Dear mom, how was your breakfast today? Do you have a sweet tooth and eat rolls with a chocolate spread, or do you prefer a hearty breakfast with scrambled eggs? Nowadays, both variants are already easily available in a purely plant-based version, and more and more people are switching to a plant-based diet. Have you ever wondered if a vegan diet would be an option for you?
The reasons for a plant-based diet are just as varied as the counter-arguments. Especially us moms after giving birth and during breastfeeding are often advised against it. But is a vegan diet really not good for you? What can you do if you want to eat without animal products? I will describe my experiences and knowledge about plant-based nutrition after pregnancy in this article. Enjoy reading!
(Vegan) nutrition in the short form
We mamas have often read thousands of blog articles, books, and videos about what our baby needs to eat, which nutrients are essential, and what our little one must not eat under any circumstances. But what about us? Because what we eat is the basis for our health.
To bring you closer to the subject of (vegan) nutrition, we start with the basics. Roughly we distinguish the macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. These are both in omnivorous nutrition (omnivore), as well as in vegan nutrition quite normally contained. Only the products from which we obtain them differ.
A normal diet without specific goals such as weight loss or muscle building should consist of about 50-65% carbohydrates, 15-25% proteins, and 20-30% fats daily. You can use a calorie calculator from the Internet to see roughly (!) how many calories this would be from the individual areas for you. If you are breastfeeding, please note that your calorie needs can be up to 500 calories higher.
Carbohydrates
Despite their bad reputation due to the low carb trend, carbohydrates are the most important energy sources for our body. Without them, or through a prolonged reduction, we literally feel depleted of energy and irritable. However, they can be easily consumed on a vegan diet, as they are found in many everyday, animal-free products. Examples are fruits, vegetables, rice, legumes and pasta (without egg).
Plant-based proteins
Do only strength athletes need proteins? Wrongly thought! Proteins support the building and regeneration processes in our body. You can think of them as building material for your muscles, organs, blood components and hormones. Often, a vegan diet is said to not give you enough protein. It’s actually true that plant protein is not quite as absorbable as animal protein, but you can still meet your protein needs. This takes some planning and perhaps tracking at first, but it is possible. Plant-based protein is found in legumes, soy products, quinoa, oatmeal, and nuts. If you exercise a lot, vegan protein shakes are a good supplement.
Fats
Fats are also unpopular with many, yet we absolutely need them. They are important for building hormones and cell walls. Without enough fats, for example, our cycle would stop and pregnancy would not have been possible. With a vegan diet, you automatically avoid many unhealthy fats. They are mainly found in dairy products, meat and convenience foods. As unhealthy fats one calls the saturated fats.
Healthy fats are so-called polyunsaturated fats. You can find healthy fats in vegetable products such as flaxseed, olives, nuts and avocado. You can also take a look at the Cellagon products. The products are very high quality and I have been incorporating them into my diet for years! A tip for healthy fats would be the flax oil composition, which you can drip over your salad or your muesli.
Is a vegan diet healthier than a normal diet?
In general, it should be said on this point that a vegan diet is not the same as a healthy diet. Especially vegan convenience products can just as well contain a lot of sugar, preservatives and unhealthy fats. The same principle applies here as with normal nutrition: It depends on the total package! Make sure you eat enough servings of fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains, healthy fats and adequate protein. It is not only about the number of calories and the distribution of macronutrients, but also about the micronutrients like iron, zinc, potassium etc.. If this covers your needs, nothing stands in the way of a plant-based diet after your pregnancy.
My favorite vegan snack against cravings
Here’s a delicious snack from the vegan kitchen: homemade granola bars.
Preheat your oven to 180° top and bottom heat. Mix oats, nuts, seeds and coconut oil in a bowl and sweeten with agave syrup.
I use about 200g of rolled oats, 50g of chopped walnuts, 50g of cashews, 30g of sesame seeds and 30g of coconut oil. You can vary here quite freely with the amount and the ingredients. A super addition are raisins and finely chopped apricots.
The bars need about 20-25 minutes in the oven.
Ich verwende hierzu ca. 200g Haferflocken, 50g zerhackte Walnüsse, 50g Cashewkerne, 30g Sesam und 30g Kokosöl. Du kannst hier ganz frei mit der Menge und den Zutaten variieren. Eine super Ergänzung sind Rosinen und klein geschnittene Aprikosen.
Die Riegel brauchen ca. 20-25 Minuten im Backofen.
Do I not get deficiency symptoms from a plant-based diet?
Vegan diets are often said to cause considerable deficiency symptoms. In fact, however, deficiency symptoms often occur independently of the type of diet. These are not determined namely by the nourishing form, but by the received ingredients and their nutrient content.
Every day fries with schnitzel, can bring just as a vitamin deficiency as every day only iceberg lettuce. Here I recommend to you mum to let make a blood picture. There possible deficiency symptoms can be recognized. We will deal with this topic in more detail in a few weeks.
Vegan diet for weight loss
There are now incredibly many forms of diets: low-carb, interval fasting, juice cures.…Every diet, however, is based on the same principle: you lose weight when you eat less than you consume. Regardless of how you eat. So you can lose weight on a vegan diet if you reduce your calorie intake. But make sure you still get enough nutrients!
After childbirth or while breastfeeding you should be careful with diets, because your body needs to recover after the incredible achievement of creating life. A reduction in calories always means stress for the body and this can lead to bad consequences such as weakness, listlessness and depression after childbirth. If you want to lose weight, take the time to do so and integrate exercise and sports into your daily routine to increase your calorie needs and burn a few extra calories through your muscles.
The most important thing to finish..
Dear mom, eat the way you feel comfortable and stay healthy. Vegan or not, take care of your body and give yourself what you need!
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