Pregnant women have higher nutrition needs than anyone else. All nutrients that pregnant women consume will go to the baby first, and then the mother gets whatever is left.
This is why it’s important to make sure that you’re getting all the nutrition that you need throughout your pregnancy. Nutritious drinks like Ensure can help you do just that!
In this article
Benefits Of Drinking Ensure
Ensure is the equivalent of a meal on the go. When you don’t have time for breakfast, you can chug one on the way out the door.
Want a snack? Ensure is there for that too. This nutritional drink has quite a few benefits for men and women that aren’t pregnant, and even more for women that are pregnant.
- IMMUNE SYSTEM SUPPORT: Nutrients to support immune system health with protein, vitamins A and D, zinc, and antioxidants (Vitamins C and E)
- STRENGTH & ENERGY: Nutrition scientifically designed for Strength & Energy
- COMPLETE NUTRITION: Each serving of Ensure Original Powder has 250 calories and 9 grams of high- quality protein, to provide you with complete nutrition at just over $1 per serving
- GREAT TASTE: Its a great tasting way to get protein and antioxidants (Vitamins C & E) every day from the #1 doctor recommended brand
- Suitable for lactose intolerance and gluten-free (Not for people with galactosemia)
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Meet Your Nutritional Requirements Throughout Your Pregnancy
A healthy diet and a prenatal vitamin is usually plenty to meet your daily nutritional requirement. However, there are some women that might not be able to make that happen.
For example, if you cannot eat an entire group of foods, you’re missing out on the nutrients in those foods. Iron deficiencies are surprisingly common during pregnancies!
One Ensure drink typically contains about 25% of the iron that you need daily. If you’re drinking two a day and taking a vitamin, you can achieve your daily iron requirement.
This is usually preferred over taking iron supplements, which are known for causing constipation.
Ensure Can Help You Meet Your Daily Calorie Intake
Women that aren’t pregnant are supposed to eat 2000 calories a day. When you’re pregnant, it’s recommended that you increase your calorie intake by 300 calories.
If you’re pregnant with twins, you should increase your calorie intake by 600 calories per day.
This might not seem like much, but it can be when you’re eating healthier. A standard McDonald’s meal that is on the unhealthy side is packed with calories, which makes reaching your goal easier.
However, these foods aren’t packed with the nutrients that you need. A chef’s salad without dressing typically has almost 400 calories. That means if all you eat for lunch is a chef’s salad, you still have 1900 calories to go.
In order to eat healthily and meet your calorie intake, snacking throughout the day seems to be a requirement. Most women struggle to do this as well or have jobs that don’t allow them to.
This is where Ensure comes in. One standard Ensure has 350 calories, which can help you meet that daily requirement.
Supplement Through Morning Sickness With Ensure
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When you feel sick all day because you’re still experiencing morning sickness, it can be hard to eat healthily, if you can eat at all. Most women wind up cutting back on calories during this time because they simply can’t eat.
If this sounds familiar, talk to your doctor about supplementing with Ensure or a drink similar to this to guarantee that you have proper nutrition during the early months of your pregnancy.
Drinking Ensure While Pregnant Can Help You Gain Weight
Some women have a hard time gaining weight while they are pregnant. Instead, they start to lose weight. Normally, this balances out, but losing too much weight can be unhealthy for the baby.
I started to lose weight in the seventh month of my pregnancy with my daughter. The doctor made me keep track of what I was eating to make sure that I was eating enough.
He said that it was normal to lose weight because I was eating so much healthier than I did prior to being pregnant, but losing too much weight was still a bad thing because I was pregnant.
If I would have started to lose significant amounts of weight, this would have been an effective solution.
Be Cautious About Getting Too Many Vitamins While Pregnant
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One thing to keep in mind is that it is possible for pregnant women to get too many vitamins. This can be horrible for both you and your baby.
For example, too much iron has been linked to higher rates of diabetes while pregnant. Too much vitamin A in certain forms has been linked to birth defects, too.
If you already eat healthily and are taking a prenatal vitamin, consult with your doctor before drinking a nutritional drink like Ensure.
These are designed to make up for or replace the vitamins and nutrients that you miss out on when you cannot eat healthily. They are not designed to be used in addition to a healthy diet and daily vitamin.
Some Types Of Ensure Have Caffeine
It’s important to pay attention to what type of Ensure you’re drinking, especially if you would like to avoid caffeine. Ensure Max has a whopping 100 mg of caffeine per cup. This is about the same as your average cup of coffee.
Typically, one cup of coffee does not contain enough caffeine to hurt the baby. However, it should still be limited.
Pregnant women are encouraged not to drink more than one cup of coffee per day, so you should only drink one cup of this drink per day as well.
Women that would like to avoid caffeine all together should not drink Ensure Max. Instead, there are plenty of other options. Regular Ensure does not have caffeine, and neither do most other varieties of nutritious drinks.
Ensure Should Not Be Used To Diet While Pregnant
Although Ensure can help replace meals that are lost due to having a busy lifestyle or being sick to your stomach, it should not be used to diet while pregnant.
Dieting while pregnant is not only not recommended, it’s not safe. This can cause a significant decrease in calories, which can be dangerous for both you and your little one. Instead, focus on being healthy instead of what the number on the scale says.
Consult Your Doctor First
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Just as you would consult your doctor before taking an additional vitamin, make sure to consult with your doctor before drinking Ensure. This can have a few benefits.
First, a doctor might recommend something else for morning sickness, vitamins, etc. that would be more helpful to you. He might also be able to write you a prescription for a nutritional drink that your insurance will cover, which can save you some money.
So, Can I Drink Ensure While I’m Pregnant?
Yes, you can! Make sure to check with your doctor before you start drinking Ensure on a daily basis. Then, avoid types of Ensure that have caffeine in them to stay as healthy as possible throughout your pregnancy.
Medical Disclaimer. All content and media on the MomInformed Website is created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.
