As more and more articles are being written about the health benefits of a plant based diet, we are seeing creative methods used to encourage people to change their dietary choices. One of the growing movements is Meatless Monday. Promoted both in the United States and Europe, the movement encourages people to cut meat out of their diet one day a week – on Monday. The web sites featuring Meatless Monday offer wonderful recipes and information about the environmental impact of their meatless choice.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has issued a position statement on appropriately planned vegetarian diets. In a joint statement the ADA and the Dietitians of Canada say:

Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.

Choosing whole fruit over juice guarantees a higher intake of healthful nutrients. Some of the reasons the unprocessed fruit is a better choice than juice are:

• Plants have natural compounds that protect their seeds from the environment and predators. These compounds are concentrated in the outer layers of the fruits. Taking away the outer layers, such as peels, skins, and pulp, removes the protective compounds.
• Processing a fruit exposses the inner part to oxygen which can destroy some of the phytochemicals.
• During transport, if the fruit is not handled properly or over-handled, the nutrients are lost at a higher rate than if it is transported in its whole form.
• Bioactivity of antioxidants is lost during storage. Because juices tend to sit on store shelves for a much longer time than whole fruit, their level of antioxidants may be much lower.
• There are more calories and less fiber in juice than in whole fruit.

Knowing what foods to avoid when you are pregnant may be as important as knowing what healthy foods to eat.

• Soft cheeses such as Brie, feta, Camembert, blue cheese, and Latin-American soft style cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, queso de hoja, queso de crema and queso asadero may have harmful bacteria and are to be avoided.
• Some seafood may contain potentially dangerous levels of mercury. Avoid Shark, Swordfish, King mackerel, and Tilefish. These are larger and older fish and have therefore spent more time in the water accumulating higher levels of mercury in their fatty tissue.
• Use a meat thermometer to make sure meat and poultry are fully cooked. Reheat deli meats and hot dogs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees to prevent Listeriosis.
• Avoid raw eggs and any foods  containing raw eggs  such as Caesar dressing, mayonnaise, homemade ice cream or custard, cookie batter, unpasteurized eggnog, or Hollandaise sauce because raw eggs may be contaminated with salmonella.
• Because raw sprouts have been associated with incidents of salmonella outbreaks, pregnant women are advised to cook them before eating or avoid them altogether.
• Use natural sweetners like honey, sugar, and fruit juices.
• Don’t overdo the vitamin A. Vitamin A has been linked to an increased risk of birth defects so reduce your intake of liver and cod liver oil supplements.
• Avoid alcohol.

Many people feel that organic produce is best but it can become a bit pricey when we buy all our fruits and vegetables from the organic section in the supermarket. A more reasonable solution may be to choose organic when buying those fruits and vegetables, described as the “dirty dozen”, that have much higher levels of pesticides even after washing. Researchers at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., recommend purchasing organic when buying these fruits and vegetables.

FRUIT

• apples
• cherries,
• grapes (imported from Chili)
• nectarines
• peaches
• pears
• raspberries
• strawberries

VEGETABLES

• bell peppers
• celery
• potatoes
• spinach.

The organic version of these foods may cost a bit more but their reduced levels of pesticiides make them well worth the money