Nutrition During Pregnancy

80 to 100 grams of protein a day; because every pregnant woman is a bodybuilder!

Nutrition is the cornerstone of a healthy pregnancy.

Upfront I will tell you, I have a bias toward Dr. Tom Brewer and his work in the field of pregnancy nutrition. This does not mean that Dr. Brewer's is the only good diet for pregnant women. His program has been around since the early seventies. The diet has been proven over and over to be highly effective in preventing toxemia, gestational diabetes and hosts of other pregnancy complications.
Download his book: The Brewster Pregnancy Hotline .

Help Realize Dr. Brewer's Dream: That Every Woman Will Know!

Dr. Tom Brewer passed away at 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday, November 22, 2005.

Dr. Brewer discovered that poor nutrition was the cause of toxemia in pregnancy.
He will be deeply missed. His work will go on.

The San Francisco Chronicle published this article: Dr. Thomas Brewer -- developed diet for pregnant women

In its simplest form, the Brewer Diet recommends 80-100 grams of high quality protein a day for a pregnant woman carrying one baby. This diet is not Atkins. This diet is not intended for weight loss. What you will find is a very well balanced program with protein as its foundation. While there is no 'carb cutting', I have found that when I focus on getting my required protein, dairy and vegetables, I naturally include the recommended amount of carbohydrate. As an added benefit, when you consume a large amount of protein with every meal your blood sugar levels stay consistent. Stable blood sugar prevents sugar and carbohydrate cravings. The other benchmarks of the diet are to salt your food to taste , drink to prevent thirst and obtain enough calories to sustain your system AND nourish your baby.

The following links are to various Brewer Diets:

• The Basic Diet
• The Lacto-Ovo Diet
• The Vegan Diet

The following are links to articles on the Midwifery Today website:

• How to Stay Healthy and Low Risk During Pregnancy and Birth
• Keeping Childbearing Normal Through Nutrition
• Preventing Complications With Nutrition
• Six Keys to Preventing Complications and Giving Birth to a Healthy Baby

The following links are to other resources:

Joy Jones has recently established a website dedicated to The Brewer Diet . The information is quite extensive and very easy to read.

What is a Complete Protein? - I wrote this page for vegetarians to help explain what a complete protein is and how to form them with a vegetarian diet.

I am excited to find Dr. Barbara Luke's website dedicated to the nutritional needs of pregnant women; particularly mothers carrying twins or more.
Click here to view her Top 25 Food All-Stars list.

Your Daily Pregnancy Nutrition Checklist This is a Word document that you can print daily to keep track of your protein intake.