The Best Vegan Diet and Nutrition Pregnancy Resources

The Importance of Diet During Pregnancy

While there is a lot of pressure on vegan mothers to eat well during pregnancy, this pressure is not unique to vegan women. All women need to reevaluate their diets when pregnant to make sure that they are getting enough of what they need. Both pregnancy and breastfeeding are very physically taxing on the body. You can imaging that if you were going to begin an intense muscle-building program you would probably need to change your diet. Well, you are going to begin an intense muscle-building program…along with building bones, ligaments, organs, and all the other tissues that make up a human being!

Talking to your Prenatal Medical Provider

It is important to find a medical practitioner who is supportive of your vegan diet. I would definitely look for someone who knows or is willing to learn what a vegan is and is comfortable with it. Sometimes I explain that “I am a strict vegetarian and eat no animal products” to doctors who are unfamiliar with the term “vegan.” Anyone can understand what a strict vegetarian is, and vegetarianism is generally more known and accepted than veganism.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect your medical practitioner to understand the ins and outs of vegan nutrition. For instance, he or she may not be aware that B12 deficiency is a concern to vegans or that omega 3 fatty acids are rare in a vegan diet and that vegans must take care to supplement with both. If you become anemic during your pregnancy, which is relatively common, your practitioner may not test to see whether it stems from iron deficiency or B vitamin deficiency. You may need to do some research on your own and remind your doctor to request appropriate tests.

My experience with doctors is that they are generally neutral or supportive of veganism, as long as I have presented my choice with confidence backed up by information. Showing a lack of confidence in one’s diet, while completely normal for any pregnant woman, encourages doctors to give you their standard advice to eat according to the FDA food guide, which is not appropriate for vegetarians. Having information from a reliable source like the American Dietetic Association – a source that doctors and nutritionists trust – can be invaluable when talking to your doctor. You could also make a copy of the chapter on pregnancy from Becoming Vegan and bring it in to an appointment to discuss.

I recommend asking specific rather than open-ended questions. For instance, rather than the very open-ended “What should I eat?”, instead ask “How can I get enough protein from plant foods?” or “I am having trouble including enough sources of calcium in my diet. What are some high-calcium vegan foods I can eat?” or “I lead a very busy life and rarely have time to make myself a lunch. Do you have any tips on buying a healthy lunch?”

I’ve read about other vegan women online who recommend not bringing up your diet with your doctor. I do not recommend this. Since your fetus/baby is living entirely off of your body’s resources, a healthy diet and exercise are probably the two most important factors in any pregnancy. Lies by omission to your medical provider prevent him or her from offering you the best care possible.

It Can Be Difficult to Make Dietary Changes

I have been a vegan for about 10 years now, and I tend to eat a very low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber diet. I was very surprised when I started looking closely at my average intake of specific nutrients after I became pregnant. I had no idea that my diet was so low in protein and iron! Like most people, my husband and I have 5-10 standard dinners that we make 95% of the time. When I realized that many of our standards, while tasty, were not supplying enough nutrition during pregnancy, it was quite a hassle to find new recipes we both liked and wanted to eat regularly.

Food aversions can make this process even harder. I was very averse to garlic and onions until about 20 weeks into my pregnancy, and those formed the base for most of the dishes we usually made.

Despite being being vegan and so looking more closely at ingredients than most people, my husband and I had not before looked closely at the nutritional value of our food, believing the vegan community hype that vegan diets are ideal and combat cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. It was hard for me to get support from friends and family about changing my diet because it meant admitting that the vegan diet I had promoted as very healthy was actually not as healthy as I had thought. I certainly don’t want to give people the idea that it is very difficult to be vegan, but now I also realize that the vegan diet holds more challenges than I had thought.

It is important to make sure that your vegan meal is “balanced.” An easy rule of thumb for lunch and dinner is that your plate should be approximately 1/4 protein such as beans, legumes, seitan, or tofu (containing at least 14g), 1/4 green and yellow vegetables, and 1/2 grains such as brown rice or pasta.

Do Not Assume That Taste Substitutes Are Also Nutritional Substitutes

I think the biggest lie that vegan perpetuate is the idea of meat and dairy “substitutes.” Unfortunately, many vegan meat and dairy substitutes do not contain an equivalent amount of nutrients as the item they are substituting for, and are really only tasty placeholders that can be quite nutritionally empty. For example, what follows is a list of protein values in meat and dairy products (found at the USDA National Nutrient Database) and in the equivalent vegan substitute (found at the various manufacturer websites using the nutrition facts information).

