My pregnant sister craves meat

[mishe]

My older sister is 8 weeks pregnant, and recently before that was working on switching to a vegan diet (specifically eat to live). Unfortunately she is having terrible morning sickness, can't keep hardly anything down, can't stomach most foods, ect. Here is her email to me:

 

"OK, I was soooo damn proud of myself following the eat to live program. Totally agree with not eating meat and dairy. I was on the band wagon 100%!! Trying to spread my new wisdom amongst friends. And now the pregnant me. I crave steak. i am mortified. I now despise tofu and can't stomache soy milk. Broccoli which used to take up half my fridge no longer exists in my house. What do i do???? I have been avoiding any and all meats but since nothing else sounds good (oh and now don't like nuts really either) i realized i was not getting nearly enough protein. I am even having a tough time with beans which I was eating by the truckload before. so today I caved in and bought myself a small bit of red meat to cook for dinner. Even Jared [her husband] won't have any of it. I'm trying to get protein from other things but am also feeling nervous b\c i realized 4 days went by where i had little to no protein at all. Salad i can manage but cooked veggies really push the puke

button."

 

Any suggestions?

[Fallen_Horse]

Oh boy.

 

Protein bars? Avocado's/flax/walnuts (for essential fats), fruits to replace the veggies, tempeh, seitan, or if she is really desperate, fish instead of red meat. Maybe a very low-level lifeform like mollusks? It would be better than cow anyway...

[veggieprincess]

She is most likely craving IRON as red meat is rich in iron and will all of the extra blood and fluids her body is producing, she needs iron.

 

Here is a list of iron rich foods.

 

http://dfwnetmall.com/veg/plantfoodshighcontentiron.htm

 

She should also eat Vitamin C rich foods with iron food to increase absorption. She can also cook foods in an iron skillet as that increases iron in foods.

 

If she doesen't feel like veggies or tofu anymore, she doesen't have to shove them down. She can still eat healthy without throwing her whole vegan diet out the window.

 

Bean Burrittos, Hummus, Soy Yogurt with sunflower seeds and raisins. Check out the iron content of pine nuts! She could start making yummy pesto sauce and putting it on rice, whole wheat pasta or potatoes.

 

Also it sounds like she is trying to eat very healthy, when maybe it would help if she would give into her cravings for some comfort foods, fake meats, etc until the cravings subside

 

Have her check out this recipe on my website for the I-Don't-Wanna-Cook-Or-Diet Pasta! One of my faves!

 

http://veganpersonaltraining.googlepages.com/veganrecipes

[veganmama]

speaking from experience:

 

I have been pregnant twice and both times I had such bad morning sickness that I didn't eat ANYTHING but bread and ginger-ale for 3 full months- as a result I lost 25 lbs in my first trimester with both pregnancies and I am here to tell you that I have 2 beautiful, healthy babies.... the nutrition that your sister is getting in this first trimester is not very important... the baby is getting its nutrition from your sisters body at this point, not from what she is eating-- unless she is already sick/at an unhealthy (low) weight she is probably not at risk of keeling over dead Tell her not to worry too much.... it sounds like she is more worried about not eating enough protein than she is actually craving meat. If she is repulsed by those foods though (soy milk, etc), there is not much she can do about that- I couldn't even stomach brown rice (and broccoli, there was NO frikkin' way) throughout my pregnancies--- tell her to try fresh fruit and raw veggies (that don't repulse her) --- honestly they are they ONLY things that help with morning sickness/being repulsed by foods you regularly enjoy....and like I said, the fact that she is not eating a lot of protein now is NOT a big deal... later when she gets over feeling sick she can worry about that.

 

and like the previous posters said... she can get iron from non-animal foods or an iron supplement if that is the issue... though I was anemic and never craved meat.

 

good luck to her!

[Fallen_Horse]

.... the nutrition that your sister is getting in this first trimester is not very important... the baby is getting its nutrition from your sisters body at this point, not from what she is eating-- unless she is already sick/at an unhealthy (low) weight she is probably not at risk of keeling over dead Tell her not to worry too much....

I'm sorry but I have to disagree here. Nutrition is more vital during the first trimester than in any other time in the human growth cycle. She needs to make sure she is getting plenty of the essential vitamins (folate is esp. important here), lots of water, little to no alcohol/smoking, plus enough carbs/healthy fats/proteins. If there is any time you don't want a deficiency, it's now.

[beforewisdom]

People crave foods either for psychological reasons or because they are not eating something they need.

 

For psychological issues, get her some good faux meats. Asian stores do it best.

 

For better nutrition have her read "Becoming Vegan" and "Becoming Vegetarian" ( latest edition ) by Brenda Davis RD. Both books have a lot of information about what to eat while pregnant.

 

This site by a vegan RD and mother has a lot of vegan mom related links on the right side:

http://saigenobis.blogspot.com/

 

The "Vegetarian"(really vegan) Resource Group has a lot of articles about what to do when pregnant and vegan:

http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awww.vrg.org+pregnant&qfront=pregnant

[ChaserHUN]

I donno why I'm craving bread and pastas, what could I miss from them? I still eat grains in form of sprouts, maybe just my mind is messing with me?

[beforewisdom]

I donno why I'm craving bread and pastas, what could I miss from them?

 

Calories.

 

You will not be able to eat as much, get as many carbs and digest as many carbs eating raw sprouted grains. Cooking grains enables you to eat more grains and digest more of the carbs in them.

