Meeting your daily protein intake requires careful meal planning. Talk to a nutritionist to help design a healthy vegan diet, and educate yourself on the numbers. In other words, know what you are getting with the foods you eat. For instance, drinking 1 cup of soy milk gives you 6 grams of protein; eating a cup of canned kidney beans, pinto beans or garbanzos offers you 12 grams of protein; and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter offers 8 grams of protein.
To get enough protein in a healthy vegan diet, you will want to eat a varied diet that contains vegetable protein sources but also includes beans, nuts, legumes and soy products (like tofu and tempeh).
What other nutrients might I be missing?
A healthy vegan diet during pregnancy must also include calcium and vitamin D (both nutrients help strengthen your baby’s bones and teeth); iron (to prevent anemia); and folic acid (to prevent neutral tube defects).
Since vegans do not eat dairy products, getting enough calcium and vitamin D may pose a challenge. For vitamin D, spending 30 minutes in the sun can give you what you need. You may need to drink calcium-fortified soy milk to get enough calcium. There are also certain brands of breakfast cereals that are fortified with vitamin D and calcium.
All vegans who are pregnant need to take a vitamin supplement to help them get all the essential nutrients they require. Ask your doctor for a recommendation.