Pregnancy consumes 50,000 more calories over 9 months, according to a study. That makes 164 Snickers bars

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Having a baby costs a lot more energy-wise than many people think, a new study suggests.

In fact, over the course of a pregnancy, creating and carrying a little one requires 49,753 dietary calories, the equivalent of 164 Snickers candy bars, said Dr. Dustin Marshall, co-author of the study published May 16 in Science magazine.

For the meta-analysis, Marshall, a professor of evolutionary biology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a team of researchers used data from thousands of existing scientific articles to examine the energetic cost of several species.

“While most people have probably intuited, or actually experienced, the high energy demands of carrying a baby, our work assigns explicit values ​​to these costs for a wide range of species – from insects to lizards to humans,” said lead study author Dr. Samuel Ginther, postdoctoral researcher in biological sciences. at Monash University, in an email.

“We found that the total energy required for reproduction is much greater than previously thought.”

Most of the extra energy a pregnant person needs goes toward developing and carrying the fetus, Ginther added.

“Most of them) The energy mammals expend on reproduction is “boiled” as metabolic heat, only 10% ends up in the baby itself,” Marshall said in an email. “When lactation and metabolic loads are taken into account, the baby itself represents less than one-twentieth of the total reproductive investment.”

The research could make a big difference in the perception of pregnancy needs, said Dr. Eve Feinberg, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. She did not participate in the research.

“I think this study is groundbreaking,” she said. “Any working pregnant woman could tell you how exhausted you are when you’re pregnant…and how much it takes up your life. »

Extra calorie needs weren’t equal throughout pregnancy — you need less at the start and a lot more as time goes on, Marshall said.

Once you get to the second trimester, you need about 350 more calories per day, while you need 450 more calories per day in the third trimester, said registered dietitian Natalie Mokari of Charlotte, North Carolina.

If you breastfeed after the baby is born, you’ll need to add an extra 450 to 500 calories to your pre-pregnancy diet, she added.

You can think of it as an extra substantial snack or mini-meal in your day around the second trimester, Mokari said. And in the third trimester and while breastfeeding, the extra calories are equivalent to one meal.

“Your body is overworked. Your metabolism is working hard to build another human,” she said. “It’s pretty monumental.”

How you eat will depend on your pregnancy, Mokari said.

She recommends trying to eat every three to four hours or adding smaller snacks every two hours throughout the day if that suits your pregnancy symptoms better, she said.

“It doesn’t have to be three standard meals with a few snacks in between, because sometimes you can’t handle that during pregnancy if you have nausea or something like that,” Mokari said .

Mokari emphasized the importance of carbohydrates for energy, protein and healthy fats – “those high-quality fats that are going to support good brain health for the baby.”

What constitutes a healthy fat? Oily fish like salmon, olive oil, avocados, avocado oil, peanut butter and almond butter are all great examples, Mokari said.

Milk and dairy products can also provide these fats as well as other vitamins, and eggs can be a good source of protein and fat, she added.

“You really want your energy to come from good, whole foods,” Feinberg added.

This study also suggests that sleep is likely especially important during pregnancy, Feinberg said.

“If you’re feeling tired, go to sleep and really understand that you’re not a wimp, that you’re exhausted during pregnancy,” Feinberg said.

Unfortunately, there may be a stigma around pregnant women having higher sleep needs, but the study results should counteract that, she said.

“This data really gives some solid numbers that indicate that the burnout women are feeling is very real and probably needs to be paid more attention to,” Feinberg said.