E13: Craving Carbs During Your Vegan Pregnancy?
Craving carbs during your vegan pregnancy?
As a prenatal dietitian, Maya breaks down what you need to know, as a vegan mama, about carbohydrates. Contrary to popular diet trends, carbs are not bad, and during your vegan pregnancy, you need carbs to grow a healthy baby! This episode is full of pro tips to manage cravings, pair carbs wisely, and shamelessly enjoy vegan donuts. Listen as we cover:
What are carbs?
What are the different types of carbs?
How do you choose the "best" carbs?
Why do you need carbs to grow a healthy baby?
It's time to stop Googling, and get clarity and confidence about carbs and cravings! Remember to comment, like, and share this episode with a friend or family member. Your support of the podcast helps it reach other vegan women around the world!
Connect with Maya:
Website: The Vegan Pregnancy Collective
Instagram:
@vegan.prenatal.nutrition
Transcript
Hi friends! Welcome to the Vegan Pregnancy Podcast. I'm your host, Maya Bach, prenatal dietitian, fellow vegan, and founder of the Vegan Pregnancy Collective. From food to fitness, you'll hear from vegan moms to be just like you and other healthcare professionals. The goal is to empower, support, and inspire you as you navigate your vegan pregnancy.
Now let's dive in.
Welcome back to the vegan pregnancy podcast. In today's episode, we are going to be talking about carbs and why you need them to support a healthy vegan pregnancy. Now I know some of you listening. Might feel a little worried on days when all you can eat is bread, bagels, cereal. And you might be like, oh my gosh, all I can have are carbs and that’s what I’m craving. I'm not having any variety. My sugar cravings are out of control.
First of all, know that you're not alone. This is why we're talking about the. And second of all, carbs are important for your body, especially during pregnancy when you are growing a tiny human. So in today's episode, we're going to talking about number one, what is a carb? There are several different types of carbs and we'll explore those further.
Number two, the benefits of eating carbs for pregnancy, what to do when you're expecting.
Number three, the best types of carbs for your pregnancy. Fun fact, one of the tips around this is to keep the skin on when you cook your veggies. And we'll talk about that more. I don't know why I threw it into the intro, but I felt like it was a little pro tip. So keeping it real here!
Then finally what to do when you're craving carbs, how to enjoy them during pregnancy, and a couple of different strategies we can explore here today.
And we'll throw in a couple of examples for what I like to call the perfect pair. When it comes to eating carbs with that said, let's dive into today's episode. Number one, what is a carb? So first of all, carb is short for carbohydrate and there are several different types of carbs. It's important to know that carbs are your body is the primary fuel source.
They are what? Give your body energy. Now, I know if you're listening to this, you probably don't follow a keto or a whole 30 or paleo predominant, low-carb diet because you're listening to this. You're probably being in are considering vegan and in a world that really prioritizes low carb, carbs can be demonized and can be seen as negative.
When in fact, the reality is that your body does rely on carbs, especially during pregnancy when you are using it to not only feel yourself but also to fuel your child's development. So going back to the types of carbs, number one, there are simple carbohydrates, the simplest way to think of these is since they're fast-acting, your body can really quickly digest and absorb these foods, giving your body an instant boost of energy. Simple carbs can be broken down even further into naturally occurring. You'll find in some types of fruits, dried fruit juice, and added so added sugars. So these are what you might think in processed foods like cookies, soda, even our dairy-free delicious vegan ice cream.
So we have simple carbs broken down into naturally occurring and added sources of sugar. Then we have complex carbs. These are, as the name suggests more complex in structure and how they impact your body, they're slower acting and unlike simple carbs, they are high and rich in dietary fiber. This is what makes your body quite literally work harder and longer to digest and absorb and to really get at the good stuff, get it, that sugar to get it that.
As a result, you get that instant energy boost and more sustained long-term energy, more energy over longer periods of time. Examples of complex carbohydrates include foods like whole grains, beans, popcorn, some of our cereals like brand cereals, and sweet potatoes. There's a much longer list, but these are just a few examples now that we know what the types of carbs are tightened can eat.
I also intentionally didn't label them good or bad because there is a lot to be said about enjoying things like cookies and dairy-free ice cream is a part of a healthy vegan pregnancy. And we'll talk a little bit about that more later, but I would encourage you to think about carbs specifically as foods that fuel your body.
And there are different types back to the benefits of eating. When you're expecting your body needs more energy, quite literally your calorie needs to increase across each trimester. It's not exactly like contrary to popular belief eating for two, but you definitely need more calories, which translates to more carbs for pregnant.
Not only do you need these carbs to maintain your energy levels? Hello, pregnancy fatigue. You just being able to get through some days can be challenging. You also needed to support your baby, his needs as he or she is developing. So for you and for. Also, this is the less sexy side of pregnancy, and we always want to keep keeping your real here.
If you're struggling with constipation or bloating, or maybe you're not able to go to the bathroom consistently carbs can help. Okay. I want to reinforce that carbs can help. These are fiber-rich carbs that can help keep you running. Just be sure to drink plenty of water, extra water to help facilitate this process, keep things going because sometimes, you know, we're not going to get into the science behind this.
If you are eating a lot of extra dietary fiber slick, bran cereal, whole grain bread, a bunch of Keane, Juan beans, who I'm fiber-rich going to be like super regular. That can actually have the reverse effect if you're not drinking enough water. And also if you're not used to a high fiber diet, so make sure you drink extra water.
I know I talked about drinking a lot of water with my clients, and it's also important to share with you here. So now that we know that, yes, we need some carbs for pregnancy, what are the best carbs for you? Going back to the complex carbs, since they contain fiber, that dietary fiber that helps keep things moving, keep you going.
