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. Healthy fats and oils play active roles in every stage of the body's healing, building, and maintenance processes. In fact, they are as important to an active individual's body as amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. Healthy fats and oils help convert light and sound into electrical nerve impulses, remove potentially toxic substances from sensitive tissue, and provide strength to cell membranes. The key is in balancing fats from a variety of foods. All foods that contain dietary fat contain a combination of fatty acids-the chemical building blocks of fat. Learning about the mixture of fatty acids in your diet will help you figure out how to choose foods with the good fats and avoid those foods that contain the bad fats.
For healthy fats, look to mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These can readily be found in a variety of vegetables, oils, and nuts, such as avocados, almonds, and olive oil. These help your body to resist attack from free radicals, which are specially formed types of atoms that can damage your body's cells when they react with DNA or cell membranes-better than other fats and thus are less prone to stick to your arteries.
Polyunsaturated fats occur in food either as omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids. The key to eating healthy polyunsaturated fats is to maintain the right balance of omega-3 acids-found abundantly in flax, walnuts and canola oil-with omega-6 acids, found in vegetable oils such as corn, safflower and sesame.
It goes without saying that the earliest food for any baby, including a vegan baby, is breast milk. It benefits your baby's immune system, offers protection against infection, and reduces the risk of allergies. Be especially careful that you are getting enough vitamin B-12 when breastfeeding. Also, ensure your infant receives at least 30 minutes of sunlight exposure per week to stimulate the body to produce adequate amounts of vitamin D, since human milk contains very low levels.
The iron content of breast milk is also generally low, no matter how good the mother's diet is. The iron which is in breast milk is readily absorbed by the infant, however. The iron in breast milk is adequate for the first 4 to 6 months or longer. After the age of six months, it is recommended iron supplements are introduced.
Soy milk, rice milk, and homemade formulas should not be used to replace breast milk or commercial infant formula during the first year. These foods do not contain the proper ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrate, nor do they have enough of many vitamins and minerals to be used as a significant part of the diet in the first year.
Many people use iron-fortified infant rice cereal as the first food. Cereal can be mixed with expressed breast milk or soy formula so the consistency is fairly thin. Formula or breast milk feedings should continue as usual. Start with one cereal feeding daily and work up to 2 meals daily or 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Oats, barley, corn, and other grains can be ground in a blender and then cooked until very soft and smooth. These cereals can be introduced one at a time. However, they do not contain much iron, so iron supplements should be continued.
When baby becomes used to cereals, fruit, fruit juice, and vegetables can be introduced. Fruits and vegetables should be well mashed or puréed. Mashed banana or avocado, applesauce, and puréed canned peaches or pears are all good choices. Mild vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and green beans should be cooked well and mashed. Grain foods such as soft, cooked pasta or rice, soft breads, dry cereals, and crackers can be added when baby becomes better at chewing.
Polyunsaturated fats occur in food either as omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids. The key to eating healthy polyunsaturated fats is to maintain the right balance of omega-3 acids-found abundantly in flax, walnuts and canola oil-with omega-6 acids, found in vegetable oils such as corn, safflower and sesame.
It goes without saying that the earliest food for any baby, including a vegan baby, is breast milk. It benefits your baby's immune system, offers protection against infection, and reduces the risk of allergies. Be especially careful that you are getting enough vitamin B-12 when breastfeeding. Also, ensure your infant receives at least 30 minutes of sunlight exposure per week to stimulate the body to produce adequate amounts of vitamin D, since human milk contains very low levels.
The iron content of breast milk is also generally low, no matter how good the mother's diet is. The iron which is in breast milk is readily absorbed by the infant, however. The iron in breast milk is adequate for the first 4 to 6 months or longer. After the age of six months, it is recommended iron supplements are introduced.
Soy milk, rice milk, and homemade formulas should not be used to replace breast milk or commercial infant formula during the first year. These foods do not contain the proper ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrate, nor do they have enough of many vitamins and minerals to be used as a significant part of the diet in the first year.
