Customer Reviews

Vegetarian Pregnancy: The Definitive Nutritional Guide to Having a Healthy Baby

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was expecting a guide to putting together a balanced diet for myself during pregnancy. I was terribly disappointed. This book is full of opinions, medical and nutritional misinformation, and personal anecdotes. Its main message is that it is OK to follow a vegetarian diet during pregnancy. I knew that before I read the book.

I found "What to Eat When You're Expecting" to be much more helpful. "What to Eat" has plenty of guidelines for putting together a diet that contains the nutrients you need, whether or not you make a vegetarian choice.

I am a vegetarian of 15 years and my husband and are trying to get pregnant. I thought that getting as much knowledge as possible on making sure the baby's health was protected was a smart choice. I purchased a few books from Amazon.com and this book left me annoyed. It had good information but could have been condensed to half it's size. She repeated herself throughout the entire book. She added too many personal experiences from others in which she said answered an add that she wrote. To me it was a easy way to write a book. I wish she had researched the issue more and had valid facts instead of so many opinions. The last thing was that throughout the book (almost after every line) she says (See... this and that section). Simply reverting back to previous sections. It just seemed to me that she was filling pages to make a book and not really caring that if the content was truely informational.

I agree that this book is poorly organized -- but on top of that, the information in it isn't even true! For example, she claims that tofu has 20 grams of protein for four ounces-- not on this planet. In reality it's about half of that, about 9-13 grams. Same deal with beans-- she says 22 grams of protein in 1/2 cup of black beans--truth is more like about 7g! She also says that "iron anemia during pregnancy is normal." Yikes!! It's terirbly dangerous and can make you hemorrage during birth! Chuck this book!

To respond to reviewers comments:
Tofu - I checked a variety of protein values for tofu, and while not consistent, all are lower than those listed in my book. This and all other factual information will be checked and corrected in the next edition. (This is Important!!!!)
Iron anemia - I think it is interesting that a slight anemia is a NORMAL result of pregnancy. Obviously it is not the ideal!
Too many stories - these comments sure date my pregnancy - to a time when vegetarian diets were spurned by most people, especially for pregnant women. Fortunately, times have changed, and even books like mine have contributed to a cultural change of heart on this. I am VERY glad to know that reassurance is no longer a problem worth so much space in a book.
Recipes - I am not a recipe person, and did not make the leap into providing recipes for others. However, this is clearly a weakness in the book. The next edition will include them, most definitely!
Finally - This book holds the kind of information I wish I'd had when I was pregnant. It is exciting that things have changed so much since then. Thank you all for your feedback. May all your pregnancies be happy and healthy. Sharon

this book needs more recipes!! the majority of it is letters to the author about their vegetarian pregnancy. it is more a supportive book for vegetarian mothers, than a helpful recipe book.

Useless anecdotal information from the author and a ridiculous number of stories from other vegetarian mothers. We get it already - it's OK to be a pregnant vegetarian!! The first two sections are nearly totally the above and the rest is simplistic nutritional information which can be had anywhere. If you want eating plans and recipes don't buy this book. I agree with the other reviewer that What To Eat When Your Expecting is a gem next to this one. Don't waste your money!