Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [130]
Your body absorbs calcium and iron best when they’re taken separately, so plan your vitamins accordingly. Calcium citrate is easier to absorb than calcium carbonate, so get a supplement with this form. Take no more than 500–600 milligrams of either calcium or iron at a time for best absorption.
Iron
Getting enough iron is important to ensure a healthy rate of development for your baby and to ensure a strong and energized pregnancy for you. Your body is making extra blood for the baby now, so you need more iron than ever, about 49 milligrams a day. Focusing on iron-rich foods like dark beans and leafy green veggies, as well as a prenatal supplement that contains iron, helps make blood production go smoothly.
Most vegan prenatal vitamins provide 100 percent of the iron you need, so talk with your healthcare provider about which supplement to take. And be sure to include lots of vitamin C–rich foods to help your body absorb the extra iron you’re consuming. (To read more about iron, including a list of great vegan iron food sources, check out Chapter 4.)
B12
Because every vitamin and mineral is needed in higher quantities during pregnancy, it’s no surprise that the B12 requirements are higher too. Pregnant and nursing mothers are encouraged to get between 2 and 2.8 micrograms per day. Focusing on enriched soy foods, nutritional yeast, and a good vegan prenatal supplement during pregnancy and breastfeeding can help you reach the recommended daily intake.
B12 helps the pregnant mother maintain a healthy nervous system and create enough blood for herself and her baby. This vitamin crosses the placenta into the baby and is needed to help make DNA and other cell material.
Breastfed babies get their B12 through breast milk, so it’s important that a vegan mom continues to get optimal amounts of B12 during nursing. That way both she and the baby are sure to get what they need. Infants can store enough B12 to last 6 months to 1 year from what they get in the womb, so optimal intake during pregnancy is key. For more on B vitamins, including B12, refer to Chapter 4.
Oils and fats
The oils and fats that build and protect our brains, organs, and eyes are necessary in greater amounts for pregnant women. Essential fatty acids like DHA, an important omega-3 oil, are needed by every cell in the body and are sometimes referred to as essential oils. In other words, it’s essential that you get them from your food! DHA is important for proper fetal and infant development.
Vegans can get these oils, which are often found in high concentrations in fatty fish, by eating certain vegetable oils instead. Oils from flax, sesame, sunflower, and evening primrose seeds are sometimes combined in vegan supplements. Products made from microalgae also are good sources of DHA. An added benefit of taking vegan DHA supplements or formulated omega-3 oils is that you avoid the mercury and other toxins that are found in dangerous concentrations in fish.
An easy way to integrate certain omega-3-rich oils, like flax, or combination oils, like Udo’s DHA 3-6-9, is to drizzle your daily serving on salad, popcorn, or soup, or whisk it into nondairy yogurt. Heat damages the health benefits of these oils, so don’t cook them.
A word on supplements
Adding well-chosen supplements to your well-rounded diet ensures that you and your growing fetus are getting everything you both need in the way of nutrients. Take a realistic look at your diet and talk with your healthcare provider about what you may be lacking. Safeguard your and your baby’s health with a few easy vitamins and minerals or take an all-inclusive prenatal.
For example, if you’re concerned about your iron intake, discuss it with your midwife or doctor. Many pregnant women, vegan and nonvegan alike, experience anemia during their 40 weeks