VEGAN FOOD OPTIONS FOR A HEALTHY PREGNANCY AND BABY
Written by: Grace Umeadi
Published on: March 14, 2025
We've all seen vegan diets come under heavy criticism recently, for being “insufficient”, especially for sensitive goals like pregnancy and fertility. But what a lot of critics leave out is that what matters most with foods for fertility is nutrition and not necessarily appeal.
If we are outrightly considering the nutrients that are important for conception and during pregnancy, then we really do have some mind-blowing vegan food options to explore.
It's All in the Nutrition
For what it is worth, any health-conscious person would always approach dietary options from a nutritional perspective. Moreso, if you are trying to get pregnant or already are. Nutritionists have long deduced that nutrients like omega-3 fats, iron, vitamin B12, zinc and calcium are very important for fertility and pregnancy.
That said, you do not need a Nostradamus to tell you any vegan diet that provides adequate amounts of these nutrients is as perfect as a conventional diet. So what daily vegan options do you align with?
Daily Picks
By standard, the most pregnancy-healthy vegan food option would be a dish that combines a lot of the required nutrients. Tofu, beans, spinach, quinoa and lentils are rich in iron and omega-3 fatty acids. They also make a good combo if you know what to do. Do include Vitamin C in your meals as it aids the absorption of iron. It could be peppers, berries or citrus, whatever gives you taste and flavour.
Gracing your daily meals with these substances shouldn't be difficult to achieve.
Since insufficient levels of vitamin B12 are known to raise the risk of miscarriages and low birth weight, daily consumption is highly recommended. To that end, fortified vegan foods; cereals, yeast, soy and almond milk should be very essential to your diet if you are trying to conceive or keep a healthy baby.
Tofu (fortified), pumpkin, cashews and plant-based milk are also very rich in calcium and zinc. It is a good thing that these options don't even need to be the main course. You may prefer them as dessert, supplementary dishes, toppings and beverages. It all works out in the end.
On the same spectrum, fruits unsurprisingly provide a lot of these nutrients crucial for fertility. However, they are mostly in trace amounts, so making them a weekly addition is ideal. According to the Fertility & Infants Fertility Center, oranges, apples, strawberries and raspberries, which primarily possess Iron, Zinc and Calcium are excellent choices anytime.
So Go All Vegan?
If you are pregnant or in the process, you are probably begging this question. Should I go all vegan? Are vegan diets better for a healthy pregnancy? Well, that's a lot of conclusions to draw, don't you think? Even with hard facts, there's going to be a lot of debating.
However, recent studies are doing more justice to this topic. According to a publication by the Jananam Fertility Centre, diets that are high in animal protein and low in vegetables increase the risk of miscarriage and are linked with infertility in men. The work also gives a research account of women who had problems getting pregnant and discovered a vast majority had diets that were high in animal protein and low in plant protein.
