Pregnant and Plant Based? Your Guide to a Healthy Vegan/Vegetarian pregnancy.
Eating Whole Food Plant Based has many benefits.
Eating a whole foods plant based diet provides plenty of vitamins and minerals that keep you feeling healthy, and eating more fruits and vegetables during pregnancy has been linked to many beneficial health outcomes for your baby. In fact, what a woman eats during pregnancy not only nourishes her baby in the womb, but may also shape the food preferences of her child later in life. No matter whether your an omnivore, everything-vore, plant based, vegan or vegetarian, its important to have careful planning to prevent nutritional deficiencies. This is particularly the case during pregnancy, when nutrient requirements skyrocket to support the growth of your baby, making deficiency more likely to occur. The key to a healthy pregnancy is ensuring you have your fill of key nutrients so that you and bub remain healthy and happy.
Choline
Why do you need it?
Choline supports the brain function of both you and your baby, in addition to enhancing your baby’s neurological development throughout infancy. Lactation is a time when demand for choline is especially high. Choline is needed for brain development and production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in cognition and healthy mental functioning. Choline deficiency has been associated with neural tube defects in children, therefore adequate choline intake throughout pregnancy is essential for ensuring the healthy development of your baby’s brain and spinal cord (3).
Where is it found?
Whilst choline is present in high amounts within animal products such as meat, eggs and fish, plant-based foods contain lower levels of choline, which increases the risk of deficiency.
How do you get it?
Choline is found in Soy foods (tempeh, tofu), Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and spinach. However, a vegan choline supplement can be an effective way of ensuring your choline levels remain adequately topped up throughout pregnancy.
Protein requirements increase during pregnancy.
Why do you need it?
During pregnancy protein requirements increase. Requirements are about 1.2 g of protein per kg of body weight (4). This is an increase of almost 50% above what you need if you are not pregnant. In the second and third trimesters the RDI for protein changes (4). Sticking to 1.2g/kg through out pregnancy is a good way to make sure you are getting adequate intake. Protein is composed of smaller molecules known as amino acids, which are necessary for the growth and maintenance of all cells within the body (5). With this in mind, you can see how important protein is for the growth and development of your baby. In fact, insufficient protein intake has been linked to reduced gestation length, low birth weight, and increased likelihood of your baby developing impaired immune function (6).
Where is it found?
Dietary protein is found in many plant-based foods, including tofu, tempeh, all beans/legumes, and nuts.
How do you get it?
You can meet all your protein requirements by eating a whole food pant based diet. During pregnancy with the increase in protein intake you may need to include one more meal a day with hummus, nut butter or tofu to meet your protein requirements. Another way is to include a high protein plant based milk such as organic soy. Incorporating a good quality vegan protein, such as pea protein powder, can help bolster protein intake. Pea protein is easy to digest, hypoallergenic (less likely to aggravate allergies or food intolerances), and is packed full of nutrients that support good health during pregnancy. My clients enjoy a high quality protein powder to balance their energy levels. If they have morning sickness having a smoothie with protein powder can help to make sure you are getting sufficient calories and protein.
Essential Fatty Acids
Why do you need it?
Omega-3 EFAs are required to support brain and eye development of your growing baby, in addition to benefiting your own brain health and cognition.
Where is it found?
EFAs are termed ‘essential’ because the body cannot produce them, so they must be supplied through diet. Plant based food sources of EFAs include nuts, seeds and avocado, however, plant-based diets are known to provide lower levels of key EFAs, increasing the risk of deficiency.
How do you get it?
Ground flaxseed is one of the highest sources of omega 3. I recommend having 2 - 3 tbsp per day. Most people are familiar with the EFA-rich properties of fish oil. The vegan equivalent of this is algal oil, which is plant-derived and bursting with EFAs to nourish you and your growing baby. Click here for more information about the importance of EFAs during pregnancy and vegan-friendly algal oil (your hot ticket to EFA health). Its important to have a high quality algae oil which is where a practitioner can guide you.
Your Nutritional Solution to the Deficiency Dilemma
Eating a whole foods plant based diet during pregnancy can mean you are getting more vegetables and fruits than others. Anti inflammatory in nature, rich in antioxidants and nutrients, it has been linked to many beneficial health outcomes . Whilst a well-balanced diet is important, meeting your nutrient requirements during pregnancy on any diet can be difficult and may affect your health and the health of your baby. Fortunately, good quality, vegan-friendly supplements can bridge these nutritional gaps and provide you with key nutrients that prevent deficiencies. It can be helpful to have information and guidance around which supplements best suit your needs, from a professional source. If you have any questions, or want help creating a nutritional plan, get in touch below.
References
1 Pregnancy, Birth and Baby. Anaemia in pregnancy [Internet]. Canberra ACT: Pregnancy, Birth and Baby; 2018 [updates 2018 Nov: cited 2019 Sept 26]. Available from: https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/anaemia-in-pregnancy
2 Piccoli GB, Clari R, Vigotti FN, Leone F, Attini R, Cabiddu G, et al. Vegan-vegetarian diets in pregnancy: danger or panacea? A systematic narrative review. BJOG. 2015 Apr;122(5):623-33. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.13280.
3 Imbard A, Benoist JF, Blom HJ. Neural tube defects, folic acid and methylation. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013 Sep 17;10(9):4352-89. doi:10.3390/ijerph10094352.
4 Elango, R., & Ball, R. O. (2016). Protein and amino acid requirements during pregnancy. Advances in nutrition, 7(4), 839S-844S.
5 Wu G. Amino acids: metabolism, functions, and nutrition. Amino acids. 2009 May 1;37(1):1-7.
6 Herring CM, Bazer FW, Johnson GA, Wu G. Impacts of maternal dietary protein intake on fetal survival, growth, and development. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2018 Mar;243(6):525-533. doi:10.1177/1535370218758275.