[ChaserHUN]

so should I eat more high calorie stuff? but if I eat up a lot of bananas, nut and seeds, avocaods, my stomach blows I ate so much but I still wanna eat something pasta

[beforewisdom]

Not necessarily.

 

Complex carbs, which provide various advantages, are a human bodys preferred fuel. You just don't get them on a raw diet as the concentrated sources of calories are either high fat ( avocados, nuts, etc ) or high in simple carbs ( juices, fruits, etc ).

 

You can try to eat raw potatoes, sprouted grains etc, but being raw, not a lot of that is going to get assimilated.

 

The reasoning behind eating raw in books on raw foodism often contradicts very old and very well know science.

 

If you still want to eat raw, eat semi-raw. Eat cooked whole grains and cooked legumes, maybe cooked cruciferous vegetables too. Then use any room you have left for all of the raw produce you want.

 

You will get more energy (calories), more nutrition, and you will get the (real) benefits of raw produce. You will likely get more fitness gains.

[veganmama]

.... the nutrition that your sister is getting in this first trimester is not very important... the baby is getting its nutrition from your sisters body at this point, not from what she is eating-- unless she is already sick/at an unhealthy (low) weight she is probably not at risk of keeling over dead Tell her not to worry too much....

I'm sorry but I have to disagree here. Nutrition is more vital during the first trimester than in any other time in the human growth cycle. She needs to make sure she is getting plenty of the essential vitamins (folate is esp. important here), lots of water, little to no alcohol/smoking, plus enough carbs/healthy fats/proteins. If there is any time you don't want a deficiency, it's now.

 

I am just saying that I LITERALLY lived off of bread and ginger ale and basically puked up everything that went in my mouth for the first three months of both of my pregnancies and my kids are totally healthy and my pregnancies went off without a hitch She needs to keep herself healthy but the baby is not "eating what she is eating" yet... it is really leaching off of her body.

 

I guess what I really meant to say was that if she is too sick to eat protein at this point in the pregnancy she shouldn't force herself to eat a steak because she feels like she is "denying" her baby what it "needs".

 

and as far as the folate, she should definitely be taking a folic acid supplement and really every woman of childbearing age should be taking a folic acid supplement because you need to have it in your system pretty much at the moment of conception.

 

 

and the not smoking/drinking thing is a pretty huge no-brainer from the moment you find out you are pregnant (I would hope!!?)

[Marcina]

I wondered about this one day.. What if I got pregnant and started craving meat? Man that would be weird. I like to believe that the body tends to crave what it needs, so I agree with VeggieP's analogy that she needs more iron. My sister went through that during pregnancy. She needed more iron but hated meat when she was pregnant, especially red meat. I told her to get more vitamin C and eat iron rich veggies. i dunno if she complied since she's a stubborn girl lol.

Anyways, I recently discovered that if you buy that Falafel mix and pan fry it in oil, it tastes just like chicken nuggets. I dunno if she's craving chicken, but that's one thing that'll work. There's also simulated beef flavorings (I have some for soup) that she can add to a sauce to marinate some faux meats in. As for soy milk, yeah it tastes kinda bad to someone with a sensitive palate. I'd recommend almond milk for now. It's very tasty. Pre-natal vitamins sometimes ease morning sickness as well. Hopefully she gets over it soon!

[ChaserHUN]

thats not alway right that you crave what you need, if you are use to coke or alcohol your body will crave it, but actually for your health it wont do any good

http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

I found this lol, I would need nitrogen? and I should eat high protein foods? I tried too eat tofu maybe, and msot nuts and seeds, but I still craved oats and some breads, maybe I stick to raw food+whole grains

[veganmama]

Pre-natal vitamins sometimes ease morning sickness as well. Hopefully she gets over it soon!

 

In my experience I couldn't even SWALLOW my pre-natal without gagging... and if I did it would come back up most of the time.... so I don't know about that one! sorry, just had to add my two cents.... that being said there are lots of different types of prenatal vitamins and I am sure most of them don't look like horse pills and smell like bananas (like the ones my dr. prescribed did--blech!).

[Marcina]

My sis couldn't either so she would break them in half and do it that way. It seemed a little easier for her.

 

thats not alway right that you crave what you need, if you are use to coke or alcohol your body will crave it, but actually for your health it wont do any good

http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

I found this lol, I would need nitrogen? and I should eat high protein foods? I tried too eat tofu maybe, and msot nuts and seeds, but I still craved oats and some breads, maybe I stick to raw food+whole grains

 

Lol well obviously.

I mean foodwise.

Like women crave chocolate around PMS times because the magnesium helps ease cramps and the chocolate helps release endorphins to help a grumpy PMSy chick feel better! Haha

Edited July 2, 2008 by Marcina

[Marcina]

thats not alway right that you crave what you need, if you are use to coke or alcohol your body will crave it, but actually for your health it wont do any good

http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

I found this lol, I would need nitrogen? and I should eat high protein foods? I tried too eat tofu maybe, and msot nuts and seeds, but I still craved oats and some breads, maybe I stick to raw food+whole grains

 

Lol well obviously.

I mean foodwise.

Like women crave chocolate around PMS times because the magnesium helps ease cramps and the chocolate helps release endorphins to help a grumpy PMSy chick feel better! Haha

[Fallen_Horse]

Haha, some trouble with the posting Marcina?

[Marcina]

AHAHAHHA OMG!!

 

It wouldn't go through so I kept hitting the button and then went "Aww fuck it" and closed the browser. Guess it went through.

 

My bad.