The nutritional needs of a woman who is pregnant do not change because of lifestyle choices, such as vegetarianism. A pregnant woman who eats meats has the same nutritional needs that a pregnant woman who does not eat meats has. Vegetarians have certain nutritional advantages over non-vegetarians, in that they are more likely to get many of the vitamins that they need in their regular daily diets. On the other hand, non-vegetarians are more likely to have more protein, zinc, and iron than vegetarians. Eating a healthy diet during pregnancy means paying attention to your diet to make sure that it is balanced, regardless of your lifestyle choices.

For vegetarians, the biggest areas of concern are vitamin B12, zinc, iron and protein. This is true of non-pregnant vegetarians, as well. Vegetarians who are normally diligent about their diets will find that they will have to pay more attention to these nutrients during pregnancy. They will want to shoot for around four servings each day of legumes, six to eleven servings a day of whole grains, four servings each day of foods that are rich in calcium and vitamin D, and 8 to 10 servings each day of fruits and vegetables.

Another area of concern is Omega-3 fatty acids. For non-vegetarians, fish is the most common source of this nutrient. For vegetarians, there are several options, including walnuts, soy products, wheat germ, flax seeds, canola oil, and hempseed oil.

Calcium will also be important for the vegetarian during pregnancy. Here again, many vegetarians are already aware of the general need for calcium, and consume foods like broccoli, sesame seeds, kale, fortified orange juice, soy milk and rice milk. Along with Calcium, vitamin D is necessary to aid with absorption of the calcium. Egg yolks or fortified soy and rice milks are again a good source of Vitamin D.

With a little bit of planning and thought, any woman, whether vegetarian or not, can make sure that her nutritional needs are met during pregnancy.

Posted in Pregnancy

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