Oh great - some vegan mommies. Wonder if you could help me out as I do research for my next book.
Did you have trouble digesting beans while pregnant? If so, what foods did you rely on for protein? Nuts/Seeds? Grains? Tofu?
Also, some vegetarian pregnant and nursing moms find they crave meat during this time. Did you ever? If so, how did you deal with the craving - was there some food that satisfied that?
Hope you don't mind my nosiness but I want to help vegan/vegetarian mama's have the most best experience they can.
We've been vegan since ds (now 5 1/2) was 4 months old (vegetarian before) and I maintained a vegan diet through my pregnancy with his sister (now 16 months).
I also nursed him throughout my pregnancy and tandem-nursed them both until he weaned at age 4 1/2.
Beans... no problem digesting them, although some are harder to digest and cause more flatulence. I find that black beans are really easy on our stomachs (and so very yummy!).
I did not crave meat in the least, but did crave chocolate (which my midwife said might be an indication of a lack of protein). It was indeed, and once I paid more careful attention and upped my protein intake, the chocolate cravings went away.
I was often too tired to cook whole foods (make my own hummus, tofu sandwich spread and bake my own bread like I used to) during my last trimester and so I did make use of vegan burgers, crumbles, hot dogs and veggie deli slices occasionally, but I feel it was a fair compromise.
Warmly,
Michelle in NY - mama to sweet ds (5 1/2) and dd (16 months)
To answer your questions on vegan pregnancy experiences...
I had no trouble digesting beans and I ate them all the time.
Meat cravings? Never had one...but I had a MAJOR egg craving once during my first trimester. It was the worst craving I ever had. I fought it off as long as I could but eventually gave in and made myself some deviled eggs. I got so sick from eating them! (So I guess one could argue that I didn't have a completely vegan pregnancy since I ate eggs once.)
I also had major sugar cravings (and satisfied every one
). I now hear that sugar cravings can indicate a need for protein and I wonder if I should have been getting more protein?
I'm so glad to hear that beans are going strong since I have been working on many, many bean recipes - just wondering, are you saying that they were okay while nursing too?? No problem with colic or anything?
I had a mostly vegan pregnancy (I also ate a few animal products on various occasions). I had no problems with eating beans during the pregnancy or during lactation. I was turned off from my usual healthy foods during half my pregnancy, though. I ate alot of really gross stuff. Ramen noodles, candy, and such. Everything else made me wanna barf. Dh and I used to drive by a McD that had a big sign that stated, "Spicy, Crispy Chicken." I thought it sounded good. Didn't get one, though. Thank G-d I keep kosher! Try a vegan, pregnant Passover. That one's hard (I ate eggs). No soy, no peanuts, no beans... Oh, well, it was spiritually fufilling despite this!
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