Is a Vegetarian Diet During Pregnancy Healthy?

During pregnancy, a woman is encouraged to follow a healthy lifestyle, including making dietary changes as needed. Women who are vegetarian may become confused about whether continuing their vegetarian diet is actually healthy. Many such women will hear from friends, family, and health care professionals that being vegetarian is “unsafe” for both mother and baby. This can leave them feeling seriously conflicted. For long-time vegetarians, it can be especially disheartening when being vegetarian is not simply a diet, but a lifestyle.

The truth is, a balanced vegetarian diet during pregnancy can be healthy. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has published a position paper that suggests a well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet is appropriate during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy and lactation. The emphasis is on the words “balanced” and “well planned.”

If you are pregnant and a vegetarian, you should work with your health care professional to ensure that your diet is adequately meeting all your nutritional needs. This means ensuring you consume adequate calories, protein, healthy fats, and vitamins/minerals. It is especially important to keep in mind that nutritional needs increase throughout pregnancy, so some alterations to your meal plan need to be tweaked as the weeks go by.

To start, here are some basic tips for vegetarian diets during pregnancy:

1. Eat enough calories! For women who are normal weight, calorie needs are normal during the first trimester but increase to 300 extra calories in the second trimester and 400 or more in the third trimester. You should track your weight gain, and if not gaining enough, you may need to work with your health care professional to make dietary changes.
2. Include daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and protein throughout pregnancy. If you eliminate a food group/category (e.g., dairy or meat) it is important that you include other food sources that are rich in the same nutrients.
3. Eat a variety of foods. By changing up your meals and foods choices, you help to ensure that you’re getting all the nutrients required in your diet.
4. Consume protein. Alternatives to meat may include fish, eggs, beans, nuts, and soy and dairy products.
5. If you choose to eat fish, avoid high-mercury fish (shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish) and limit other fish to 12 ounces per week. Albacore (white) tuna has more mercury, so it is recommended to eat no more than six ounces per week. A normal serving of fish is three to four ounces, which means you can eat fish three or four days a week if you choose.
6. Take your prenatal vitamins for the duration of your pregnancy. This ensures you are meeting your micronutrient needs, especially as the daily requirements for certain vitamins and minerals increase during pregnancy.

To find an excellent doctor who is right for you, please call our Physician Referral Service at 866.804.1007.