More and more women decide to change their diet and choose to stop consuming products of animal origin. But what happens when these women get pregnant? Is it possible to have a healthy pregnancy based on vegetables?
The answer is yes. A vegetarian diet can be taken during pregnancy by learning to combine food to replace the supply of essential nutrients required at this stage. If you are a vegetarian, so you must feed to have a healthy pregnancy.
Is it safe to carry a vegetarian pregnancy?
There are no randomized controlled studies that give a blunt answer to this question. However, there is a study conducted in 2015 and published in the BJOG that brings us closer to the evidence.
We analyzed 22 observational studies on pregnancies of vegan and vegetarian people and it was not found that there was an increase in major birth defects nor any other serious problem in the children or in the mothers who take this type of diet, as long as the woman is healthy.
Essential nutrients in the vegetarian diet
Food is key during pregnancy. In this period it is when you should be more careful, if possible, with your diet because it will depend largely on how your baby develops inside the uterus. And not only that, but also your future health.
Babies and more has consulted with the dietitian Arantza Muñoz Hernández, also known as Ethical Dietitian, who gives us the keys to eating a vegetarian diet during pregnancy. He has detailed what nutrients are essential and how to obtain them, as well as the recommendations of quantities of each of them that you should ingest.
Energy (kcal)
In any pregnancy, whether vegetarian or not, energy and protein needs increase by trimesters (always from the second trimester).
This will depend on the weight before the woman's pregnancy. But in a very generalized way we can say that a woman who was at a healthy weight (without being overweight or obese before) is expected increase from 11 to 16 kg During pregnancy.
What will suppose that in the second trimester ingested 300 kcal more per day than usual, for example, eating 100 grams more of cooked legumes and 30 grams more nuts, approximately, and about 450 kcal more a day than before becoming pregnant. And in the third quarter, about 50 grams of nuts per day and 150 grams of legumes cooked more per day, for example.
Proteins in pregnancy
When we talk about proteins and their needs during pregnancy, we must first know how much base we need. It is a calculation that, we must make the toilets and explain in consultation as it can lead to errors. It is calculated, again, based on healthy weight and explains which foods are richer in protein.
For example, 100 gr of cooked chickpeas They have 8.9 gr of very good quality protein (with a complete amino acid profile). While 100 gr of cooked quinoa, it only has 4.4 gr of protein. He tofu, depending on your water level (if it is more compact or more silky) it has between 8 and 12 grams of very good quality protein, per 100 grams. However, 100 grams of cooked rice has 2.3 grams of protein, which in this case does not have a complete amino acid profile.
The textured soybeans It contains 25 gr of protein per 100 gr cooked, and of very good quality, while 100 gr of seitan They have 21 grams of protein, which, as with rice, does not have a complete amino acid profile. Within nuts, highlight the peanuts, which contain 23 grams of protein in 100 grams, and almonds, which contain 21 grams of protein in 100 grams.
From the second quarter increase 25 gr / daily our protein needs (that not 25 gr of protein food: 100 gr of cooked textured soybeans contain 25 gr of protein)
Menu example
An example of a menu with enough protein for a woman with a normal weight would be:
- Breakfast: 35 gr oat flakes and 250 ml of soy drink. A fruit
- Mid-morning: 60 gr of bread with tomato, oil and avocado.
- Food: 100 gr of chickpeas cooked in a salad with lemon juice. A bowl of rice (120 gr cooked). fruit
- Snack: 30 gr of almonds and a banana. A coffee with soy drink (200 ml)
- Dinner: 150 gr of grilled tofu and salad with 15 gr of crushed sesame seeds. A soy yogurt.
Total: 68.3 gr of protein
If you need 25 extra grams (as we have said, as of the 2nd quarter), we can get them through any of these sources.
50 grams of textured soybean raw = 25 grams of protein
50 gr of peanuts + 1 soy yogurt = 18 gr of protein
150 grams of tofu = 12-18 grams of protein
The Quality protein in a vegan diet They are primarily derived from soybeans, legumes and nuts.
B12 vitamin
As already happens in the vegetarian and vegan diet, B12 supplement should not be taken, even if pregestational, gestational or breastfeeding supplements are taken by the gynecologist. The doctor usually prescribes pregnant supplements combined with folic acid along with iodine and vitamin B12.
Iodine
During pregnancy, it is common for the doctor to prescribe iodine supplements, and in general, both in pregnancy and not, it is recommended to use iodized table salt in the amount recommended by the WHO, less than 5 gr per day.
That is why it is so important do not consume ultraprocessed, which are rich in sodium. The use of exotic salts, such as Himalayan Pink Salt, is very fashionable, but, if you do not specify that it is iodized, it is not what we are looking for.
Calcium
Calcium recommendations during pregnancy are slightly higher than an adult (in non-pregnancy situation): 1100 mg daily.
How can we meet those requirements?
- Breakfast: 1 glass of enriched vegetable drink + fruit to taste
- Food: a plate of broccoli with white beans and a handful of almonds
- Dinner: 120gr of tofu with vegetables, whole wheat bread with sesame paste (tahin) and a soy yogurt
Iron
How in any pregnancy iron needs increase from the second trimester, because the fetus will be forming iron storage for him.
Iron is important to ensure the supply of oxygen that the baby requires to grow healthy and keep anemia at bay during pregnancy, a disease that can cause complications.
Iron needs in pregnancy increase from 1-2.5 mg / day at the beginning to 6.5 mg at the end of pregnancy. Iron-rich foods that you can include in your vegetarian diet are green leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, cabbage and chard, as well as cereals and fortified foods.
Non-heme iron (one that does not come from animal sources) is very absorbed better accompanied by a source of vitamin C and distancing their intake, for example, from chocolate, coffee or tea (including decaffeinated and no theine). It is also a good tool to soak legumes before, eat them fermented, such as tempeh, or sprouts, such as bean sprouts.
Omega 3, DHA
DHA as such is not common in the vegan diet (it can be found in some algae, and therefore the EPA and DHA vegan supplements come from microalgae), however, ALA, which is, and much, in diets Vegetarian and vegan, it allows to obtain DHA through it without the need to supplement.
How do we get it? Avoiding soy, corn, sunflower and "vegetable oil" oils. Use olive oil or avocado. Include 1 teaspoon of flax / flaxseed oil or 10 gr of country / Californian nuts a day in your diet.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is essential for multiple functions of our body, included in pregnancy, having an important role in calcium absorption. Thus, drink vegetable drinks enriched with Vitamin D (those that are enriched with calcium, usually take it), as well as exposing yourself directly to the sun, 15 to 30 min a day on the face, neck and hands, will help you to have optimal levels.
However, it is common to start from a deficit, due to the use of body and facial creams, as well as makeup with sun protection factor, and due to the fact that our work and social life, is primarily carried out inside buildings, we move in buses, cars or meters, and we go most of the year, covered by enough clothes.
Therefore, it is advisable to perform analytics in the months of October to March where this parameter is included, it is a good way to ensure you have correct levels. Otherwise, it is possible that our doctor will provide us with supplementation.
We should never lightly supplement vitamins and / or minerals. Go to a healthcare professional, to check if necessary through diagnostic tests (such as analytical tests) and through an analysis of the current nutritional quality and quantity. He will decide whether or not it is necessary to supplement, and how to do it. There are vegan vitamin D3 supplements on the market.
