Tips for Vegetarian Mothers of New Babies and Toddlers

Nutrition

Vegetarians

Proper nutrition is important for you, the physically active, breastfeeding, vegetarian mother. Since the content of breast milk varies only slightly among mothers regardless of their diets, you can follow your vegetarian diet and still provide adequate nutrition to your baby. It is important to make sure that an adequate, well-planned vegetarian diet provides ample energy to support your recovery following the pregnancy and childbirth. Adequate calories must also be provided to make sure that you have enough energy to breastfeed and take care of your new baby. Returning to a light activity level at this stage will also require extra calories to be consumed.

The foods you consume serve three purposes:

To restore your nutritional reserves after pregnancy and childbirth,
To provide you with sufficient energy to breastfeed and take care of your new baby, and
To provide you with extra energy to support your physical activities.

Nutritional concerns for you to watch out for include getting enough protein in your diet, including iron rich foods in your diet, guarding against a vitamin B12 deficiency, and eating enough calcium and Vitamin D rich foods.

"Rate your Plate" to see how your eating stacks up!

Read each statement carefully, and

give yourself 2 points if the statement describes what you do every day.
give yourself 1 point if the statement describes what you do sometimes.
give yourself 0 points if the statement never applies to you.

I eat a variety of foods at each meal.
I drink at least 8 cups of fluids (water, juice, milk, soup, etc) throughout my day.
When I choose fruit and vegetables, I look for the most colourful ones.
I eat good sources of fibre such as whole grain products, fruit, vegetables and legumes.
I include low-fat sources of calcium such as milk, yoghurt or fortified soy beverages in my meals/snacks.
I make sure that I have a source of protein at least twice a day (i.e. legumes, soy protein, nuts/seeds, lean cuts fish, poultry, or eggs).
I make that sure I have a plant protein at least once a day (i.e. legumes, soy protein, nuts/seeds).
I have vegetables or fruit with each meal/snack.
When I choose fats/oils, I choose highly unsaturated liquid oils (i.e. flax oil, canola oil, soy oil, olive oil, safflower oil).
I make sure the food I eat is safe (cold foods cold and hot foods hot).
Throughout the day I never go more than 4-5 hours without eating.
I wait until I am hungry before eating.
At mealtimes I stop eating as soon as I feel full.
I eat my meals and snacks in good company, away from the TV/computer.

Total your score and see how your eating habits rate.
Score results

0 - 12 You need to make some changes now. Read on for some healthy eating tips.

13 - 19 Not bad, but you could be making better choices to help fuel your active lifestyle!

20 or over Wow! You have good eating habits. Read on to see if there are any other changes you can make!

Put healthy eating into practice
To make healthy eating easier, we have grouped foods based on the set of key nutrients that each provides: vegetables and fruit, whole grains, milk products and fortified soy products, protein rich foods (lean cuts of poultry and fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, tofu, legumes, soy protein analogues), added fats and oils, sugars and sweets, alcohol, condiments and fluids.

Be sure to include a variety of foods from ALL the foods groups - simply substitute the animal based foods with plant-based foods in appropriate quantities as described in the food groups. For example, choose 1 cup of fortified soymilk instead of 1 cup of cow's milk; use 2 tbsp of nut butter instead of 3 ounces of turkey or ham in a sandwich.

Protein
Plant proteins include legumes, nut butters, tofu and other soy products. These are all tasty s to meat, poultry, fish and seafood. They add variety and good fats to your diet and can be an excellent source of fiber. Nut butters (e.g. peanut, almond, cashew, hazelnut) make fantastic s to butter and margarine. Although nut butters are still high in fat and calories, most of the fat is unsaturated. Soy products are substitutes for meat. Many of these products (e.g., slices, patties, lean round) are available in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. Legumes include a wide variety of beans, peas and lentils. They are available dried, frozen and canned. They are also rich sources of carbohydrate and fibre and contain almost no fat.

