Breastfeeding While Being Vegetarian or Vegan

Breastfeeding is a perfect food you can give your baby. It contains excellent nutrients helpful for maintaining and keeping your baby's immune system strong. Furthermore, The World Health Organization recommends exclusively breastfeeding your baby for the first six months. In fact, vegetarians and vegans can also breastfeed their babies. Your diet as a vegetarian or vegan mom will provide all the nutrients your baby needs while you are breastfeeding. Vegetarian and Vegan moms have made special lifestyle diet choices.A vegetarian mom does not eat meat, poultry or fish while a vegan mom does not do this plus does not eat eggs, dairy products or any animal product. However, they do not have to be on any special diet while breastfeeding as long as she periodically checks her B12, calcium, zinc levels in her body. If you do not eat fish, meat, poultry, like my oldest daughter, make sure you go to your doctor and check these levels. This way you can make sure you are not Vitamin B12 deficient and your baby is getting enough vitamins. Take a Vitamin Supplement such as your prenatal vitamin to stay strong and healthy. My oldest daughter has been a vegan now for more than ten years and has breastfed her two sons successfully. Vitamin B12 is an important vitamin. Without it, you can cause permanent damage to the brain and central nervous system. It fact, it protects against heart disease. It protects against dementia or Alzheimer.It gives you helps you think clearer and better. By being deficient from Vitamin B12, it can lead to anemia. fatigue and/or depression. Here is a list of foods that contain great vitamins for the vegetarian diet or vegan diet plan:Vitamin A - yellow or green vegetables, spinach, carrots, watercress, peppers, dried apricots Vitamin B - green leafy vegetables, yeast extract, avocados, bananas, wheat germ, whole grains, mushrooms, peanuts, brewers yeast and breastfast cerealsVitamin B12- fortified cereals,soy milk, cheese, fortified energy bars, yogurt, seaweed Vitamin C - oranges, grapefruit, broccoli, cranberries, peas, parsley, green peppers, green leafy vegetables, kiwi, tomatoes Vitamin D - Sunshine, margarine, fortified cereals, vegetable oil, rape seed oil, fortified soy milk, broccoli, kale, fortified orange juice Vitamin E - sunflower and olive oil, nuts such as almonds, avocado Vitamin K - olive oil, seaweed, kelp, molasses, green leafy vegetable Now lets talk about the Vegetarian or Vegan Food Pyramid. Remember as a breastfeeding mom, you are allowed 500 extra calories a day. Legumes-2 or more servings, examples: beans, peas, lentils and tofu Vegetables-3 or more servings Fruit-3 or more servingsWhole Grains- 6-11 servings a day Remember to eat plenty of Vitamin B12, Folic Acid also known as Folate fortified products as well as Calcium products. Dark green leafy vegetables, tofu with calcium sulfate, calcium-fortified soy milk or orange juice is a great way of getting calcium in your body. Zinc is important for vegetarians as well as vegans.Good sources of zinc include pumpkin seeds, garlic, sesame seeds, squash seeds, dark chocolate, chickpeas, grains, legumes, and nuts. Iron is important as well. Good sources include soybeans, kidney beans, chickpeas, prune juice, tahini, watermelon, raisins or kale. The sun serves as a good source of Vitamin D, so take a walk with your baby.Omega 3 fats are important such as eating flaxseed oils, soybeans or walnuts. Dried herbs are good too such as parsley, spearmint, black pepper, cumin seed, oregano, ground turmeric, dried dill, ground savory, anise seed, fenugreek, dried tarragon and dried rosemary. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. In conclusion, your diet as a vegetarian or vegan mom provides all the nutrients needed for breastfeeding a child and keeping your child healthy. You do not need to alter your diet. However, carefully check and make sure your levels are good. Stay in touch with your health care provider and remember to ask questions when you are unsure of something.Read labels of food products and make sure that they have the necessary nutrients you need for your vegetarian or vegan diet. Last of all, enjoy this beautiful bonding time you have with your baby.