pregnant vegetarians? please help!!!

[bambi06]

ive been a veggie for more than 20 years and never really liked meat even as a child and decided that was it i couldnt do this to the poor animals anymore so stopped meat, any way since being pregnant for the third time ive been craving meat and even dreaming about the damn stuff, and yesterday i nearly put a peice of meat in my mouth ,the craving was that bad but i dont want to eat meat on moral grounds as well as health issues but i know i have problems with anaemia [always have] and obviously thats whats happening now and need iron but im supplementing myself with spatone which is normally enough but being pregnant is upping my demand and im waiting for my blood test results to come back which im sure will show low iron , anyway what should i do with these cravings....give in to help my body or drive myself nuts plus feel tired and look pale a the moment ...whta would you do as a veggie and how did you manage through pregnancy..normally im a very healthy eater and well aware of how to get iron but my body doesnt always absorb all the iron req`d ...any suggestions?

Bambi she wasn't there, sorry

I will try to speak to her over the weekend, or if I forget, please hassle me about it

i took Sytron and found it really worked well
I am always anaemic but only got really ill with it in last pg ( no 5) i was prescribed the sytron and it did really pep me up
I too CRAVED meat like never ever before
I was 38 and had been vegetarian since 14 - i would sniff and deeply inhale dp's meals but never could eat the stuff

where do you get sytron from a si`ve never heard of it before and hats the iron levels like in it? is it liquid?

I've been a vegi for the last 20 years and am 31 weeks pregnant. I haven't had any cravings for meat, but if I had I think I'd have just eaten it.
If you're having cravings that strong I think they're for a reason. You can go back to being veggie when you've given birth.

Sorry, just re-read that and it sounded a bit flippant and patronising. I suppose what I mean is that personally my priorities have all changed. (For example I started taking fish oil capsules - not something I would have done before). Personally if only guilt was holding me back, it wouldn't.
On the other hand, if this is something you DO feel very strongly about then I can understand that.
I have had a problem with quorn though - before getting pregnant I quite liked it, now it seems to taste like cardboard

Can't believe I wrote "You can go back to being veggie when you've given birth."
Sounds like something my FIL would say to me!!

Hi bambi,
I've no real advice but I totally understand. I used to see pictures of steaks when I closed my eyes every time I was pregnant. I wanted to give my body what it clearly needed, but I couldn't bring myself to eat meat. I even bought and cooked some mince, had one teaspoon and was heaving so badly.

Franny has some good advice for you there.

Quick mini hijack ? Hi Lazyemma, I really don?t think it is shaky moral ground. People do what they can, within their means, to minimise the suffering of animals. That?s moral enough in my book, though I don?t wear leather etc, and buy organic, free-range milk, cheese and eggs. I can?t go to a pub and expect every one to stock fair-trade wine, but neither do I think I have to stop interacting with the world because everything doesn?t fit into my moral compass. If we each did what we could, however little, the world would be a very different place. You don?t have to be a card carrying political veggie to contribute to that. It?s that idea of sanctimonious veggies that puts people off.

Re the OP I agree with the Prof.

I don't have anything at all to add to this thread, but had to come in and say that I read the title as 'pregnant vegetables?' and was baffled

Katy I tried the fish capsules too but they repeated on me and it was absolutely foul.

Omega oil and hemp oil are marvellous. You can also buy hemp seeds, soak them overnight, put them with their water in a good blender (should really be mortar and pestle but that would take about a year) and make hemp milk. Then add fruit, soaked nuts like cashews and possibly oats to make smoothies. Utterly delcious, incredibly healthy and they keep you full for hours.

Pumpkin seeds are supposed to be really good for the B-vits we veggies need. Floradix is the best source of iron as it's easily digested., Take this for a while after the birth too.

Must dash. Should be baking for party tomorow.

