 Peculiarities of vegetarian pregnancy diet
Added: 01/26/2006 |
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A vegetarian pregnancy diet should be planned and thoroughly thought out. It's a common knowledge that almost every pregnant vegetarian woman is pretty concerned about her diet. They need to increase their intake of certain vitamins, minerals, protein, energy, etc. If the vegetarian pregnancy meals are poor the woman should make the transition of eating. However, eating better doesn't mean eating more.
Before speaking about the peculiarities of a vegetarian pregnancy diet, it should be pointed out that pregnancy is a time of increased specific nutritional needs for both woman and her child. Much protein, vitamins and minerals are necessary for correct support of a rapidly growing fetus and, of course, for allowing inevitable changes in the body of the pregnant woman. It goes without saying that during the pregnancy period the intake of recommended minerals and vitamins should be higher comparing with a non-pregnant condition. It can be easily explained by the fact that pregnant women are recommended to take a double portion of folic acid and a double doze of iron. There's no need to worry that a vegetarian diet cannot meet these nutrient requirements.
One of the important pregnancy consequences is weight gain. Remember that every pregnant woman should have an adequate weight gain. According to modern medical practice, there are special recommendations regarding weight gain depending on the woman's need and her primary weight.
It's worthy admitting that the general trend in pregnant women is to have little weight gain for the first twelve weeks of pregnancy (women usually gain up to five pounds during this period of time). A greater weight gain (approximately a pound or two) is suggested in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The mentioned weight gain recommendation can be applicable to both vegetarian and non-vegetarian pregnant women.
It's interesting to know that according to some recent studies in the field of vegetarian pregnancy diet the birth weights of infants born to vegetarian mothers are often lower comparing with infants of non-vegetarian women. Be aware that this is generally seen in women who follow too restrictive vegetarian pregnancy diet (for example, macrobiotic one). The mentioned low weight of the infants is primarily attributed to low weight gain, lower intake of iron, energy and vitamins (particularly, B12).
Speaking about the vegetarian pregnancy diet, it's important to take into account that vegetarian pregnancy meals should contain enough energy, protein, iron, calcium, zinc and a wide variety of vitamins. So, to satisfy all the recommendations regarding weight gain women require extra dietary energy. According to statistical data, the total cost of energy for pregnant women is often estimated to be about 55 thousand calories over 280 pregnancy days. Don't forget that during the first month the caloric intake shouldn't be increased.
Vegetarian pregnancy diet has to contain increased amounts of protein. It's quite essential for any woman because protein plays the main role in the growth of placenta, fetus and material tissue. The increase of protein should be of ten grams more than usual.
As it has already been mentioned, iron needs are also high in vegetarian pregnancy diet. Every more or less educated person knows that iron makes a significant contribution to the blood volume increase. So, diet needs in iron are especially high during the pregnancy. Every pregnant vegetarian should know that among high iron foods are legumes, whole grains, green leafy vegetables. Be aware that the mentioned foods must be consumed along with vitamin C, which will help to increase the iron's bioavailability.
So, we hope that our vegetarian pregnancy food guide will help both vegetarian and non-vegetarian pregnant women to have healthy children.
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