Great choices Good choices Choose rarely

Legumes Beans, peas, lentils (canned, frozen, dried), Hummus and bean dips made without mayonnaise Baked beans with pork, Hummus and bean dips made with mayonnaise Legume dishes prepared with full fat coconut milk (e.g., rice and beans or curries)

Soy products Tofu (firm, regular, silken, flavoured) Soy protein products and legume based "veggie patties," miso, tempeh, tofu puddings Fast-food "veggie burgers" that are prepared with vegetable oil shortening

Peanut and nut butters All natural peanut and nut butters Nut butters with added vegetable oils (e.g., cashew nut butter with safflower oil) Regular peanut butter with hydrogenated vegetable oil and sugar

Calcium and Vitamin D
If you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian and include milk and eggs in your diet, your calcium and vitamin D requirements will be met. If you are a strict vegan and exclude milk and eggs from your diet, opt for soya products and other plant based products and beverages fortified with calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B-12. Other plant sources of calcium include whole sesame seeds, broccoli, almonds, dried sunflower seeds, cooked bok choy, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens and fortified orange juices.

Vitamin B-12
This B vitamin is available ONLY in animal products or fermented plant foods. Fermented foods such as miso and tempeh give us some B12 but generally not enough and the amount of B12 in these foods tends to be variable. The most reliable source of vitamin B-12 for the vegan diet is nutritional yeast that is grown on a vitamin B-12 enriched medium (e.g. Red Star brand). Choose vitamin B-12 fortified foods (such as fortified soy beverages) or supplements to ensure adequate intake. In Canada, fortification of vitamin B-12 is now permitted in meat analogues, such as tofu burgers, but be sure to read the label to make sure that they have been fortified. (For more information about how to read a food label go to http://www.healthyeatingisinstore.ca/pdf/Fact_ENG.pdf)

For those of you who may be including some animal products, milk, yogurt, eggs and fish are all excellent sources of vitamin B-12. Talk to your doctor about having your blood levels checked regularly for Vitamin B12.

Iron
Iron forms part of your red blood cell (hemoglobin), which helps to carry oxygen to all the different cells in your body. This oxygen is used in the cells to release energy from the foods that you eat. If you do not eat enough iron rich foods, your body will not be able to make enough hemoglobin. Without enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen t your cells, less energy is produced in the cells. You will likely feel tired, cranky and unmotivated to do much physical activity.

Make sure to get enough iron in your diet! There are two different forms of iron in foods.

"Heme" iron comes in animal foods such as meat, fish and poultry.
"Non-heme: iron is contained in all other foods, such as lentils, kidney beans, black beans, split peas, dried fruits, eggs, dark, leafy green vegetables (kale, Swiss chard, spinach), whole grain cereals and enriched breads and pastas.

Well-balanced vegetarian diets can provide adequate non-heme iron. In fact, even in non-vegetarians, the greatest quantity of iron intake is from breads, cereals and pasta as they are regularly fortified with iron.

The absorption of the non-heme form of iron can be increased or decreased by factors in some foods. Vitamin C (found in fruits and vegetables) and small amounts of meat enhance the absorption of non-heme iron. Examples include beans with tomato sauce and pork, chili con carne (with beans and meat), and that good old staple spaghetti and tomato meat sauce!

High fiber foods, tea, soy products, rhubarb, spinach and bran can all decrease the absorption of non here iron in the body.

Shopping and Preparation Tips for Vegetarians:
Look for whole grain flours (whole wheat flour, whole oat flour, whole rye flour, whole rice flour) or whole grains (rolled oats, flaked rye, cracked wheat) as the first ingredient in the ingredient list when you buy breads, crackers, muffins or other baked goods.

Substitute whole-wheat flour for regular wheat flour (white) when you bake. You can also add a few tablespoons of wheat bran, wheat germ, oat bran or ground flax seed to your baked goods and casseroles to increase their fibre content. To get the benefit of flax seed you need to grind it in a blender or coffee grinder. You can also buy it in its ground form. Ground flaxseed is high in soluble fibre and omega 3 fatty acids.

Grains are also rich in fibre - fibre helps prevent constipation and protect against some types of cancer). Baked goods such as breads, bagels, rolls and homemade muffins are higher in fibre than croissants, store bought muffins, most crackers and baked desserts.

Replace white flour with 100% whole wheat flour.
Replace white bread with 100% whole wheat bread.
Replace refined grain cereals with whole grain/multigrain cereals.

Quick recipe tip - Morning Muesli
Start the day with homemade muesli: In a large cereal bowl layer 125 - 175 mL ( ½ - ¾ ) cup plain uncooked oatmeal (regular or quick oats, not steel cut), 125 - 175 mL (½ - ¾ cup) plain or fruit yoghurt and 250 mL (½ cup) cut fruit. A small amount 5- 10 mL (2-3 tsp) of nuts or seeds or ground flax seed can be added for flavour, variety and added nutrition.