Dr. Sanjukta Sarker

Keeping track of your cycle probably doesn't sound that interesting or important, but you can get a lot of benefit by doing that. There are changes that your body goes through and there are specific times when you are ovulating; knowing all these would make your life a lot easier, which is only possible by tracking your period.

1. Know about your body: Getting your period every 28 days has always been considered normal, but only 15% of women get their periods on the clock. Many factors such as stress, illness, exercise etc. can cause your period to delay. This is where tracking your cycle can help you finding the pattern that is specific to your body condition. During your cycle there are lots of changes happening in your body. The hormones cause a change in the fluid produced from your cervix and also lead the basal temperature of your body to increase. Monitoring these changes through tracking your cycle is known as the symptothermal method. By this way know about how fascinatingly your body works.
2. Desire to get pregnant: Tracking your cycle will help you get pregnant. During your cycle, there is a specific time, which heightens the possibility of conceiving. The fluid production from the cervix due to hormonal change is the cause of such possibility. Knowing your cycle can take out the stress from trying to get pregnant and it can also determine any abnormalities that are preventing your pregnancy.
3. Avoid pregnancy: If you know the time when you are most likely to get pregnant through tracking, you obviously know when not to have sex if you are trying to avoid pregnancy. Using symptothermal method for the purpose of birth control has proven to be 99.6% effective, which is higher than birth control medications.
4. Health benefits: You can reap a lot of health benefits by tracking your cycle. Conditions like fibroids, polycystic ovarian syndrome and endometriosis are quite common in women, which can be detected by tracking your period. If anything is wrong in your reproductive system, the cycle will indicate it. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Gynaecologist.

It is important to have a healthy diet and proper nutrition for women while pregnant in order to keep themselves and their unborn baby healthy. Prenatal nutrition focuses upon the nutrition of the mother before and during pregnancy. It affects the birth weight and development of the infants. The foods that pregnant women need during their pregnancy for themselves and their child’s health are as follows

1. They should have oranges and its juice as much as possible. It is rich in Vitamin C and folic acid. It also contains potassium which lowers one’s blood pressure, which might be one of the key concerns during pregnancy. Foods containing folic acid should be taken right before conception and in the early weeks of pregnancy to avoid the birth defects of the baby in its brain and spinal cord. Other sources of folic acid include green leafy vegetables, beans, peanuts, asparagus, peas and other enriched grain products.
2. Having yogurt helps pregnant women. It contains protein and more calcium than milk. It also serves to reduce the risk of having yeast infections.
3. Broccoli is also a good source of calcium (for healthy bone) and is rich in vitamin C, foliate and Vitamin B6.
4. Beans and lentils are rich in iron (for healthy blood) and proteins are highly needed for the health of both the pregnant woman and her off-spring.
5. Figs, whether fresh or dried up, contains more fiber than other vegetables along with plenty of potassium, calcium and iron.
6. A healthy diet plan for a pregnant for the well-being of both herself and her unborn baby per day is as follows-
   • 6 to 11 servings of grains.
   • 3 to 5 servings of diet rich in vegetables.
   • 2 to 4 servings of diet with fruits.
   • 4 to 6 servings of diet containing milk.
   • 3 to 4 servings of meat and foods containing proteins.
   • 6 to 8 glasses of water, fruit juice and milk.
   • Limiting the consumption of fatty foods and sweets. 

     If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a dietitian-nutritionist.