Vegetarian Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Part 2

Healthy Vegetarian Pregnancy Diet

Pt 1: Nutrition During Pregnancy       Pt 3: Nature's Perfect Baby Food

Folic Acid:

Vegetarians have an advantage over non-vegetarians since a vegetarian diet is usually very high in folic acid.

Foods high in folic acid are: Citrus Fruits and Green Leafy Vegetables

Zinc:

Calcium supplements can interfere with zinc absorption. The best time to take a calcium supplement is between meals.

The following foods are good sources of zinc:

• Beans and tofu
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Wheat germ
• Quinoa
• Nutritional yeast
• Eggs

Vegetarian Foods High In Iron:

• Beans and tofu
• Whole grain
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Blackstrap molasses
• Eggs

Sources of Vitamin B12 - Essential for your fetus or nursing baby:

• Fortified meat and milk substitutes (read the labels for amount of B12 added)
• Dairy
• Eggs
• Red Star Nutritional yeast

Sources Of Calcium:

• Tofu made with calcium
• Almonds
• Sesame seeds
• Oranges
• Dried figs
• Leafy green vegetables
• Broccoli
• Dairy
• Fortified dairy substitutes

The nutritional composition of breast milk is much the same no matter what kind of diet the mothers have. However, nursing mothers need adequate calories and liquid to produce enough milk, and must eat well to stay healthy while they are nursing. Drinking enough liquids and taking a good prenatal supplement during pregnancy and breastfeeding is important too.

Plan for adequate nutrition during pregnancy, from "Becoming Vegetarian", Vesanto Melina, R.D. et al:

• 9 servings of grains
• 8 servings of fruits and vegetables
• 6 Servings of milk or foods that are equivalent
• 3 servings of beans or foods that are equivalent
• 2 servings of good sources of omega-3 fatty acids (pumpkin and flax seeds, walnuts, soybeans, and dark green vegetables)

This may seem like an overwhelming amount of food until you consider that many foods fall in more than one category. For instance walnuts fall into the fatty acid and bean category. And you often don't have to eat that much for to make a serving. For instance a serving of vegetables is ½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw. 1 slice of bread, or ½ c. of cooked grains is a serving. So if you eat 2 slices of toast and a cup of oatmeal for breakfast, that's four grain servings.

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