Maintain your vegan lifestyle during your pregnancy.
While some women choose to take a break from their vegan lifestyles during pregnancy, other moms-to-be embrace it. A vegan diet isn't unhealthy during pregnancy, but pregnant vegans should careful about what their bodies -- and their babies -- need. Calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin D and iron are just some of the vitamins and minerals that affect fetal development and may be lacking in the vegan diet. As long as vegan moms-to-be get plenty of the vitamins and minerals commonly found in meat and dairy products and maintain a healthy weight goal, they can have healthy, happy pregnancies.
Instructions
1. Gain at least 25 to 35 lbs. during your pregnancy. Because none of the fat in a vegan diet comes from animal products, it may be more difficult for a vegan mom to maintain a healthy weight during her pregnancy. But it's definitely achievable. Soy milk shakes, vegan yogurts, beans, legumes, nuts and nut butters have relatively high concentrations of fat and calories and still fit within the vegan lifestyle.
2. Consume about 75 g protein every day by incorporating extra nuts, seeds and legumes, whole grains and soy products into your diet. A healthy dose of protein is especially important for baby development after the 18-week mark.
3. Drink calcium-fortified juices and soy or almond milk, and eat dark, leafy greens, sesame seeds, almonds and tempeh to get the calcium other women get from dairy products. Aim for 1,200 mg calcium a day.
4. Take an iron supplement and add extra spinach, hummus, millet, lentils and other iron-rich foods into your pregnancy diet. Even non-vegan moms-to-be usually need an iron supplement during pregnancy, and most pregnant women need about 27 mg iron a day.
5. Take a B12 supplement and eat B12-fortified foods, including some cereals and soy milk brands, to get at least 2.6 mcg per day. Vitamin B12 is only found naturally in animal products, and it's crucial to your developing fetus. Most vegans already incorporate B12 supplements and B12-fortified foods into their diets, so continue this habit and up your B12 intake during your pregnancy.
6. Get your vitamin D with 15 minutes -- but no more -- of unshielded sun exposure a day, plus vitamin D-fortified foods and supplements. Besides sun exposure, which helps the body produce vitamin D, drinking cow's milk is the main way non-vegans incorporate this nutrient into their diets.
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