Many people use iron-fortified infant rice cereal as the first food. Cereal can be mixed with expressed breast milk or soy formula so the consistency is fairly thin. Formula or breast milk feedings should continue as usual. Start with one cereal feeding daily and work up to 2 meals daily or 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Oats, barley, corn, and other grains can be ground in a blender and then cooked until very soft and smooth. These cereals can be introduced one at a time. However, they do not contain much iron, so iron supplements should be continued.
When baby becomes used to cereals, fruit, fruit juice, and vegetables can be introduced. Fruits and vegetables should be well mashed or puréed. Mashed banana or avocado, applesauce, and puréed canned peaches or pears are all good choices. Mild vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and green beans should be cooked well and mashed. Grain foods such as soft, cooked pasta or rice, soft breads, dry cereals, and crackers can be added when baby becomes better at chewing.
By: Jasper Sayer
A Reccomended Book To Read for vegetarian and non vegetarian parents
By Amy Lanou, Ph.D.
Nourish Your Child for Optimum health and well-being
All parents want to do the very best for the long-term health and well-being of their children, and nutrition plays a major role in that process. This book shows you where to start. Drawing on the latest medical and dietary research, Healthy Eating for Life for Children presents a complete and sensible plant-based nutrition program that can help you promote and maintain excellent health and good eating habits for your children throughout their lives.
Nourishing growing children is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The foods we eat during pregnancy affect not only our child's development, but his or her health later in life. And the tastes babies learn early on will influence which foods they pull from the refrigerator as teenagers or pick from a menu in adulthood.
Children who learn to enjoy healthy foods have a tremendous asset. The right foods can help them stay slim and healthy, strengthen their immunity, reduce the risk of health problems as they age, and even boost their learning ability. It's easier than many of us might imagine. Healthy cooking and eating will soon be second nature for the entire family.
Covering all stages of childhood from birth through adolescence, this book provides detailed nutritional guidelines that have been carefully drafted by an expert panel of Physicians Committee doctors and nutritionists, along with 91 delicious, easy-to-make recipes to help you put these healthy eating principles to work right away. Healthy Eating for Life for Children contains important information on:
- Starting Life Well: Nutrition in Pregnancy
- Worry-Free Breastfeeding
- The Transition to Solid Foods
- Feeding Toddlers
- Growing Kids
- The Teen Years
- Foods and Common Health Problems
- Feeding the Mind
- Healthy Eating for the Young Athlete
- Nurturing a Healthy Body Image
- Achieving a Healthy Weight and Fitness Level
- Eating Disorders: A Guide for Parents
Plus, 90 Kid-Tested Recipes for a Great Start in Life
About the Author
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM; web site: pcrm.org) is an international nonprofit organization of physicians, health care professionals, and laypersons promoting preventive medicine through innovative programs. PCRM president Neal Barnard, M.D., is a popular speaker and the author of Foods That Fight Pain; Eat Right, Live Longer; Food for Life; and other books on preventive medicine. PCRM promotes preventive medicine through their publication Good Medicine and through innovative programs, including the Cancer Project. PCRM's clinical research studies are breaking new ground in diabetes, obesity, pain management, and other serious conditions.
AMY LANOU, Ph.D., is Nutrition Director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She received her doctoral degree in human nutrition from Cornell University
AMY LANOU, Ph.D., is Nutrition Director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She received her doctoral degree in human nutrition from Cornell University
A mother knows what’s best for her baby, and keeping fit during pregnancy is a sign of a caring and loving mother. But as you need to exercise your body; does your baby also need to exercise her mind?After all, 70% of the baby’s brain growth occurs during pregnancy! Watch this video to know more.
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ReplyDeletewas surprised that my first fast day was not as hard as I thought it would be. I had my morning cup of coffee with a little milk and off to the gym I went. I was very surprised to find out that I could work out and not pass out! I did 15 min of aerobics! I drank a lot of ice tea and water all day. I ate some oatmeal with blueberries at noon and a salad at 6pm. I wanted to go to bed early so I could get up early and run to the kitchen and start eating! I was very surprised that when I woke up I was not starving!