Eating well in pregnancy: a guide with Uzbek foods in mind

Pregnancy is not the time for a special diet, and it is not a reason to eat for two. What matters is variety, a few safety rules and enough fluids in a hot climate. The familiar Uzbek table — soups, salads, legumes, fermented dairy, fruit and nuts — gives you most of what you need, with a few adjustments.

How much to eat and how much to gain

• In the first trimester you need no extra calories. In the second and third trimesters you need only about 300 kcal more a day — roughly a bowl of qatiq with fruit and a small handful of nuts, not a second plate of plov.
• Picture a balanced plate: half vegetables and fruit, a quarter grains (preferably wholegrain bread, buckwheat or brown rice), a quarter protein, plus two or three portions of dairy a day.
• Weight gain depends on your starting BMI. For a normal BMI the usual target is about 11.5–16 kg over the whole pregnancy; if you were underweight, 12.5–18 kg; if overweight, 7–11.5 kg; with obesity, 5–9 kg. Twins mean more.

The Uzbek table, adapted

• Osh (plov) is fine in moderation: a smaller portion, more carrots and chickpeas, less oil, and a large achichuk or other fresh salad alongside — a weekly dish rather than a daily one.
• Lagman, shurpa, mastava and other soups are good choices — vegetables, protein and fluid in one bowl. Go easy on salt.
• Legumes — mosh, loviya, chickpeas — give fibre, iron and folate. Moshkichiri or a lentil soup two or three times a week is an easy win.
• Fresh salads and greens (dill, coriander, spinach) are rich in folate. Wash them thoroughly.
• Nuts and dried fruit are nutritious but dense in calories: a handful a day, not a bowl.
• Fruit in season — melons, grapes, apricots, pomegranates — is excellent in normal portions; melon and grapes are sugary, so one or two slices rather than half a melon.

Protein, calcium, iron and iodine

• Protein: meat, chicken, eggs (cooked through), fish and legumes. Aim for two portions of fish a week, choosing cooked local fish or small sea fish and avoiding large predatory fish high in mercury (shark, swordfish, king mackerel; limit tuna).
• Calcium: milk, qatiq, suzma and hard cheese — about three portions a day. Choose pasteurised or boiled milk.
• Iron: red meat, poultry, legumes and dark greens. Eat them with something rich in vitamin C — tomatoes, peppers, citrus — and drink tea between meals rather than with them, because tea blocks iron absorption. Liver only occasionally, because of its very high vitamin A.
• Folate: greens, legumes and citrus, on top of the 1 mg folic acid tablet recommended until 12 weeks.
• Iodine: use iodised salt at home and take the 200 µg of potassium iodide a day recommended throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, since Uzbekistan is an iodine-deficient region.

Food safety

• No raw or undercooked meat: shashlik well done with no pink in the middle; kazy and other sausages fully cooked; no raw or runny eggs; no raw fish.
• No unpasteurised milk or soft cheese made from raw milk, including bazaar cheese of unknown origin. Boil bazaar milk; make suzma and qatiq from boiled or pasteurised milk.
• Wash fruit, vegetables and herbs well and peel where you can.
• Street food is fine when freshly cooked and served hot; avoid anything that has sat in the heat and mayonnaise salads from unknown kitchens.
• Refrigerate leftovers within an hour or two in summer and reheat until steaming.
• Caffeine: keep under 200 mg a day. That is about two small cups of coffee, but green and black tea count too — a piyola holds roughly 30–50 mg — as do cola and energy drinks.

Drinking, heat and small discomforts

• Aim for 2–2.5 litres of fluid a day in hot weather: water, diluted qatiq (ayron), unsweetened compote. Keep sugary drinks and sweets for occasional treats; too much sugar raises the chance of excessive weight gain and of gestational diabetes, which is screened for at 24–28 weeks.
• Nausea: eat small amounts often, keep dry bread or crackers by the bed for the morning, try ginger, prefer cold or room-temperature foods and avoid the smell of frying. If you cannot keep fluids down, see your doctor.
• Heartburn: smaller meals, less fried and spicy food, nothing large within two or three hours of bed, and sleep with your head raised. Ask your doctor about safe antacids.

Fasting in Ramadan

Islam exempts pregnant women from fasting, and missed days can be made up later or compensated in the way your faith community advises. Many women choose this route with a clear conscience. If you are considering fasting, talk to your doctor first — it is generally discouraged with gestational diabetes, anaemia, twins, poor weight gain or a history of complications. If you do fast: eat a suhoor with slow carbohydrates and protein, keep iftar moderate, drink plenty between sunset and dawn, and break the fast at once if you feel dizzy or faint, have a severe headache, notice your baby moving less, feel contractions or simply feel unwell. Take supplements only as your doctor prescribes them; vitamin A and high-dose multivitamins are not safe to start on your own.

This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor about your own situation.