4 Great Reasons To Handle Being Vegan and Pregnant

A vegan diet means not eating animal products such as meat, eggs, or dairy. The downside is that there are essential nutrients that can only be found in food made with animal parts.

Obtaining nutrients from your food is especially important when you are pregnant and are growing a child. That is why if you are vegan and pregnant, you have reason to worry.

However, the good news is that there are ways to handle being vegan and pregnant.

You need all the nutrients you can get

When pregnant, you need to nourish your body with all the nutrients you can so that your baby can develop well and you can remain healthy. Sadly, you can only find nutrients such as vitamin B12 and iron in meat and fish.

Therefore, you need to find alternative means of getting these nutrients. One way is to take iron and vitamin supplements to bridge the gap.

Make sure you eat a varied and balanced vegan diet to get all the other nutrients naturally. The diet should comprise of plenty of fruits and vegetables to give you the vitamins that you need.

You can get protein from nuts, pulses, and beans while alternative milk products such as tofu and soy milk can provide calcium. Other sources of calcium are pulses, green leafy vegetables, sesame seeds, and dried fruits.

Take dried fruits, pulses, and leafy green vegetables for iron. While you can get vitamin D from sunlight, consider taking supplements in the winter season.

Need for a healthy pregnancy and proper growth

In order to have a healthy pregnancy and for your baby to grow properly, you need to consume all the nutrients required by the body. While a vegan diet is considered safe during pregnancy, you must make sure that you are consuming all the nutrients that you require.

Below is a short video about nutrition tips during pregnancy: 

You should be extra careful to make sure you are taking all the vitamins and nutrients that you require. Of most concern are calcium, protein, vitamin D, iron and vitamin B12.

Take calcium, vitamin B12, and iron supplements if you fear you might not be getting enough from the foods.

The vegan diet lacks some nutrients

The vegan diet is comprised of plant foods. While these may be adequate to provide the nutrients you need, it may lack essential ones that you need especially if you are pregnant, such as iron and vitamin B12. Mostly, you will find these in fish and meat.

When you are vegan and pregnant, you need to take charge of what you eat to ensure that you get all the nutrients you require.

Avoid fetal deformities

Lack of sufficient folic acid and vitamin B12 can cause fetal deformities such as neural tube defects. These two nutrients are also essential in the building of the genetic material and forming the red blood cells.

Due to their diets, vegans have a higher chance of getting vitamin B12 deficiency since it is found in animal foods.

When you are vegan and pregnant, you need to make sure you get enough of this vitamin to prevent fetal deformities by taking supplements.