• 79 grams of hard-boiled egg contains 10 g of protein but the same quantity of refrigerated Nasoya organic firm tofu contains just 7 g.
• 14 grams of cheddar cheese contains 4 g of protein but the same quantity of Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheddar cheese alternative contains no protein at all.
• 2 tablespoons of cream cheese contains 2 g of protein but the same quantity of Tofutti Plain Better Than Cream Cheese imitation cream cheese contains just 1 g.
• 71 grams of broiled frozen ground beef patty contains 16 g of protein but the same quantity of Gardenburger Flame Grilled veggie burger contains just 11 g.
• 1 8-ounce cup of 2% milk contains 8 g of protein but the same quantity of Soy Dream original enriched soymilk has only 7 g and Rice Dream original enriched ricemilk has just 1 g.
• 100 grams of Breyers all natural light vanilla ice cream contains 5 g of protein but the same quantity of It’s So Delicious Purely Decadent Purely Vanilla non-dairy frozen dessert contains just 1 g.
• 1 6-ounce container of lowfat fruit-flavored yogurt contains 7 g of protein while Silk Live! fruit-flavored soy yogurt contains just 4 g.

In other words, you need to eat a larger amount of soy products than meat or dairy products to get the same amount of protein. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get enough protein from a vegan diet, but it does mean that you can’t assume that taste substitutes are also nutritional substitutes and that you pay attention to the protein content of foods to make sure you are getting an adequate intake.

I compared protein values above, but the same comparison can easily be done with iron and calcium. Vegan foods are just not as rich in minerals as meat and dairy foods. Again, that is not a problem if you pay attention to the nutrients in what you eat and/or supplement.

It was sooo frustrating to go through my kitchen and realize that the soy cheese I was piling on added little more than fat and salt to my diet, whereas if I were piling on dairy cheese I would be getting more protein and calcium as well. As an ethical vegan, I would not go back to eating cheese, but I have to say that I was pissed off to find out that all these supposedly vegan-friendly companies and products were giving vegans flavor but stiffing us on the nutrients.

Dietary Areas to Focus On

Pregnant women should eat 3-4 servings of protein a day (at least 1 serving with each meal), with a single serving being 14g. It can be challenging to get that 14g in one meal, but including high-protein vegan foods like seitan and some brands of vegan soy crumbles or strips with each dinner have made it easier. In addition to protein, I have had to focus on getting enough calcium (I started taking a calcium supplement with vitamin D), iron and B12 (now supplied by my Floradix supplement), and omega-3 fatty acids (still figuring out how to integrate this one into my diet consistently).

The other area to focus on is caloric intake. Since most vegan foods are not very calorically dense, it’s important to include some fatty and high-calorie foods like nuts, dried fruits, and avocados, and to make sure that you are getting lots of beans, grains, and root vegetables and a variety of oils. Shakes and smoothies with banana, soy protein powder, flax or canola oil, and fresh or frozen fruit are a great way to bump up the calories and nutrients.

It Can Be Done

A vegan pregnancy can be done, and successfully, but it may take some lifestyle changes. While I went into my pregnancy feeling confident that I could remain vegan and healthy, I was discouraged to find it would take more work than I had originally thought. Now that I have learned a bit more about nutrition and my husband and I have adjusted the way we eat together, it has become easy again. It’s routine now to take our supplements with breakfast and to think about combining calcium with vitamin D or iron with vitamin C to improve absorption. When we talk about what’s for dinner or shop for our lunches, we make sure that each meal includes enough protein.

I feel that the time I have spent researching vegan nutrition and changing my diet during pregnancy will reward me in the long term when I breastfeed and plan meals for my family in the future.

WEB RESOURCES

The American Dietetic Association has a new food guide for North American vegetarians that includes a vegan food guide pyramid. A great resource to print out and give to your prenatal medical provider.
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/governance_5105_ENU_HTML.htm

The Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association has a web article on vegetarian diets during pregnancy. Another great resource to print out and give to your prenatal medical provider.
http://www.vegetariannutrition.net/articles/Vegetarian-Diets-During-Pregnancy.php

The Vegetarian Resource Group is the next place to go. They have articles on the vegan diet during pregnancy and lactation and vegan nutrition in pregnancy and childhood, as well as specific articles on getting protein, iron, calcium, and B12 in a vegan diet. They also have the ADA’s food guide in PDF format, which is unavailable through the ADA website unless you are a member.
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition

A great article on high-calorie vegetarian foods is available on the Toronto Vegetarian Association website.
http://veg.ca/content/view/170/112/

VegFamily, the magazine for vegan family living, has an archive of articles on Vegan Pregnancy.
http://www.vegfamily.com/vegan-pregnancy/index.htm

DEVA Nutrition makes a prenatal vitamin formulated specifically for vegans. The website lists online retailers under the distribution link.
http://www.devanutrition.com/vegan_prenatal_multivitamin.html

PRINT RESOURCES

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina is the absolute best book on the topic of vegan nutrition, and the only one you will truly need. There is an entire chapter on diet needs during pregnancy, perfect for copying and discussing with your prenatal medical provider. There is also a helpful chart showing how to achieve a high-calorie vegan diet.

