Vegan Pregnancy and Your Diet: Best Sources for Nutrients

When a woman finds out she is expecting, she usually begins to seek advice on the most beneficial adjustments needed to her lifestyle in order to grow a healthy baby. Many medical professionals, however, disagree over the best course of action when advising on nutrition. What are the best sources of essential nutrients? Are prenatal vitamins advisable? And if so, what kind are the best to take? These are only a few of the important questions that expectant women and their care providers should be asking.

An interesting history of the prenatal diet can be found in Dr. John McDougall's book, "The McDougall Program for Women". He says that, "for most of this century, doctors recommended that women avoid excessive weight gain during pregnancy. That advice changed in the 1960's when doctors observed that small babies had a higher risk of death than larger ones. Physicians thus recommended that women gain significant amounts of weight during pregnancy. It naturally followed, therefore, that women should eat a great abundance of food - 'your eating for two now' - and that, in order to gain weight, they should eat lots of animal foods - meat, chicken, eggs, dairy products, and fish. The result, as you can see when you look around you, is over-sized mothers and babies".
In response to this dietary situation, Dr. McDougall has a solution that is easy to incorporate into a woman's lifestyle: the vegan diet. There is a wide range of opinions on the safety and health of the vegan diet, especially when it concerns a pregnant or lactating woman. I myself have been vegetarian since late 2004, and vegan since the beginning of 2006, including through my pregnancy and now lactation. I have found it to be very healthful; I fight fewer illnesses and have felt more strength and vitality since the start. As seen in the following information, I believe that a vegan diet should be recommended for all women, especially pregnant women and lactating women. They suffer less ailments, are much healthier in the long run, and develop healthier and stronger babies. Even the American Dietetic Association approves of the vegan diet: "Well-planned vegan diets are appropriate for all stages of life, including pregnancy and lactation" (ADA 1997).

Guidelines for a healthy pregnancy diet:

1. A pregnant woman should consume 2,500 calories per day.

2. During the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, only 5 or 6 grams of protein are needed per day. A starch based diet provides 44-130 grams of protein per 2,200 calories. The World Health Organization recommends that 6% of calories be taken from protein. It is very difficult to find vegetables that contain less than 6% protein. It is in the opinion of some medical professionals that an increase in protein is associated with a decrease in pregnancy induced hypertension, but in relation to this, Dr. McDougall says, "There is no evidence that a high-protein intake during pregnancy is beneficial, and in some cases, it may actually be harmful".

3. Minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, copper and iodine come from the earth and the best source that can be eaten (since you won't want to be eating the earth) are plant foods which draw the minerals up from the ground.

4. During pregnancy, a mother's body absorbs calcium much more easily and is then able to pass it on to her baby. Interestingly, the baby only requires about 30 grams of calcium, which is 2.5% of the mother's calcium supply. There have been no records of insufficient calcium due to a lack of dietary calcium intake. The reason that many women suffer from a lack of calcium is that the alkaline calcium is taken from her bones to balance the extreme acidic climate that animal forms of protein cause within her body. When her body is not busy digesting animal proteins, she is then able to absorb an adequate amount of calcium.
5. A woman's body contains about 2.2 grams of iron at any given time. About 1 gram of extra iron is needed for a pregnant woman in order to prevent anemia. During the second trimester, a woman's body increases her ability to absorb iron by as much as 9.1 times her normal capacity. A pregnant woman only needs an additional 5mg or iron a day, which can easily be found in veggies such as asparagus, beans, brocolli and carrots. Foods such as beef, chicken and fish have much less iron. A diet which includes Vitamin C and no dairy products also increases iron consumption.

6. Plant foods provide all the essential vitamins except for Vitamin D and B12. An adequate amount of Vitamin D can be stored in the body after only 20 minutes of exposure to the sun on the hands and face of light-skinned people. Vitamin B12 is found only in bacteria, algae and animal products, so vegans who do not eat seaweed should add a Vitamin B12 supplement of about 5mcg per day to their diet.

7. If you are taking a Vitamin supplementation, avoid Vitamin A in the form of Retinol, which causes fetal deformities. Instead use the plant based form called Beta Carotene. It is, all-around, a better choice to consume a plant based vitamin supplement, since the vitamins and minerals are extracted from the original sources and are more easily digestible.

8. A deficiency in folic acid has been found responsible in causing neural tube defects, which occur in the first two weeks of unborn babies. The American diet contains less than 200mcg of folates (folic acid being one of them), which the ideal diet contains over 400mcg each day. An abundance of folic acid can be found in plant based foods such as legumes, whole grains and green vegetables. In one cup of cooked black beans alone you will find 256mcg of folic acid, and 282 in one cup of garbanzo beans; while fish contain only 10 and beef only 12mcg per cup.

Other benefits to vegan mothers include: less fatigue, less nausea, less constipation, less heartburn and fewer headaches; as well as the gaining of the ideal weight during pregnancy and losing excess weight more quickly after the birth.

While it is important to consult your care provider when making drastic changes to your diet (especially if you have a history of health problems), consuming an adequate amount of plant based foods should dramatically improve your health and that of your growing baby. I highly recommend a starch based diet with the addition of vegetables and fruits.