Why You Need To Eat Potatoes During Pregnancy

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and your legs are just cramping really hard, like a charlie horse?  And when you’re pregnant it just seems like they happen constantly?

“Oh well, it’s just another one of those pregnancy symptoms I’ll have to deal with,” you may tell yourself.

Honey, you’re wrong.

Why You’re Having Leg Cramps

What’s happening in your body is your uterus is sucking up more nutrients than ever before, and the rest of your body can be taking a beating from it.  Your uterus, which started out the size of a golf ball, is going to ultimately become the size of a watermelon.  And not just the little round melons, but the more oblong ones you make your husband put in the shopping cart.

Your uterus is primarily a muscle.  Muscle need potassium in order to contract effectively.  When you don’t have enough potassium, your muscles can tense up and cause those intense leg cramps.

1. When your uterus is needing more nutrients, like potassium, where do you think your body is going to send them?  To your body because that’s it’s primary focus beyond keeping you alive.
2. So what’s the point in all this?  You definitely don’t want leg cramps and you definitely want to have the right nutrients for growing your little one.
3. How can you ensure that you have enough potassium?  Most people think about bananas as the best source of potassium.  Sure, they’re alright.  But not the best.

One of the regular foods you need to be eating while you’re pregnant is potatoes.

Related:   List Of Foods To Eat During Pregnancy - Plus One Thing To Not Go Without

Potassium Is Best From Potatoes

Potatoes contain around 600-700mg of potassium when you eat the skin with it.  Sweet potatoes are the best, but any will do just fine.  Dr. Bradley in his Husband-Coached Childbirth book expresses that every pregnant woman should be having 2-3 baked potatoes every week in her diet, for this and a number of other reasons.

“Every single diet I ever fell off of was because of potatoes and gravy of some sort.”

— Dolly Parton

Potatoes are great to eat during pregnancy because:

• if you’re underweight and are concern about gaining enough, they can help you gain weight healthily
• they have great amounts of fiber to keep your cholesterol in check
• they contain complex starches that take longer to break down, keeping you fuller longer
• they have flavonoids that help control your blood pressure levels
• in additional to potassium, they’re great sources of iron and calcium that are excellent for your baby
• potatoes are also rich in folate which reduces the chances of your baby developing spinal or brain issues

So when some unknowing person accuses you of giving your child diabetes from eating potatoes during pregnancy (which you’re not), you can educate them in a manner most becoming.  Because you now know the value of these awesome round thingies that grow in the ground, you will feel confident as you enjoy that baked potato tonight.

Related:  Folic Acid And Autism - Is There A Connection?

What Potatoes To Avoid

One word of caution …

Avoid any potatoes that are still green.  They have molecules in them that can be harmful if left unchecked.  But really, you only see green potatoes when you open that rare potato chip bag and one of the chips has that off-colored hue.

Just toss and move on.  No problem.

Potato Preparations

So here are a few great ways to prepare your potatoes if you need some ideas:

• simply baked whole in the oven, topped with a little butter and sour cream
• cut up and fried for a side dish, sprinkled with salt and pepper
• mashed and whipped with some milk and garlic
• sliced and baked after brushing with healthy oils to make potatoes fries
• as hash browns alongside your eggs at breakfast
• in a potato salad at your next barbecue this summer

My husband really likes the golden potatoes but they’re often so expensive that I shy away from them.  We live near Idaho and can get russet potatoes for super cheap all year round.

I mentioned Dr. Bradley’s child birthing book.  If you want to know more about it I have a review right here you can read before you jump in.  It’s the method I used for preparing for my first baby and I think it’s an excellent start.

>> Read More About Dr. Bradley’s Childbirth Methods <<

What are you favorite ways to have your potatoes?  If you need more inspiration for some meals, just subscribe in the box below and I’ll send you my ebook Your Pregnancy Diet Plan so you have months of meal ideas.  Yum!

Favorites In This Post

• Husband-Coached Childbirth (Fifth Edition): The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth