The Lacto-Ovo Diet
This is the lacto-ovo diet plan from The Brewer Pregnancy
Hotline.
About this Program:
This program is designed for you if you are
expecting one baby and you have no significant additional protein/calorie
requirements, based on your responses to the Brewer Pregnancy Nutrition
Profile.
* Excerpted from The Brewer Pregnancy Hotline Chapter 2, Part 3 by Gail Sforza Krebs and Dr. Tom Brewer
Pregnancy makes the same nutritional demands of vegetarian prospective mothers as it does of non-vegetarians. The only difference is that the vegetarian mother meets her needs a different way. If you are a vegetarian, you will probably have to be even more conscientious about your daily food choices than someone who eats meat. If you are a strict vegetarian who uses no animal products (no milk, cheese, butter, eggs or meat), your diet must be very carefully managed to ensure that you obtain from other sources everything that those foods commonly contribute to the standard diet, including calories. Happily, these requirements pose no great problem for most vegetarians once they learn about them. Most vegetarians are already thoughtful, concerned, and dedicated to excellent nutrition. That's why they become vegetarians in the first place!
| Group | Type of Foods |
|---|---|
| 1 | milk and milk products |
| 2 | calcium replacements |
| 3 | eggs |
| 4 | protein source |
| 5 | dark green vegetables |
| 6 | whole grains, starches, carbohydrates |
| 7 | vitamin C foods |
| 8 | fats and oils |
| 9 | vitamin A foods |
| 10 | liver - OMIT |
| 11 | salt and other sodium sources |
| 12 | water |
| 13 | snacks |
| 14 | supplements |
The Lacto-Ovo Plan At a Glance
| Group 1 | (milk and milk products) - 4 choices |
| Group 2 | (calcium replacements) - as needed (2 per soy choice) |
| Group 3 | (eggs) - 2 choices |
| Group 4 | (protein sources) - 6 choices |
| Group 5 | (dark green vegetables) - 2 choices |
| Group 6 | (whole grains, starchy vegetables and high-carbohydrate fruits) - 5 choices |
| Group 7 | (vitamin C foods) - 4 choices |
| Group 8 | (fats and oils) - 5 choices |
| Group 9 | (vitamin A foods) - 2 choices |
| Group 10 | (liver) - OMIT on this plan (see group 14) |
| Group 11 | (salt and other sodium sources) - unlimited, to taste |
| Group 12 | (water) - unlimited, to thirst |
| Group 13 | (snacks) - unlimited, to appetite |
| Group 14 | (supplements) - 5 choices |
Piecing together all the groups into a nutritionally sound and appetizing menu on the lacto-ovo diet is like doing a puzzle, only in this instance the pieces can fit together in many different ways and still come out right. Once you master he knack of combining proteins and figuring partial exchanges, the enormous range of fine vegetarian cuisine is yours to explore.
Group 1
One exchange provides approximately 8 grams of protein plus considerable
amount of calcium, fats,and other essential vitamins and minerals. For
each soy milk or other low-fat milk, yogurt or cottage cheese exchange
you choose, add two extra exchanges from Group 7 (fats and oils). In
addition, for each soy exchange, select two from Group 2 (Calcium
Replacements). For every three soy exchanges, add one extra selection
from Group 9 (Vitamin A foods).
Daily Exchanges: 4
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
|
|
Group 2
There are other foods that contain a considerable amount of calcium,
but because of other factors present in those foods, such as oxalic
acid, the calcium is unavailable to the body.
Daily Exchanges: as needed based on soy exchanges chosen
(2 per soy exchange from Group 1)
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
|
|
Group 3
One exchange provides six grams of protein, and vitamins and minerals
in abundance, including one milligram of well-assimilated iron and 600
units of vitamin A, the anti-infection vitamin. Added together, the milk
and egg exchanges provide a baseline of 44 grams of protein and a
vitamin, mineral and calorie foundation for the rest of the diet.
Daily Exchanges: 2
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
|
Group 4
One exchange provides 7 grams of protein. The plant sources of protein,
however, are incomplete. That is, each is deficient in one or more of
the essential amino acids needed to form the pattern of amino acids
distribution that is best used by the human body. There are two ways to
fill in the pattern for plant proteins: (a) eat a small amount of animal
protein along with the plant protein, or, (b) combine plant proteins so
that they complement each other (that is, combine plant sources that are
low in some of the protein building blocks, called amino acids, with
other plant sources that are high in those amino acids). In some cases,
complementary plant proteins mixed in the proper ratios surpass the
protein utilization rate of animal proteins. In vegetarian meal
planning, serve legumes with grains or combine them in dishes such as
Spanish rice, barley and bean stew, or pasta with beans. Round out your
amino acid pattern with a selection from vegetables and one from nuts
and seeds. See the Brewer Pregnancy Vegetarian Diet #2 for specific
ratios, and consult a vegetarian cookbook such as Laurel's Kitchen
(New York: Bantam, 1978) that has extensive nutrition tables and
discusses protein combining in detail. Note: If you select eggs or
dairy products to fulfill some of these protein exchanges, you may not
count them twice (as satisfactions of Group 1 and 3 requirements). You
must have additional servings of eggs and dairy for this group's
requirements. This principle also applies to the beans, grains,
vegetables, nuts and seeds, some of which appear in other places on
the diet. To meet your protein and calorie needs, you must have
additional servings, above and beyond what you choose for other
categories.
