People say I need to eat meat during my pregnancy

recently found out im having a baby, and ive had TONS of people so far telling me "you need to eat meat, your iron levels are probably low, you need to eat more protein" lol

people are so ignorant!

i havent even had a craving for meat or dairy, thank god

my sister felt the need to send me this link:

By NINA PLANCK
Published: May 21, 2007
Correction Appended

WHEN Crown Shakur died of starvation, he was 6 weeks old and weighed 3.5 pounds. His vegan parents, who fed him mainly soy milk and apple juice, were convicted in Atlanta recently of murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty.

Jacob Magraw-Mickelson
This particular calamity — at least the third such conviction of vegan parents in four years — may be largely due to ignorance. But it should prompt frank discussion about nutrition.

I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.

Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run.

Protein deficiency is one danger of a vegan diet for babies. Nutritionists used to speak of proteins as “first class” (from meat, fish, eggs and milk) and “second class” (from plants), but today this is considered denigrating to vegetarians.

The fact remains, though, that humans prefer animal proteins and fats to cereals and tubers, because they contain all the essential amino acids needed for life in the right ratio. This is not true of plant proteins, which are inferior in quantity and quality — even soy.

A vegan diet may lack vitamin B12, found only in animal foods; usable vitamins A and D, found in meat, fish, eggs and butter; and necessary minerals like calcium and zinc. When babies are deprived of all these nutrients, they will suffer from retarded growth, rickets and nerve damage.

Responsible vegan parents know that breast milk is ideal. It contains many necessary components, including cholesterol (which babies use to make nerve cells) and countless immune and growth factors. When breastfeeding isn’t possible, soy milk and fruit juice, even in seemingly sufficient quantities, are not safe substitutes for a quality infant formula.

Yet even a breast-fed baby is at risk. Studies show that vegan breast milk lacks enough docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, the omega-3 fat found in fatty fish. It is difficult to overstate the importance of DHA, vital as it is for eye and brain development.

A vegan diet is equally dangerous for weaned babies and toddlers, who need plenty of protein and calcium. Too often, vegans turn to soy, which actually inhibits growth and reduces absorption of protein and minerals. That’s why health officials in Britain, Canada and other countries express caution about soy for babies. (Not here, though — perhaps because our farm policy is so soy-friendly.)

Historically, diet honored tradition: we ate the foods that our mothers, and their mothers, ate. Now, your neighbor or sibling may be a meat-eater or vegetarian, may ferment his foods or eat them raw. This fragmentation of the American menu reflects admirable diversity and tolerance, but food is more important than fashion. Though it’s not politically correct to say so, all diets are not created equal.

An adult who was well-nourished in utero and in infancy may choose to get by on a vegan diet, but babies are built from protein, calcium, cholesterol and fish oil. Children fed only plants will not get the precious things they need to live and grow.

Nina Planck is the author of “Real Food: What to Eat and Why.”

Correction: June 8, 2007

An Op-Ed article on May 21, about veganism, mischaracterized an aspect of traditional vegetarian Indian diets. Generally, these diets are lacto-vegetarian; they do not include eggs

LIKE REALLY?

maybe there are certain foods i should be increasing for the baby

and it sucks, but the thought of a banana makes me gag right now... =[

1 member likes this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RawDad on May 24, 2012 at 12:37am

You do not need meat.

Be sure to consume plenty of vegetable matter in your diet. Veg juices are a great way to go.

Also ensure omega3's are high (flax, chia) - and get enough fat in the diet.

Nutrients.... you and the baby need them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gabrielle Glowacki on May 24, 2012 at 12:41am

thanks, my mind has been so all over the place that i totally havent been thinking about the most important thing for the baby and i and thats health!

ill have to stop and grab some type of flax and get to it

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fruitpixie on May 24, 2012 at 9:59am

I am sorry that peolpe are being unsupportive because of their ignorance :( Maybe there is some information you could give them to read. And no you do not need meat and dairy you are doing an amazing thing for your child being vegan. I have had two vegan pregnancys and I never gave it a second thought, I know eating animals is wrong for us. You just need to keep educating yourself because you will get this sort of s*** for as long as you have chilldren. But my oldest is three now and my family knows not to question me because they will get a huge lecture on the subject lol.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Greenmama on May 24, 2012 at 11:11am

Believe you me, get used to it. Parents are constantly given all kinds of unwanted (and terrible) advice. As soon as you start showing, here comes the onslaught. LOL! As soon as you have the baby everyone will want to know if he's sleeping through the night. Eye roll...

It's great for getting clarity about your beliefs and learning to trust in yourself.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gabrielle Glowacki on May 24, 2012 at 2:49pm

i just let them give their advice and say thanks but no thanks

i would love to go out of my way to show them how wrong they are about it all but it seems to be a waste of time, they are so stuck in their ways and the way of the world because its the way they were all raised and its all they know.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stephane on May 24, 2012 at 12:41am

Well, my wife didn't for both of her pregnancies, and both our boys never had any animal product, or any cooked food... Just lots of fruits, avocados included, and greens. They don't really look like dead walking vegans, and I'm not in jail, yet ;-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gabrielle Glowacki on May 24, 2012 at 12:44am

speaking of avocados, i had the most delicious avocado taco last night, it had oranges, red peppers, green peppers, avocados and some weird spice on it.. MAN was it delicious!

is this your youtube video? pretty cool!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stephane on May 24, 2012 at 12:49am

Yep that's the family the other day last week at a playground in Marbella, Spain.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gabrielle Glowacki on May 24, 2012 at 12:58am

awesome you have a lovely family, im sure spain is just as lovely too :D

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stephane on May 24, 2012 at 1:06am

Thanks. Spain is quite nice to live, especially the far south, sunny and fruity!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Corrtney on May 24, 2012 at 1:04am

babies are built from protein, calcium, cholesterol and fish oil. Children fed only plants will not get the precious things they need to live and grow.

So according to this, babies are made out of dead animal corpse and secretions?

Some people are misinformed. I would tell her that you appreciate her concern and you are researching how to have a healthy vegan pregnancy. I would then send her things about how mother's milk is actually very low in protein and whatnot. Of course there is a right way and a wrong way to go about pregnancy in any diet!