Plantbased diets during pregnancy

Vegetarian diets are considered adequate and healthy for use during pregnancy and lactation.However, I wouldn’t recommend to go fully vegan at this time. Learning to balance a vegan diet  takes a moment, which may result in lack of balance and deficiencies at first. Pregnancy, and especially its beginning, is not a good time for that. 

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"Properly planned vegetarian diets, including vegan diets, are healthy, nutritionally appropriate and can be consumed with health benefits in the selection and treatment of various diseases. These diets are suitable for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood and for athletes. "

 

It is a statement of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 

Please note the part “properly planned”

Any poorly balanced diet will be bad for you and your child.

 

How to make a diet balanced? It must contain all the necessary micro and macro components. The most important elements that should be taken into account already on the plantbased diet during pregnancy are:

 

Haematopoietic components: iron, vitamin B12 and folates. All 3 are extremely important during pregnancy..

 

Folate

Folic acid supplementation is mandatory, preferably 3 months before the planned pregnancy. Plantbased diet is rich in folates, but they are crucial in the initial development of the fetal nervous system, therefore it is necessary to supplement folic acid in the amount of 400 micrograms

 

Folic Acid 400 micrograms daily

 

Iron

The demand for iron increases significantly during pregnancy from 18 mg to as much as 27 mg. It is partly natural that during pregnancy there are lower amounts of hemoglobin, as blood volume is bigger.

Anemia is very dangerous during pregnancy, leading for example to higher risk of preterm labor and low birth weight, so it is advised to check concentration of hemoglobin, iron and ferritin in the blood. You will have the whole complete picture of iron stores, not only if there is enough at this moment what we can see in the results of hemoglobin, but also if your body has adequate stores by concentration of ferritin.

 

Rich sources of iron include legumes, nuts, seeds, pumpkin seeds

 

Iron 27 mg

 

B12

Vitamin B12 is absorbed in the terminal ileum, and then the internal factor produced by the stomach's lining cell is needed to absorb it. It is a protein that combines with vitamin B12 and facilitates its absorption. The lack of internal factor occurs in Addison Biermer's disease, after gastrectomy and when using H2-receptor antagonists (antihistamines). In this situation, it becomes impossible to absorb vitamin B12 from food in gastrointestinal tract and you need muscle supplementation, which is prescribed by a doctor.

 

Other possible risks of vitamin B12 deficiency

-SIBO

-diarrheas

-inflammatory bowel disease

 

Vitamin B12 supplementation is necessary for people on a vegetarian or vegan diet, especially during pregnancy.

 

Among pregnant vegetarians who have been on a vegetarian diet for over 3 years, lower levels of b12 and high homocysteine ​​in comparison to non-vegetarians have been noticed.

 

Low B12 levels are detected in long-term vegetarians, but also in women who have been on a vegetarian diet for several months or have consumed small amounts of meat for a long time

 

B12 deficiency puts you at higher risk of preeclampsia and neural tube defects. For the mother, it means possible complications of the nervous system or macrocytic anemia.

 

B12 should be supplemented!

 

→ SUPPLEMENT B12 if you are on a vegetarian, vegan or almost vegetarian diet

 

25-100 µg per day

1000 µg twice a week

 

Omega 3

EPA and DHA, called essential unsaturated acids, are produced in the organizm through the conversion of ALA, which can be found in plants, e.g. in linseed oil and walnuts in large quantities. The conversion depends on many factors that we can’t control and are therefore it’s insufficient, it occurs only in a few percent. That is why DHA is recommended as a supplement during pregnancy, for every woman who do not eat fish in large quantities. Eating fish is very controversial, especially during pregnancy, which I write more about in the e-book.

 

Recommended daily supplementation

440 micrograms DHA

600 micrograms DHA (for woman who do not eat fish)

 

Why is this so important? Omega 3 is responsible for the proper development of the baby's brain, which occurs especially in the second half of pregnancy, however, it lasts another few years, which is why omega 3 supplementation is recommended both during breastfeeding and in later years.

 

Poorly balanced plantbased diets have a unfavorable ratio of omega 6 to 3, therefore, a high ratio of omega 6 to 3 has been observed in vegetarians. Omega 6 in excessive amount acts pro-inflammatory. They are found in large quantities in meat, but also in cereals and some seeds and oils. To maintain the right ratio of omega 6 to 3:

- do not base your diet only on cereal products

- choose walnuts, ground linseed, linseed oil, chia seeds

- do not use grape seed and sunflower oil, choose olive oil or rapeseed oil

- supplement omega 3 fatty acids

 

In the E-book you will find the entire chapter on the beneficial effects of omega 3 and the effects of their deficiency during pregnancy.

 

Calcium

Calcium is one more element that should be taken into account during plantbased diets, especially during pregnancy. It is one of the micronutrients that your child literally sucks from you. It doesn't matter if you consume it in sufficient quantity, the child will get as much as he needs for proper development. What does this mean for you? You have a lot of calcium in your body - your bones. Thanks to this it is possible to give the baby enough, but for you it is very unfavorable and makes the risk of later osteoporosis higher.

 

The demand during pregnancy increases from already high level of 1000 mg to 1200 mg. To ensure them, choose rich sources of calcium, but it's worth thinking about supplementation after consulting a doctor or clinical dietitian.

 

Calcium supplementation during pregnancy is associated with a reduced risk of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, neonatal mortality and premature delivery in developing countries.

 

Vegetable sources of calcium:

 

kale, mustard leaves, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, Chinese, turnip leaves,

soybean sprouts, tofu, calcium enriched with vegetable milk

almonds, beans, tahini, sesame, poppy seeds,

sunflower, almonds, nuts Brazilian,

beans, chickpeas, edamame, soybeans

oranges, figs, 

 

Calcium absorption is affected by several factors, including the presence of vitamin D, or the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the diet

 

Iodine

 

The source of iodine is iodized salt, sea algae or supplements. Supplements for pregnant women usually already contain the right dose of iodine.

 

Vitamin D

 

Vitamin D supplementation is recommended for pregnant women throughout the year.

Recommended amount may vary depending on the country.

 

It is best to consult your diet with a clinical dietitian to make sure that there is nothing missing.

 

Sources

Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 01 Jul 2009, 109 (7): 1266-1282, Position of the American Dietetic Association: vegetarian diets. Winston J C et al.

 

Dietary intake and tissue concentration of fatty acids in omnivore, vegetarian and diabetic pregnancy, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids

 

Role of calcium supplementation during pregnancy in reducing risk of developing gestational hypertensive disorders: a meta-analysis of studies from developing countries, BMC Public Health volume 11, Article number: S18 (2011), Aamer Imdad

 

The Journal of Nutrition, volume 134, 12th edition, December 2004, pages 3319-3326,

The long-term vegetarian diet Ovo-Lacto impairs vitamin B-12 status in pregnant women