL NEEDS

By Jill Tomlin

Minerals, like vitamins, are essential for a well-balanced diet -- especially when you're pregnant. They keep your body running in tip-top shape. They also are involved in just about every aspect of your growing baby's development. Here's a rundown on these important minerals and what foods are good sources of them.

A Mineral-Rich Diet
As you can see from the following list, minerals are abundant in many of the foods you're already eating on a daily basis. Getting a mineral-rich diet should not be difficult because minerals are widely available in so many foods that you're likely to get what you need. Just stick with a variety of the basic food groups: dairy products; meats, fish, and seafood; whole grain breads and cereals; fruits; and vegetables.

Calcium: Dairy products, tofu, and dark green vegetables
Chromium: Whole grains, wheat germ, and orange juice
Copper: Poultry, fish, meats, soybeans, potatoes, and dark green leafy vegetables
Fluoride: Fluoridated water
Iodine: Seafood and iodized salt
Iron: Meat, raisins, dried apricots, potatoes with their skins, and dried peas and beans
Magnesium: Milk, peanuts, bananas, wheat germ, and oysters (eat them cooked only)
Manganese: Raisins, spinach, carrots, broccoli, oranges, and peas
Molybdenum: Whole grains, beans, and milk
Phosphorus: Meats, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, whole grains, and nuts
Selenium: Dairy products, meats, seafood, and whole grains
Zinc: Meats, turkey, wheat germ, eggs, and liver

Prenatal Supplements
Your health-care provider probably has prescribed a prenatal supplement that contains the right mix of vitamins and minerals you will need for pregnancy. This can be a great insurance policy, but it shouldn't take the place of a good diet. Foods contain lots of micronutrients and fiber which you cannot get through a supplement.

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