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Low Carb and Pregnancy
The questions about Low Carb and Pregnancy are actually quite regular
ones. It's common for people to say they were unable to find an answer
about "the safety of low carbing while pregnant" online or anywhere
else.
My opinion about the lack of such answers is probably a pretty simple one. No one wants to advise anyone to follow a specific path when there's no finite research study, or generally accepted rule to save them from liability if they are perceived as giving medical advice.
Therefore, I begin, as I have to, by saying that these are simply my opinions, and what I would do were it me, and do not purport to offer advice or counseling of a medical nature.
It's my belief that no one — pregnant or not — needs a diet filled with refined flours (or things made with them including standard commercial pastas) or refined sugars. Nor do they need hydrogenated oils (trans fats.)
Those are just a given.
But to keep your weight in line and still feel comfortable about the issue of ketosis, I would do the following:
Stay low(er) carb in all your menu choices taking care to get enough carbs just to keep you out of ketosis — for most people about 65 to 75 carbs a day are guaranteed to stay out of ketosis but also avoid weight gain (and often still lose just a little at a slow safe rate.) Once you've had the baby, you can feel free to lower carbs, get into ketosis, and lose additional weight. (If you plan to nurse, you might consider waiting on returning to a ketogenic diet until nursing stops.)
However, where those 65-75 carbs come from is really important during pregnancy. You could get that result by eating all fat and protein most of the day and then just splurge on a milkshake or pastry containing 70 grams of sugar, but that would be stupid and dangerous. So use your common sense and try and follow these guidelines:
- Eat numerous times throughout the day and spread your carbohydrate
grams out pretty evenly through those small meals.
- Wherever possible, make your carbs come 60% from vegetables (and
don't count potatoes or rice among them!); 15% from low sugar fruits
(berries, melons, peaches, plums, etc.); and 25% from WHOLE grains —
oat, buckwheat, rye, and some wheat.
- While pregnant, I'd avoid the low carb "specialty" products that
contain polyols (sugar alcohols) such as maltitol, sorbitol, lactitol,
mannitol, etc.
- Include salmon or other fish (salmon's best, though) several times
a month in your diet. If you like salmon, have it once a week.
Including flaxseed is also a great idea. You want to get those healthy
Omega-3 fatty acids!
NOTE: Don't over-do fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, etc.) Note that we said several times a month, not several times a week. The healthful benefits of fish and fish oils must be weighed against the worry of possible mercury hazards in such fish, and the risk of damage to the fetus because of it. Mercury is a metal believed harmful to the growing brains of fetuses and young children. Typically, the largest fish contain the most mercury. Paradoxically, fish also contains fats very important for fetal brain development...
And don't assume this means switching to fresh fish, rather than canned, is safer. In fact, women could absorb far more mercury if they also eat freshwater fish that friends or family catch in local lakes or rivers. Some state waters are heavily polluted with mercury, and the FDA doesn't regulate recreationally caught fish.
Most experts agree that the safest course is to eat fish a few times per month for the health benefits, but not more than once a week when pregnant to avoid mercury contamination.
I hope these suggestions help, and they are precisely the plan I'd do if I were pregnant, and what I'd recommend to a friend or relative.
Best of luck and Have a Happy Healthy Baby!!
Contents copyright © 1999 — 2009 Low Carb Luxury, Inc. Low Carb Luxury Photography by Neil Beaty
