Making protein a priority at every meal isn’t just a fitness trend – it’s a key pillar of overall health. Adequate protein intake supports muscle mass, which plays a crucial role in glucose metabolism, and keeps you fuller for longer due to its slower digestion. During pregnancy, this becomes even more important, as your nutritional needs directly impact both you and your growing baby.
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Jessie Inchauspé, a French biochemist, NYT bestselling author, and health activist popularly known as the Glucose Goddess on social media, shared in her March 10 Instagram video that most pregnant women do not consume enough protein during pregnancy.
In the video, she explains, “In a US survey of 500 pregnant women, they found that 50 percent of the women did not hit the 1.22 grams per kilo per day in the first trimester, that is required, and 70 percent did not reach the 1.52 grams per kilo per day in the second and third trimesters. This means these moms are what is called protein-restricted.”
Hence, our tip of the day for today is: If you’re pregnant, eat 1.22g of protein per kilo of your body weight daily in the first trimester, and 1.52g per kilo daily in the second and third trimesters.
Consequences of protein restriction during pregnancy
According to Jessie, one of the first consequences of low protein intake is losing muscle mass, which is especially not ideal during pregnancy. Besides this, it also affects your unborn baby. The glucose expert notes that not eating enough protein can increase the risk of your baby being born smaller and with lower muscle mass as they age.
She explains, “One of the first consequences is losing your own muscle mass as the mother, which is not good. And the second consequence, that is suggested by animal studies, is that not eating enough protein during pregnancy can predispose your baby to be born smaller and have lower muscle mass as an adult. This is not good because in humans, muscles are the organ of longevity. So you want to make sure you’re eating enough protein when you’re pregnant.”
Ideal protein intake during pregnancy
Jessie breaks down exactly how much protein expecting mothers should prioritise, drawing on her own pregnancy journey and body weight to offer a practical, real-life benchmark.
First trimester: 1.22g of protein per kg (pre-pregnancy weight). For Jessie, that’s 1.22 x 70kg = 85g of protein per day
Second and third trimesters: 1.52g of protein per kg (pre-pregnancy weight). For her, that’s 1.52 x 70kg = 106g of protein per day
How to reach these protein goals?
Jessie lists four ways that help her reach her protein goals during pregnancy:
- Build your meals around protein: Jessie recommends choosing a protein for the day and building your meal around that. She explains, “When I prepared a meal, I first asked myself: what protein am I gonna eat? And then built the meal around that. Chicken, fish, lentils, tofu, tempeh, and meat. Whatever I felt like that day.”
- Eat four eggs in the morning: Consuming four eggs for breakfast was a non-negotiable for Jessie. She highlights, “I had four eggs in the morning, non-negotiable. I alternated between fun omelettes, cheesy scrambled eggs, egg-tomato combos, and hating eggs but still eating them.”
- Add extra protein: The biochemist tried adding an extra punch of protein in every meal by garnishing with Parmesan cheese. She explains, “I added extra protein to my meals by grating Parmesan on nearly everything.”
- Make your snacks protein-packed: Jessie also built her snacks around rich sources of protein. Her go-to snack, she notes, was, “full-fat Greek yoghurt + almond butter + blueberries (and I often added unflavoured whey isolate in there too).”
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