Vegetarian Pregnancy by Sharon Yntema has reliable nutrition information, and specifically includes vegan diets.

The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook by Cathe Olson has a lot of easy, nutritious recipes if you are looking to eat healthier. Not all are vegan, but most are easily adaptable or include vegan versions.

Note: You do not need Pregnancy Children and the Vegan Diet by Michael Klaper. The information is way out of date and much less useful than that in Becoming Vegan.

VIDEO RESOURCE

Bellydance: Prenatal Fitness & Dance Instruction Program DVD with Naia is a fun way to keep in shape throughout your pregnancy. Unlike most prenatal videos, you do not need any accessories – no weights, balls, blocks, ropes, chairs, or floor mats. Any time I experienced physical discomfort during pregnancy, doing this video helped immensely. Bellydance works on the muscles you need most for pregnancy and delivery.

Fears and worries

Well, things are suddenly getting a lot more real. I have been able to mostly put far-off events out of my mind up ’til now, but with the quickening all of a sudden I am like, THERE IS A BABY IN THERE. AND SOON IT WILL BE O-U-T. Crazy!

I suddenly thought of the bris the other day. Kelly and I aren’t going to find out if it is a girl or a boy until I give birth, but if it is a boy then we want to have a bris (circumcision ceremony on the eighth day of the child’s life). Which means my family might have to fly in, and they may be on vacation in Hawaii, depending on when I give birth! I can’t imagine my dad missing the bris of his grandson, though – I am sure it will all work out. On the other hand, it could be a girl, in which case no worries…you know, other than a lifetime of sexism and sex role socialization.

I am also thinking about the birth more – I spoke to my doula for the first time yesterday, and she seems nice. And I was looking up Hypnobirthing classes and I realized that I better start taking classes soon! I am already in the 5th month, and even though my due date is August 5, July is really the 9th month. That’s so soon!

A lot of decisions have gotten put on hold because Kelly and I still don’t know whether we’ll be living in Boston next year, or Rochester (at this point, the location with the most positive response – his interview is next weekend), or Seattle. We don’t want to buy the tons of stuff you apparently need for a baby (car seat, carrier, stroller, bottles, diapers, sleeping area, etc.) if we are about to move because then we have to ship it all. On the other hand, at this point I am definitely giving birth here in Boston (our insurance doesn’t cover much else), so we will need at least some of that stuff before we move. We may end up getting a folding crib-slash-changing table as a temporary measure. I added more books to my Amazon wish list, too – all of a sudden, I want to be reading more!

I started reading the books I already have, and one of them (Birthing From Within) suggested that ‘the work of pregnancy is to worry’ and that if you don’t face your fears directly and deal with them, you won’t be as prepared for the birth. So yesterday I started worrying. But today I think I will set my worries aside for a while again – I’ll worry in spurts. Things are going well right now, and I don’t think I need to derail that by freaking out. 

The last thing I have been facing lately is the idea that major changes are coming – not just in the next year, but in life. I don’t see a way I can finish my degree, since I was already feeling overwhelmed and maxed out juggling a full-time job and taking classes. The remaining classes all involve more time due to the increased requirements of doing research and a thesis. Even without a baby, I would probably need to work less in order to finish the degree. Of course, I can’t do that, because what allows me to afford the classes at all is the discounted tuition I receive as a result of working full time. With a newborn in the mix, I just don’t think it’s possible for me to work full-time and take classes that involve major independent research. Especially if we move, the chances that I could finish this degree go from slim to none. I have been questioning lately if I am even in the right degree program, and I think that probably I am not – on the other hand, any degree is better than no degree. If I do end up dropping out of the program (pretty much a certainty), I can always transfer some of the credits to a new degree somewhere else, and doing more career-oriented study. Kelly and I have agreed that one of our big priorities right now is to move into our chosen career paths. The stumbling blocks for us are different: I need to choose a path, and if it requires additional education I need to figure out how we will pay for that. Kelly has a plan and he has the education, but the path is still not clearly laid out. Anyway, the point is that it’s not just having a baby and getting a new job and moving that will change, but going from graduate student to non-student and becoming a parent and living a new lifestyle.