Daily Exchanges: 6
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
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Group 5
These vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals such as A and the B
complex, which is necessary to aid your body in making use of the
protein provided by other foods. This group also contains food fiber to
promote normal digestion and bowel movements -- significant during
pregnancy when constipation can sometimes be a problem.
Daily Exchanges: 2
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
|
|
Group 6
These foods are prime sources of the carbohydrates you need to fuel your
body. If you have too few carbohydrates, your body burns the protein you
eat for energy, thus robbing you and your baby of the building blocks
for tissue growth and repair. Carbohydrates from whole grains and starch
vegetables affect you differently than the simple sugars found in candy,
honey, jams, soft drinks, bakery goods, and refined sugar itself. The
complex carbohydrates are also sources of B vitamins.
Daily Exchanges: 5
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
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Group 7
Vitamin C is important for the body's manufacture of collagen, the
connective substance that holds tissues together. Without adequate C,
your uterus is less strong and may not perform well in labor. Vitamin C
is also crucial in the body's defense system against infection, and in
improving iron absorption. As a vegetarian, you need more C than other
pregnant women because the high fiber content of your diet tends to
impair iron absorption. Vitamin C assists in iron absorption. Try to
eat the Vitamin C exchanges along with your soy exchanges since the soy
products are your major sources of iron.
Daily Exchanges: 4
Foods Portion Size for One Exchange:
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Group 8
Needed in your diet to help your body absorb the fat soluble vitamins,
A, D, E, and K, fats and oils also contribute to fine-textured,
well-functioning skin. They are also a concentrated source of calories,
the food energy for which your need is greatly increased during
pregnancy.
Daily Exchanges: 5
Foods Portion Size For One Exchange:
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|
Group 9
Vitamin A is important in preventing infection. During pregnancy, when
the pressure of the growing uterus on the bladder is constant, extra
vitamin A helps protect you against bladder and kidney infections.
During breastfeeding, it helps keep you free from breast infections.
Each exchange is approximately 7,000 I.U. You need an extra exchange
every day to make up for the liver exchange you are skipping.
Daily Exchanges: 2
Foods Portion Size For One Exchange:
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Group 10 - Optional
Liver
OMIT on this diet plan
See groups 9 and 14, Vitamin A Foods and Required Supplements, to make
up for skipping the liver
Group 11
Salt your food to taste. Cutting back on salt can cause a fall in the
amount of blood circulating through your placenta, thus reducing the
supply of nutrients passing to your baby. Too little salt in the diet
leads to leg cramps as well, since all the muscles of your body require
sodium for efficient functioning. If you have been avoiding salt, add a
little bit back to your diet at a time to acclimate your taste buds
once again. It is essential to have enough sodium in your diet to
support the expansion of your blood volume throughout your pregnancy.
Daily Exchanges: unlimited
Foods Portion Size For One Exchange:
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Group 12
Drink to quench thirst, but do not force fluids. Fruits, vegetables,
and juices all contain a goodly proportion of water plus additional
nutrients. Forcing water may fill you up without giving you much
nutrition - a hazard in late pregnancy, when you have to make every
bite count and you have less and less space in which to put the food.
Diet beverages, coffee, teas, and imitation fruit drinks should be
avoided for the same reason. If you are thirsty drink water or
something nutritious (real juice or a milk beverage) or an occasional
tea. Note: If your drinking water is from a well, you may wish to have
it tested by your health department before drinking it during pregnancy
to make sure it does not contain contaminants such as MTBE, PCBs,
and/or organisms such as giardia that can cause chronic intestinal
upsets. Reports from the EPA published in 1999 and 2000 on water
quality in the United States indicate that more than a third of all
wells in the U.S. (some of them supplies for municipal water systems)
contain higher than permissible amounts of these contaminants. Based on
the results of your testing, you may wish to filter and/ or treat your
drinking water.
Daily Exchanges: a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of beverages per day
to unlimited
Foods Portion Size For One Exchange:
|
Group 13
If you are still hungry after eating everything on the above lists
first, you may eat more exchanges from Groups 1-11, or as much as you
desire of other fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, dried
fruits or home-prepared baked goods and desserts such as custard,
pudding, fruit tarts, fruit whips, milkshakes, or novelty breads. For
recipe suggestions, see the BlueRibbonBaby.org web site.
Daily Exchanges: unlimited after completing Groups 1-12 daily
Group 14
Required Supplements
These supplements are required on the vegetarian diet because the
higher fiber content and the lack of meat protein content combine to
interfere with iron availability. Eating soybeans and foods with
vitamin C and calcium (see Groups 2 and 7) also increases iron
absorption. The tablespoon of oil provides extra vitamin E and
essential linoleic acid.
Daily Exchanges: 5
Portion Size For One Exchange:
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