Thanks Spidermama - yes they are foul and had exacgtly the same effect on me (as well as being the size of my little finger to swallow in one)
I've bought a different type though and these are much better. Never tried the hemp seeds although I might give it a go. Would I just get them from health food shops / holland and barrett?
It's really odd about the steaks - before I was pregnant I used to look at a steak DH was eating and think it looked quite nice. We both thought once I was pregnant he'd be cooking me a steak and chips. But actually the complete opposite has happened and the thought of steak really makes me ill - something about the texture. Could still eat bacon and eggs though - although I think that's quite common

Monkeytrousers - I agree - everyone does slightly different things and very few of us are one extreme or another. I DO wear leather shoes, but refuse to buy anything other than free range eggs. I don't know what the logic behind it is!

I'm veggie and didn't crave meat during my pregnancy. My iron levels were very good throughout the pregnancy. I craved spinach and licorice! I'm sure my midwife said something about licorice containing iron - personally I think it was just an excuse because I love the stuff!

I use to make a rice dish (kind of like a risotto but with long grain rice), which took a whole bag a spinach. Like the others I also ate dried apricots - use to keep them in the car / handbag etc for snacking.

You mention that your body does not always absorb iron - there are a number of things which reduce iron absorption e.g. tea, you could always do a little research to make sure that you are avoiding foods which inhibit iron absorption.

Good luck

monkeytrousers - I'm not sure why I'm getting a lecture here but, just for your info, I should've qualified my post with the info that I was a vegetarian for over 10 years. I didn't mean that there's no point in being a vegetarian, just that if you still consume products which are derived (even indirectly) from animal slaughter, you can't 100% avoid the impact your existence has on the world. I'm totally with you about the "doing what you can" argument - my point is that bambi has done what she can, so she shouldn't feel guilty if she does decide to eat meat.

and you know - I think pretty much everyone has an inconsistent moral position on animal welfare. I don't think that's a shatteringly controversial observation. Look at how outraged 99% of the British population are about the Japanese and Norwegian prediliction for whalemeat, and yet the majority of people can't seem to rouse even the fleetingest of concerns about the everyday brutality of intensive farming and slaughter in their own country.

I wasn't giving you a lecture, just an opinion, opening up the debate a bit.

sorry, monkeytrousers. I have got the serious grump today, for some reason.

Ok, I have spoken to her and she says you should be having:

nettle tea, 2 cups a day

floradix as mentioned earlier in thread

b vitamins, up to 50 mg a day of each

and vit C, up to 1000 mg a day

OR in place of these two vitamin supplements, a Viridian or BioCare pregnancy supplement

plus superfoods such as green leafy veg.

She also said you should not be eating anything with refined sugar in as it dents your immune system, and no tea or coffee as it will hinder your absorption of minerals.

Hope this helps, just let me know if you want further information on any of this.

Oh and essential fats - either in foods or as a supplement - you can get a veggie one called Udo's oil which has not got any revolting fishy taste.

No problem LE. I haven't been so tactful myself these days

Franzy and bambi I would be cautious on taking a daily mega dose of vitamin c. A 3 year research programme by Tommys the baby charity on nutrition in pregncnay has shown that regualar lage doses signifcantly increase the risk of pre-eclampsia.

Eek. Duly noted.

Bump, was this any help bambi? How are you feeling now?

I just found this thread and thought it was worth adding that there are two types of iron found in food - those from plant sources (non-haem iron) or from lean red meat(haem iron).

Haem iron is absorbed more readily than the iron found in plants. But you can enhance iron absorption by including a source of vitamin C with your meal (like a glass of orange juice). Other good sources of non-meat iron include eggs, pulses, green leafy vegetables, dried apricots and prunes (cue gass!) and wholegrain breads and cereals.

You need more iron during pregnancy because you dramatically increase the amount of blood in your body, which, in turn, causes a dilution of it, making the haemoglobin concentration fall. A good diet including the sources above and a good quality vitamin supplement should be enough to keep your levels up and healthy. Seems to have worked for me so far.

I'm 17 weeks and thankfully haven't had any cravings for meat yet (I've been veggie for 15 years)! My SIL is a chiropractor and she recommended a vegetarian source of Omega 3 called V Pure from Water4Life , so I'm taking that now. The capsules are a bit big but I've not had any problems with them. I was a bit wary of buying them off the net but she's doing a masters in pregnancy and it's something they're taught, so I trust them!