Fortunately, I have the most wonderful, hottest, most loving partner in the world, and that makes me feel a lot more flexible and prepared for change than I would otherwise. I have faith that we will come through all the changes together. Joining Temple Sinai has helped me feel more grounded, too – if there’s one thing I am going to miss, it’s belonging to a temple where I really belong. Unless we end up in Seattle, in which case we’ll probably just join Temple Beth Am. Easy peasy!

Oh, and I started the Flagyl today.

Diet plans

It’s been a while, and I have lots to say. The nausea and vomiting have gotten worse in the last few weeks, which is one of the reasons I have not been sending my daily missives out to the world. The other reason is that I have decided to be way more chill about this whole pregnancy thing. I am going to stick with my midwife, Tiffany, and go ahead with thinking about giving birth at the Cambridge Birth Center at least until later in the pregnancy (like, summer).

The biggest concern for me right now is making sure that I am getting enough nutrients. I found this handy chart:

Meal Planning Guidelines for Pregnant Vegetarians

Food Group	Serving size	No of Servings	Comments
Grains	1 slice of bread;1/2 cup cooked cereal, grain or pasta; 3/4 to 1 cup ready-to-eat cereal	7 or more	Choose whole or enriched
Legumes, nuts, seeds, milks	1/2 cup cooked beans, tofu, tempeh; 3 oz of meat analogue; or 2 Tbsp nuts, seeds, nut or seed butter; 1 cup fortified soy milk; 1 cup cow’s milk, 1 cup yogurt) (1 serving protein = 14 g)	5 or more	Calcium-rich foods such as dried beans, calcium-precipitated tofu, calcium-fortified soymilk, cow’s milk, and yogurt should be chosen often. A regular source of vitamin B-12 should be used.
Vegetables	1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw	4 or more	Calcium-rich foods such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli, and bok choy, should be chosen often.
Fruits	1/2 cup canned fruit or juice or 1 medium fruit	4 or more	Choose calcium rich figs, and fortified juices often.

I have posted before about how disillusioning it can be to actually read the labels of the meat and dairy “substitutes” in one’s vegan kitchen. I have since realized that in order to eat well, I am going to have to make some major changes in eating habits. It is hard to introduce food items into a daily diet when right now I don’t use them at all. Like, 2 Tblsp of flax oil a day seem pretty important, but because most people eat so much fat, social messages about eating tend to say that you should reduce the amount of oil you just pour on your food. Even though the reasons for that restriction in the general obese American population don’t really apply to me as a skinny vegan, I have still paid attention to that message, resulting in less–not better–health. It seems gross and unhealthy to just add oil or nutritional yeast to whatever I’m eating, but it seems that is to be my new, delicious, healthy habit.

I also need to figure out an easy way to cook more than one vegetable at a meal. Like, if I use a lot of pots and we don’t do all the dishes, then the pots are dirty the next day and I don’t make the vegetables. This was the downfall of the “a smoothie a day” plan – we didn’t clean the blender every night, and then the next morning I wouldn’t have time to clean it and make the smoothie as I ran out the door. I also want to retain the most nutrients in the vegetables – I think steaming is more nutritious than boiling, but I don’t have a lot of experience on how you can steam stuff, especially together. Does anyone have a good resource on this or easy ideas about how to get lots of veggies in their diet?

It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but changing your diet is difficult. My goal this week is to actually make a chart for each day and then fill in what I eat on it. And carry around a half-cup measure for serving size approximations.

That lemon bar

So, how vegan is vegan?

Food

I believe, along with PETA, that if you eliminate the obvious animal products in your diet (animal flesh, milk, and eggs), you are eliminating 99% of the animal suffering from your diet. Although I do read ingredient labels for animal-derived ingredients such as glycerin, I try not to stress about that last 1%. My rule of thumb for food has always been that if I am really craving something, I can have it. This rule works for me because what inevitably happens is that I try to eat that hamburger, piece of pie, et cetera, and it completely grosses me out.

Prime example: yesterday I went to Diesel, a local cafe that carries some vegan baked goods and makes vegan sandwiches and salads. I got a fantastic sandwich with tofu, hummus, sprouts, tomato, and cucumber on a thick 7-grain bread (it was great!), and then was tempted by the baked goods. Unfortunately, all they happened to have that was vegan was the muffins, which did not sound good. They had a wonderful looking lemon bar, and I decided to “cheat” and go for it – I haven’t been eating a lot of fat or protein lately due to nausea, and figured that a bit of egg couldn’t hurt me. I had a bit of my lemon bar while waiting for my sandwich, and it was horrible! I forgot that the crust would have milk or butter in it, and to my vegan taste buds it tasted spoiled. The eggy smell of the lemon custard was a complete turn-off. I had a second bite to make sure (wishful thinking), and surrendered the rest of the lemon bar to the office piranhas when I got back to work. What a bummer! It’s that kind of thing that keeps me an honest vegan.

