The Best Diet for Pregnant Women — From a Pregnancy Nutritionist

The moment you saw your positive pregnancy test, you knew your life would change.

Pregnancy comes with many diet and lifestyle shifts — all intended to protect and support your growing baby.

But when it comes to following a pregnancy diet, the guidelines are limited.

Most commonly, I hear from women whose pregnancy diet education consisted of prenatal vitamins and paper handouts detailing all the foods not to eat during pregnancy.

Women are advised to increase their caloric intake, not gain too much weight, and avoid uncooked foods that might have bacteria.

This advice can be helpful, but I find that it’s barely the tip of the iceberg. Pregnant women need so much more support for optimal energy, child development, and a strong labor experience.

This article contains all the education you wish you had on the pregnancy diet — from the perspective of a pregnancy nutritionist.

The Top 4 Things to Consider for Your Pregnancy Diet

If you wish you knew more about pregnancy nutrition, you’re not alone. The right nutrition advice during pregnancy can help you achieve better energy for yourself and optimal development for your baby. Here are the top four things I help my clients consider for their pregnancy diet:

1) Support Your Pregnancy Diet with Intentional Testing

Mainstream pregnancy nutrition advises moms to eat more calories. But the calories that come from french fries are much different from those from free-range eggs or grass-fed beef liver.

Every mom’s nutritional needs are different. For instance, women who are severely deficient in choline will need to prioritize choline-rich foods. And women who are deficient in vitamin A should supplement with cod liver oil.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, I recommend intentional nutrient testing for pregnant women. Tests like a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) help us pinpoint your exact nutritional needs — so we can focus on foods and supplements that make a difference.

2) A Food-First Approach to Pregnancy Nutrition

Holistic prenatal vitamins should enhance the work you’re already doing with your diet — not replace it. I love using prenatal vitamins as a supportive tool for expecting mothers, but it’s important to recognize that these supplements are not always bioavailable. Grocery store prenatal vitamins, for example, are made in a laboratory and are not easy for the body to absorb.

The vitamins, minerals, and nutrients found in food are the easiest for your body to absorb and metabolize. Plus, you can get them in much larger quantities. I recommend getting micronutrient testing done — and then filling any gaps with whole foods and intentional (high-quality) supplementation.

3) Prioritize Nutrients Over Calories

There will be moments during your pregnancy when cravings and nausea take over. In these cases, it’s okay to reach for a french fry or even a candy bar to support your body. It’s okay to listen to your intuition and aim for eighty percent of healthy eating, with a little wiggle room.

That said, it’s important to prioritize nutrient-dense meals over calorie counting. Consuming foods like bone broth, pasture-raised eggs, organ meats, ancestral grains, and raw dairy will likely put you over the recommended calorie limit. This is completely okay. You need these resources. To keep track of the nutrients you consume, you can use an app like Cronometer that helps calculate the nutritional value of a meal.

4) Don’t Be Afraid to Eat “Outside the Box”

It’s true, I recommend seafood, raw dairy, and other nontraditional foods to my pregnancy nutrition clients. These foods are extremely nutrient-dense — often providing resources that are difficult to get anywhere else. (For example, caviar is one of the only places you can source anti-inflammatory specialized pro-resolving mediators.)

These foods are usually not recommended during pregnancy because they can harbor bacteria or heavy metals. But I find that some women really thrive with these “forbidden” nutrient-dense foods — especially when they’re high-quality, well-understood, and intentionally processed with low risks.

Essential Nutrients You Need in Your Pregnancy Diet

I do recommend testing your nutrient levels to see your individual vitamin and mineral profile. However, here are some essential nutrients that should be part of every pregnancy diet.

• Choline. This essential nutrient for pregnancy helps with fetal brain development, neural tube development, liver health, and can reduce the risk of preeclampsia. It’s found naturally in eggs, meat, organ meats, and raw dairy.

• Fat-Soluble Vitamins. These vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are essential to your health as a mother and help you grow a strong and healthy baby. Vitamin K, for example, is vital for bone structure. The fat-soluble vitamins are often overlooked or considered “unsafe” to supplement, since they’re stored in the body. I find that intentional lab testing removes the concern for vitamin toxicity and allows you to optimize your intake without fear.

• Folate. This is a well-known pregnancy nutrient that helps with neural tube development. Since folate deficiency has been known to cause birth defects, folate is commonly found in prenatal vitamins. The problem is, not all folate is the same. Folic acid, for example, is the synthetic version of folate that’s most often used in fortified foods and prenatal vitamins.

• Trace Minerals. The best way to get more trace minerals is to use trace mineral drops in your water. You can also drink mineral tea, add salt to your water, and eat fresh produce that comes from a sustainable farm.

• Essential Fatty Acids. These fats are crucial to fetal development — from brain health to nervous system formation and cell support. They’re also important for your health during pregnancy, helping to maintain healthy levels of inflammation.

Will You Gain Weight on a Pregnancy Diet?

I find that poor quality pregnancy nutrition advice often comes from the fear of weight gain. We’re so afraid of putting on a few extra pounds that we don’t really check in with what’s good for a pregnant body.

During pregnancy, weight gain is natural. In many cases, it’s a good sign that your body is storing up nutrients and doing exactly what it needs to do for your baby.

There are some cases where weight can be a concern, yes. But this is rare.

More importantly, we need to look at the level of nutrients that are going into our bodies and how they’re being metabolized. These are the building blocks for our baby’s growth and development — and the deciding factor for our own energy during pregnancy.

Customize Your Pregnancy Diet with a Pregnancy Nutritionist

At Live Wild + Be Well, my mission is to help women like you create a customized pregnancy diet that gets to the root of your symptoms and concerns. We run individualized lab testing to identify essential nutrient needs — and then we fill your gaps with diet, lifestyle, and supplementation.

You deserve to have higher expectations for your pregnancy diet.