The Breastfeeding Vegetarian Diet

The breastfeeding vegetarian diet doesn't vary all that much from the pregnancy vegetarian diet. Protein recommendations are the same, vitamin B-12 recommendations are higher, and the recommendations for iron and calories are lower than during pregnancy. But the key in ensuring your healthy vegetarian diet is also helping you recover from the stresses of giving birth and taking care of your newborn is healthy fats.

Vegetarian Diets for Pregnancy

Pregnancy means eating for two. But it helps to remember that one of you is very small. So while you will need more nutrition, your overall diet will not be dramatically different from your normal eating pattern.

Calorie needs increase only modestly during pregnancy. In the first trimester, no additional calories are needed at all. However, an extra 340 calories are needed per day in the second trimester, and an additional 452 calories are needed per day in the third trimester.  All pregnant women need to choose their meals wisely. It is important to eat foods that are rich in nutrients, but not high in fat or sugar, or excessive in calories.