Fortunately, K and I went to Grasshopper for our anniversary dinner and had the No Name, a protein-packed wheat gluten dish.

Medicine

I am taking a prenatal vitamin, which I suspect is not even vegetarian, much less vegan. On the other hand, taking the pill daily is part of what gives me the confidence to eat a balanced vegan diet during pregnancy.

I was prescribed a flu shot by the doctor when I became pregnant. They are recommended to all pregnant women, since pregnancy changes the immune system and makes dangerous complications from the flu, such as pneumonia, more likely. When I was given the shot, I was asked if I had any egg allergies because the vaccine is incubated in eggs. Knowing this, I still took the shot.

Or how about my recent intravaginal ultrasound? The lube the technician used may have contained glycerin derived from a vegetable or an animal source, which was not disclosed. I didn’t even ask.

The whole medical industry is based on animal testing and vivisection, and I am sure that pregnancy medicine is no different. Even the statistics and recommendations I read, and the various screenings and tests that are available to me, I have to assume have been at least partially developed as a result of animal exploitation. And at the same time, I don’t want to reject all contact with Western medicine.

Destruction of the Environment

I drive a gas-powered car. I eat prepacked convenience foods and rarely shop in the bulk aisle, and my waste goes directly to the landfill. Much of the produce I buy at the grocery store is not organic and has been shipped across continents by plane, train, and automobile. Our whole society–human society–is based around the assumption that humans can and should use the rest of the natural world and its inhabitant for human uses, and that non-human animals and the environment have no intrinsic value. To really escape living with the consequences of this assumption, you would have to drop out of much of human society.

A Life of Compromise

As a result, most city-dwelling, non-crunchy vegans live lives of compromise. We’ll buy a car, but not one with leather seats. Or, we’ll have the salad, please, even if it comes in a styrofoam container. Or we won’t eat honey but we’ll kill spiders that wander into our houses.

Knowing that being vegan is a compromise, I am occasionally willing to bend the rules dictated by my conscience.

It’s a thorny ethical problem to consider, though, the line between my health and the health of the unnamed animal, especially when it comes to modern medicine.

The story so far…

I had been feeling nauseous, fatigued, and out of sorts, and it wasn’t going away like being sick usually does. I told a coworker at my office, and she said, “Maybe you’re pregnant!” I thought, *ding!* “What if I am?” As I thought more and more about my symptoms, it seemed to make sense, especially since my last period never really happened. It was all spotting and I never even used a pad.

I took a home pregnancy test on Saturday, December 15th and it was a strong positive. I couldn’t believe it. I threw the stick away, but kept fishing it out of the garbage to look at it again. Finally I just kept it on the counter so I could see it any time I wanted. The evidence was there, but it took a while to sink in.

On Monday I called my OB-GYN and got a prescription for pre-natal vitamins. I also went to the lab to have my blood drawn to confirm the results of the pee test. On Tuesday a nurse called me to tell me I was definitely pregnant, and perhaps even more pregnant than I thought. I had been thinking that we conceived around Thanksgiving, but perhaps it was earlier in the month. Today, Thursday, I have an appointment for an intravaginal ultrasound to help determine more exactly the age of the pregnancy.

K and I hadn’t been trying to conceive, but on the other hand we had talked about starting a family and had been, as a rule, very careless about using reliable methods of birth control. While the news came as a surprise and even a shock, it was very easy to see how this could have happened.

Telling people has been interesting. It makes it feel more real, and more exciting, for people to know about the pregnancy. At this point we have told our families, coworkers, and close friends by phone, and announced it to the world via gmail chat, livejournal and facebook.

I do have to say, though, that there are a lot of things about being pregnant that I already don’t like. Our culture has a lot of bad ideas about what it means to be pregnant. I have known that I am pregnant for all of six days, and already I have a long list:

1. Pregnant women should eat whatever their bodies tell them to; their bodies know what they really need.
2. When you are pregnant, your body is not your own any more.
3. Being pregnant means that you need to follow a strict regimen of diet and exercise, and if you don’t, your baby will suffer.
4. Pregnant women don’t know what is best for themselves, and need experts to tell them.

People blithely make the most insensitive comments. I’m sure I’ll have more to report on the subject.