What should apregnant vegatrian be eating each day?

[missmich]

The nurse tells me that I'm 11 weeks now,I just found on Monday and can not believe it yet! Can you help me make a list if foods that I should make sure to eat every day to help keep the baby and I healthy? Also is there anything to help me make up for eating like garbage the past few weeks when I wasn't able to eat much? Anything that I should be avoiding? I do have eggs and milk in my diet,bot no meat,chicken or fish.

[fresh_veggie]

Get a good vitamin for insurance. A whole foods one. You don't need one specific list each day, you should really focus on variety! You calorie needs haven't really increased - they don't increase much until it's time to bf. Just make sure you eat enough and are getting the nutrients you need right now - maybe use a food log like calorie count? They chart your nutritional intake.

Congrats!!!

[missmich]

Thanks for the advice.

Should I be drinking whole milk or is 2% ok?

Is ot safe to eat soy and tofu products?

[fresh_veggie]

You're welcome

I'm not an advocate of cow's milk, honestly, so I'm probably not the best person to get advice from. I'd have to say organic whole milk, though, or goats milk.

Soy is safe to eat unfermented maybe twice a week. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, so just try to keep it to a minimum, I'd guess. Soy products are easily replaced with nut and seed milk alternatives - I just bought he most amazing non-dairy ice cream made with hemp milk called Tempt. (I don't know what I'd do about tofu though, I really don't eat it much personally - maybe experiment with other different meat alternatives?). Fermented soy shouldn't be a problem, and real miso soup is really really good for you. Apparently it's great for nausea during pregnancy.

[caiesmommy]

I second the miso for nausua! It helped me tons during both pregnancies! I added veggies and hemp seeds to my miso to up the health factor

I drank almond milk w my last pregnancy.

My tip is to add protein like seeds ect to foods where you wouldnt think of finding them like seeds inside of bean/veg burritoes ect.

[fresh_veggie]

Originally Posted by caiesmommy

I second the miso for nausua! It helped me tons during both pregnancies! I added veggies and hemp seeds to my miso to up the health factor

I drank almond milk w my last pregnancy.

My tip is to add protein like seeds ect to foods where you wouldnt think of finding them like seeds inside of bean/veg burritoes ect.

Agreed. Your version of miso soup sounds sooo good! I was eye-ing the miso paste thinking how I really should get some the other day...what kind do you use?

[catnip]

I had a constant low level nausea and some pretty strong food aversions that left me pretty much with a diet of whole grain bread, peanut butter, oatmeal, nuts, tofu, sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, pasta, and vanilla soymilk for most of my pregnancy. Had a perfectly healthy pregnancy, and a perfectly healthy baby, and a craving for beet greens the day after the baby was born that left me in tears until it was satisfied.

Even the thought of any kind of green leafy veggie, or, really, any vegetable except the ones named above, but especially green leafy ones, any fruit except bananas, most any beans, and oddly, vinegar, made me vomit. Trying to eat them? Forget it.

I could manage cream of broccoli soup some days, but not others. I was so stressed about nutrition! But my kiddo is 5, and in perfect health.

[caiesmommy]

I use a mello yellow miso for soup. With tons of garlic, ginger and chilis(we like the heat in out house, and I believe it helps us from getting sick). I add homemade veg broth, and whatever veg we have in the house, even frozen peas and corn. and then hemp seeds or sesame seeds, whatever we have. If I want a more substantal soup Ill add rice noodles

[coryy]

have you checked out

http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/

yet???? It's the home of the Brewer diet...now you can take what he says about dairy or not, but the rest of the recommendations are very good.

[Ianthe]

I usually ate pretty normal.. I added a peanut better sandwich and glass of calcium OJ and non-dairy milk. If you eat eggs and milk def. buy organic!

I ate soy but made sure it was organic and also made sure I wasn't relying on it for my protein. I tried to get protein from whole grains and beans and nuts. I only used soy to satisfy my comfort food cravings!

[somegirl99]

I've been craving/having a lot of miso broth lately and know I know why!

I've been eating the same as normal for the most part (just more of it), trying to make sure I get plenty of folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, iron, calcium, and a bit more protein than normal.

Try to eat regularly and keep snacks on hand; having a really empty stomach will probably make you feel more nauseous. A handful of nuts is a nice quick snack.

[AmandaMom]

I just ordered The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook: Whole Foods To Nourish Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women - And Their Families. It gets great reviews on Amazon!

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by AmandaMom

I just ordered The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook: Whole Foods To Nourish Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women - And Their Families. It gets great reviews on Amazon!

I love that cookbook, one of my favorites! Plus the author is an MDC mama!

[jessaroo]

Check out the Vegetarian Mothers Cookbook by Cathe Olson

[missmich]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try to by organic milk and eggs if I can. I'm applying for a program tonight called OLO and they will provide me coupons for eggs,milk and oj and I have no idea if it allows organic or certain brands or not.

I've never had miso before. IT sounds and looks weird to me,but I'll look for the Mello Yellow and try it.

[huggingmama]

Pregnant vegetarian here... but I guess I'm clueless. What's the problem with eating soy in pregnancy? DH just made me a big things of tofu the other night and now I'm freaking out... Any good links for me to read up on it?

[somegirl99]

I eat soy but I limit it to whole foods that I could potentially make myself (such as soy milk, tofu, edamame) or fermented foods (tempeh, miso).

I avoid the processed soy foods, not just while pregnant.

[huggingmama]

...but what is the reason for avoiding it in pregnancy? Sorry if this is a silly question; I just don't know.

[somegirl99]

Not at all silly. The concern is usually over the isoflavones / phytoestrogens in the soy, which can have hormonal effects on the body.

They often tend to be more concentrated in the processed foods, one reason I avoid them. IMO a moderate amount is fine. After all, there are traditional cultures in Asia that have been consuming tofu, soymilk, edamame, tempeh and miso for quite a long time and seem to do fine with reproducing.

I think if you search on soy or isoflavones and pregnancy you'll probably find websites both for and against soy during pregnancy.

[huggingmama]

Ok, thanks so much!