And other essential nutrients like iron and protein that your body needs to support a healthy pregnancy. These are going to be “the best carbs” to choose here is a pro tip that I mentioned earlier. Keeping the skin on when you cook your vegetable. I wish you could see my screen here when I always like to demonstrate this with my hands.
If you have a sweet potato, for example, and you want to make mashed potatoes, I would encourage you to keep the skin on the sweet potatoes, make the mashed potatoes, because that actually makes it harder for your body to break down and digest that plant material, the dietary fiber resides in the skin or the appeals, whatever you're eating.
And the same can be applied to fruit. So choosing fruit like berries and apples, things that have skin versus a peel like an orange or a banana, keeping the skin on can really make your body work harder and longer to get at the fuel. AKA that sugar that helps keep you going. So that's my little pro tip now.
What to do when you are craving carbs. We talk about this a lot inside the vegan pregnancy collective because this is something that some women struggle with during pregnancy. You might have experienced this yourself. There are a couple of different strategies that I like to share, and I'll touch on a few here.
Cravings can be, can come from a variety of different places. It's always worth mentioning. It's not just what we're eating. It's also how we feel our environment situations, reactions to certain social situations. And I'm also including things like the political climate and everything that's going on in our world today.
At the time of recording this, we're in the fall of 2021. And some parts of our lives can feel really uncertain right now. These can all drive or carb cravings. I want to take this time to encourage you to be kind to yourself. This is a unique time. Pregnancy is a unique time and it might be worth asking yourself the next time a craving hits.
What's the real reason behind this. Why am I craving the doughnut or whatever it is? So enjoy the donut. Enjoy the cookie, enjoy the cake, whatever it is this that's not saying, oh, I know healthy being in pregnancy means. Unlimited, you can dump it as, is that what I'm saying? But there is definitely for lack of a better word, a balance that can be struck across what you're eating to support a healthy pregnancy.
So be kind to yourself now, what to do when you are craving. Number one is paring your carb. So let's take bread as a really common example, pair that piece of bread with fat or a protein. This combination, again, what I’m calling the perfect pair, is what will help keep you fuller for longer. So your body can take that carb, which is going to work hard, and get at the sugar to give your body fuel.
And it's gonna have to work harder to get to it when you're combining with fat or protein. Examples of meals include bread with avocado on top with flax seeds on top. It's a personal favorite of mine paired with soy milk, which is our protein. Got some walnuts on there for added fat.
So this perfect pair of carb, paired with a fat or a protein. And some of the examples I gave you all three, but that's going to be the gold standard for whenever you're having a carb. They can even apply to, let's say you are having a, a cookie, something to consider would be having that cookie with some nut butter, or maybe having a cookie with a glass of soy milk for some added protein, finding these little things that you've been doing throughout the day to really encourage you to create that.
Perfect. That's number one, number two. I know what you're going to think. Every dietician and nutritionist you've heard say this errand. I'm going to say it too fast. Number two is to drink more water. Sometimes thirst can be confused with hungry hunger. You might think, okay. I am hungry. I don't know why I just ate that.
How much water did you drink? When was the last time you had a glass of water? Did you have something super salty that is making you more dehydrated? So your fluid needs also increased during pregnancy. So really being mindful about what are the steps that you can do to make sure you're drinking a good amount of water.
It's going to depend on your needs or your exercise levels and we talk about this together inside of the group. What are the strategies that you can do to make sure you're reaching your goals? One of the most fun things that one of my clients did is she had at her laptop had a large 24-ounce cup. And she specifically chose one with pink, glitter on it. This cup is something that she really enjoyed and she put a straw in and she would just sit there, tap away and sip on her straw.
She said that made it second nature. The placement of the cup, the straw, having a visually appealing cup to drink water. I know it sounds really small, but sometimes these are barriers. If your water bottle or your cup is really annoying to clean or carry around or drink out of, then who wants to drink water out of that?
So finding different ways to set yourself up for success to help you drink more water. Finally what to do when you're craving carbs. Again, we touched on this before is to increase your fiber intake by making those swaps. So for example, if you're doing, let's say instant oatmeal, adding flax seeds, chia seeds, you'll be doing a steel-cut oatmeal, something to increase the fiber and modify it to make it more fiber-rich because fiber takes longer to digest.
You're not going to get that instant boom. It's going to be less of a peak and your energy. It's the be more, this nice and consistent flow. So increasing fiber across the day, maybe it's adding a handful of frozen berries to your dairy-free yogurt. And maybe it's having a handful of seeds adding seeds to a stir fry, but what can you do now?
And your next meal next day, across the week to slowly bump up your fiber and. Okay. That's all that I have for you in today's episode, remember to hit subscribe, share this podcast with your friends or family, anyone who could really benefit from listening to this. Again, I want to remind you to be kind to yourself.
Pregnancy is such a unique time being vegan and being pregnant can also make you feel even more isolated. If you don't have other vegans in your life or you don't have a lot of support. So I want to share with you that number one, craving carbs are totally normal. Happens to everyone. Number two, you have a community of like-minded women here for you.
If you're ready to go from feeling concerned to confident as a vegan mom-to-be, send me a DM I'm on Instagram @vegan.prenatal.nutrition
I'd love to hear from you and we can chat more and see if the Vegan Pregnancy Collective is for you. Remember, you're not in this alone. If you enjoy today's episode, share it with a friend and subscribe to the Vegan Pregnancy Podcast to get notified when new episodes are released.
