Phosphorus During Pregnancy – Importance, Daily Intake & Food Sources

One of the most important things for pregnant mothers to pay attention to is their diet. You should be eating a balanced and nutritious diet for the most part just for the sake of your general health. When you are pregnant, it is even more important to maintain a healthy diet, as the growing child needs a specific number of vitamins and minerals to properly develop. There are many different vitamins and minerals that need to be included in your pregnancy diet. One mineral that you may have overlooked is, phosphorous.

Phosphorus is responsible for making sure you develop strong bones. Close to 85 percent of all the phosphorous in your body is located inside your bones. Phosphorous also plays a pretty significant role in performing muscle contractions, kidney functionality, blood clotting, nerve conduction, cellular and tissue repair, and maintaining a normal heart rhythm. Finally, this mineral is also responsible for helping the body generate and utilize energy.

Proper Phosphorous Dosage

The amount of phosphorous that a woman needs varies from person to person. Everyone’s requirements are slightly different, but there are some pretty standard averages:

Women aged 19 and older – 700 milligrams (mg) a day.

Women aged 18 and younger – 1,250 mg a day.

A woman’s necessary phosphorus intake is not dependent on her being pregnant. It changes according to her age and stays more or less the same throughout adulthood.

Phosphorous Food Sources

Phosphorous is not produced by the body naturally. You have to ingest it from outside food sources for your body to be able to utilize it. Some of the best sources of phosphorous are:

• Cheese
• Custard
• Ice cream
• Milk
• Pudding
• Cream soups
• Yogurt
• Oysters
• Beef liver
• Fish roe
• Sardines
• Chicken liver
• Organ meats
• Dark chocolate