The Dr. Brewer Pregnancy Diet
Vegan Brewer Diet Weekly Record
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Vegan Brewer Pregnancy Diet

No calorie counters or protein counters required! Just one check-mark in each box!

This is the weekly record chart for the Vegan version of the Brewer Diet--which you can print and post on your refrigerator.

See here for portion sizes...

If you check off each food every day, you will know that you have satisfied the Brewer minimum recommendation for 2600 calories, 80-120 grams protein, and salt-to-taste. Please check off only one box for each food (i.e. put a check mark in either "Milk" or "Protein" for a glass of milk, but not both)

Please check the notes after the chart for information on how to adjust this Basic Plan for special situations such as hot weather or the inclusion of extra exercise in your life.

Foods

Sunday

Monday
Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Fortified
Soy Milk
             
Fortified
Soy Milk
             
Fortified
Soy Milk
             
Fortified
Soy Milk
             

Calcium
replacements
(add two
per unfortified
soy choice)

             

Calcium
replacements
(add more
as needed)

             
               
               

Protein

             

Protein

             

Protein

             

Protein

             

Protein

             

Protein

             

Protein

             

Protein

             

Green
Vegetable

             

Green
Vegetable

             

Whole
grains

             

Whole
grains

             

Whole
grains

             

Whole
grains

             

Whole
grains

             

Vitamin C
Source

             

Vitamin C
Source

             

Vitamin C
Source

             

Vitamin C
Source

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Fats
and Oils

             

Vitamin A
Source

             

Vitamin A
Source

             

Vitamin A
Source

             

Vitamin A
Source

             

Salt

             

Water

             

Snacks

             

Supplements
Required

             

Reprinted and adapted from The Brewer Medical Diet for Normal and High-Risk Pregnancy, by Gail Sforza Brewer with Thomas Brewer, M.D., 1983.

The Brewer Medical Diet for Normal and High-Risk Pregnancy available here

Lifestyle Adjustments: As you evaluate your nutrition and lifestyle, it would also be helpful to evaluate your level of activity and add extra nutritious calories if you use extra calories during the week, with jogging, biking, skating, skiing, or other sports, or other extra calorie-depleting activities, like teaching, dancing, waitressing, nursing, doctoring, or other activities that keep you on your feet all day. Caring for other children, working both outside and in the home, caring for other family members, and housework would also use up a lot of calories, especially as the baby gets bigger and you burn up calories just carrying around the extra weight of the baby, uterus and extra blood volume. You can also evaluate whether other stresses in your life might be using up extra calories. If you have had extra stresses in your life, then adding extra nutritious calories and other nutrients to compensate for those calorie-burning stresses would help to keep your blood volume expanded and your pregnancy and baby healthy.

See here to help you evaluate your daily nutrition patterns

See here for a nutrition/lifestyle self-assessment which I highly recommend

Eating Patterns:The usual eating pattern that we suggest that pregnant women can use to keep up with their nutritional needs is as follows: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, supper, bedtime snack, middle-of-the-night snack. If you are having trouble keeping up with the amount of food that you need, or if you are having trouble keeping your blood pressure within a normal range, we suggest that you eat something with protein in it (glass of milk, handful of nuts, handful of trail mix, etc), every hour that you are awake.

Morning Sickness: If you are dealing with nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, it is vitally important to try to alleviate those problems as soon as possible, since they also contribute to depleting your blood volume. You can try frequent, small snacks, herbs, and homeopathy to help you in this effort. If you decide to try using ginger, which can be very effective for "morning" sickness, use it only in small amounts, and only just before eating some kind of food, since too much ginger can cause bleeding and possibly miscarriage.

See a resource for homeopathy for morning sickness here

In September of this year (2008) a study came out from Denmark which seems to emphatically support something which the Brewers and their supporters have been saying for over 30 years. That is that pregnant women who lose extra salt, or burn extra calories, through extra exercise NEED to compensate for those losses by adding extra salt and calories to their diets. When they do not make special allowances for their unique needs in this way, their blood volume will drop, and they will develop rising BPs, pathological edema, pre-eclampsia, HELLP, IUGR, premature labor, underweight babies, and other complications associated with low blood volume. This particular study was looking at only pre-eclampsia, and only at recreational exercise, but those of us who understand the Brewer principles understand that the same principles do apply to all of these other complications, and to any source of salt/fluid/calorie loss, as well.

"Pregnant exercise 'unsafe'"

Read more.......

"Women who exercise during pregnancy face risk of pre-eclampsia, researchers warn"

Read more.......

"Exercise in pregnancy linked to fatal raised blood pressure condition"

Read more.......

Adjusting for Salt Loss: It would also be helpful for you to evaluate whether you are ever in situations that result in your losing extra sweat and salt--situations such as gardening in hot weather, exercising, living in hot homes during the winter, or living without air-conditioning in the summer, or working in over-heated working conditions. If you do have one of those situations, it would be helpful for you to add extra salt and nutritious fluids to your daily nutrition. This extra effort will help to keep your blood volume expanded to where it needs to be to prevent elevated blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, and other complications.

Calories plus Salt plus Protein: Eating the recommended amount of protein every day isn't enough to keep your blood volume expanded to where it needs to be for preventing complications in pregnancy. It is also vitally important to make sure that your intake of nutritious calories and salt are also at the recommended levels, with special extra allowances added as needed for your unique situation.

Herbal Diuretics: Unfortunately, some areas of the "alternative medicine" community have followed mainstream medicine in the belief that diuretics are important and useful for treating edema and elevated blood pressure in pregnancy. Many pregnancy teas and some supplements and juices include nettle, dandelion, alfalfa, bilberry, or celery, all of which have diuretic properties. Diuretics are no safer for pregnancy in herbal form than they are in prescription medications, so it is important for pregnant women to watch which herbs they are taking.

See here for more information about the use of herbal diuretics in pregnancy

Empowering Women: I would also like to add here the assurance that Dr. Brewer was not blaming the mother for her situation, as some would claim that he was, and neither am I. He is clearly blaming her doctor for not having the routine of examining her nutritional status and doing a differential diagnosis for her. He is saying that if her doctor is not doing this with her, then it is most important for her to do it for herself, for the sake of her own health and that of her baby.

See here for the Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Brewer Pregnancy Diet Weekly Record

Perinatal Support Services: pregnancydiet@mindspring.com