3/31/2015 11:34:16 PM

The Pregnancy Diet: Calcium

Four servings daily

Pregnancy Diet

Boning up on calcium is critical during pregnancy. Not only is it essential for your baby's developing bones (especially during the third trimester), it will also help yours stay strong, warding off osteoporosis later on.

How to bone up? Milk is an obvious source of calcium (and an especially efficient one if you select calcium-fortified skim milk) — and one that's easily disguised in smoothies and soups if you don't like it straight up. Or dabble in other dairy sources, like yogurt (straight from the container, in smoothies, or as a topping for fruit) and cheese (munch a mozzarella stick with crackers, sprinkle Parmesan on your pasta, pour low-fat cheese sauce over steamed vegetables). Is no dairy good dairy as far as you're concerned? Drink calcium-fortified juice with your breakfast, eat a canned salmon salad (mashed up with the bones) for lunch, and snack on edamame.

Note that caffeine and high-fiber foods can slow calcium's absorption (which means that the milk in your latte won't count quite as much, and neither will the glass you down with your bran muffin).

See What's in a Serving of Calcium During Pregnancy? for a complete list of calcium-rich food choices, plus recommended portion sizes.