Womb service - nutrition for pregnant vegetarians

Vegetarian Times, July, 2000 by Suzanne Havala

How to eat right when mommy-to-be is a vegetarian

Inquiring minds will want to know how you'll meet the nutritional needs of you and your baby when you're pregnant and vegetarian. Friends and relatives will grill you with the same queries they had when you first went veg: "How will you get your protein?" "What about calcium and iron?" "Are you taking any supplements?"

You may be asking yourself some of these same questions. Understanding how pregnancy changes your nutritional needs and learning how to meet them on a vegetarian diet will give you the confidence to enjoy your pregnancy, ease your worries and reassure others that you and your baby will be just fine, thank you.

You already know that a healthy diet is critical during every stage of your baby's development. In terms of trimesters, it breaks down this way: In the first three months, complex organ systems get their start, while skeletal growth accelerates in the second and third trimesters.

Get a Head Start

Not every pregnancy is planned, of course, but if you think there's a chance you'll be pregnant in the near future, it's time to get into great nutritional shape now. The better your diet is before you're expecting, the better off you and your baby will be during and after the pregnancy. Women who eat well have immune systems that are better equipped to ward off common illnesses like colds and flu, which can drain your energy during pregnancy.

Even more compelling is research showing that women who start their pregnancies well-nourished are less likely to have babies with birth defects like spina bifida. "Some crucial neurological development takes place in the very earliest stages of pregnancy, and key nutrients such as folate play a vital role at that time," says Virginia Messina, R.D., coauthor of The Vegetarian Way (Crown, 1998).

Messina advises women to make their diets as nutrient-dense as possible during pregnancy, limiting sweets and junk food, which tend to displace healthier foods from the diet. "Avoid anything that you wouldn't want to consume if you were pregnant, such as alcohol," she says. Even small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy are associated with an increased rate of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Coffee, black tea and other caffeinated beverages should be limited to two servings per day since some studies have shown that drinking more than five cups of coffee per day can increase the risk of birth defects. It should also go without saying that if you smoke, pregnancy is a great reason to stop. Women who smoke during pregnancy have a substantially higher risk of delivering low-weight babies that can suffer from developmental delays and potential health complications.

Aside from these obvious dietary taboos, expectant mothers will find that their nutritional priorities change.

NUTRITION KNOW-HOW

But while it may seem like pregnant vegetarians and vegans need a manual to plan a meal, eating for two is actually not nearly as complicated as it seems. Pregnant women must be particularly careful of getting enough protein, calcium, folate, iron and vitamin [B.sub.12]. Sometimes it takes a little extra effort, reliance on fortified foods or--in some cases--a supplement to enrich your diet with enough of these nutrients for you and your baby. But with the right guidance, you should be able to stop worrying about your diet and confidently sail through any nutritional inquisition.

Whether it's with soy products, leafy greens or grains, the vegetarian diet offers plenty of ways to serve up a nutrient-rich diet for pregnant women. Here's how it's done.

* PROTEIN Vegetarians have more questions about protein than any other nutrient during pregnancy, even though most get plenty. Protein needs, however, only increase by about 20 percent (to roughly 60 grams [g.]) during pregnancy, an adequate amount to provide for new tissue development. Messina says.

You can get a quick 10 g. of protein with a peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat toast. You also can get a protein fix with a bowl of vegetarian chili and some crackers, bran cereal with soy milk or two pieces of French toast with maple syrup.

Getting enough protein is largely a matter of getting enough calories--provided you have a healthy and varied diet of soy, vegetables, grains and fruits. During the second and third trimesters, women need about 300 more calories per day than before pregnancy. For most women, this will translate into a total weight gain of 25 to 35 pounds. (Underweight women or teenagers, however, might need to gain more, while overweight women may gain less.) Some vegan women, however, may have marginal protein intakes, Messina cautions. "For these women, it sometimes takes a little extra attention." She recommends that vegans include extra servings of high-protein foods like legumes and soy products.

* CALCIUM Recommendations for calcium intake are higher for pregnant women because the baby needs calcium for skeletal development. Expectant vegans and vegetarians should be sure to meet current calcium recommendations of 1,000 milligrams (mg.) a day for those 19 and older, says Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D., a nutrition advisor for the Vegetarian Resource Group, in Baltimore, and mother of two vegan children.