Pregnancy is a beautiful phase for any woman in her life. For this pregnancy, a woman plans a lot for like everything but most importantly for her health. As you consume a variety of healthy vegan foods and plan your diet to contain essential nutrients under vegan pregnancy, but you can get all the nutrients for you and your baby need without eating animal products such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products and honey.

In some cases, you need to rely on fortified foods or supplements to make sure you have enough of what you need. You can tell about your diet during your preliminary examination or during your first prenatal visit to your doctor. And always try to consult your physician, midwife or nutritionist before taking any type of supplements during pregnancy.

There is no stage in life where nutrition is as important as during pregnancy. Finally, you provide the nutrition needed to support two lives. Since the first moments of life are fundamental, the diet that leads to conception and pregnancy is extremely important. Many mothers, whether they are vegan or not, do not eat an optimally nutritious diet during pregnancy. This guide will teach you the most important things when you plan to become pregnant during a vegan diet.

Vegan pregnancy is much like a vegetarian pregnancy, in which a woman needs to make sure she gets enough protein and nutrients in her diet as it’s needed to aid her baby’s growth. A woman can get this protein and nutrients from vegetable sources like dairy-free nut butter, quinoa, tofu, lentils, and beans.

There are a variety of fruits and vegetables ( it could be fresh, frozen or canned) and whole grains, that you need to make sure that you eat or take supplements that provide the following important nutrients for a healthy pregnancy.

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Following are Top Nutrients of Vegan Pregnancy

1. Protein

A pregnant woman should eat several servings of protein-rich foods each day. Good sources of vegan protein are legumes, soy foods, nuts, seeds, and nut butter.

2. Zinc

A pregnant woman should try to take zinc-rich foods every day. Many foods that provide iron are beans, soy foods, fortified breakfast cereals, and whole grains they also provide zinc. Other great sources of zinc for vegans are nuts, seeds, and wheat germ.

3. Iron

A pregnant woman’s prenatal vitamin will likely provide some iron. But she will also need to eat a variety of iron-rich foods every day. There are several good sources of iron including breakfast cereal, enriched pasta, legumes, whole-grain bread, tofu, soy foods, and leafy greens (like spinach, kale, and chard).

Not only a pregnant woman but a normal person should also avoid tea or coffee with meals because these drinks contain polyphenols and tannins, that makes it harder for the body to absorb iron from plant foods. Instead, having coffee or tea you can have something that’s rich in vitamin C like orange juice, broccoli, and tomato sauce to help your body absorb the iron.

4. Calcium

Calcium-rich foods are very necessary for the development of bones. Its sources include almond or soy milk, breakfast cereals, fruit juice, white beans, tahini, blackstrap molasses, and calcium-set tofu.

Almonds or sesame seeds

Certain green vegetables like kale, turnip greens, collards, napa cabbage, bok choy, and broccoli such as spinach, chard, beet greens, and contain calcium.

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5. B12

Vitamin B12 plays an important role in the development and growth of your baby’s brain as well as it is primarily found in animal products, so vegans need a good alternative source of vitamin B12 daily.

So, for this vitamin include supplements and fortified foods and beverages are soy milk, plant milk, nutritional yeast, and breakfast cereal.

6. Vitamin D

This vitamin helps your body to absorb calcium. Some types of plant milk, cereal, and orange juice are supplemented with vitamin D. Many fetal supplements also include vitamin D.

7. Iodine

Iodine is an important thing for the development and growth of your baby’s brain. Iodized salt and dried seaweed are good sources of iodine.

8. DHA

DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that helps in promoting the development of the eyes and the brain of your unborn baby’s. the DHA is mainly found in fish, algae, and fish oil. It is difficult to obtain DHA from a nonfish source, for this you can take omega-3 supplement derived from algae that are suitable for vegans.

Conclusion:

All the above written essential nutrients are very important for vegan pregnancy. One should follow a balanced nutrients diet during pregnancy.

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