Lactose Intolerance and Pregnancy

Foods to Add to Your Pregnancy Diet if You Cannot Digest Dairy

Nov 4, 2009

Getting adequate calcium may be one of the biggest challenges for the pregnant woman with lactose intolerance. Find out what calcium-rich foods you can digest easily.

Lactose intolerance during pregnancy can add a challenge to your pregnancy diet if you are not able to digest dairy foods. However, the good news is that there are many top food sources that pregnant women can eat in order to get the amount of calcium they need during pregnancy.

How Much Calcium is Needed During Pregnancy?

You will need about 1,000mg of calcium each day in your pregnancy diet. If you are under the age of 19, you will need 1,300mg of calcium each day during pregnancy. You might think that you are covered with the extra calcium in your prenatal vitamins, but few people realize that they lose about 400-500mg of calcium every day.

So how much is 1,000mg of calcium in term of food sources? A cup of cooked spinach contains about 130mg of calcium. So you can see that if you cannot digest dairy during pregnancy, you will need to replace dairy with a good amount of other calcium-rich foods.

Are You Able to Digest Any Dairy?

Some people with lactose intolerance are able to digest some dairy foods but they have significant problems with others. For example, if you cannot digest milk, are you able to eat any yogurt or cheese? The good news is that an eight ounce cup of nonfat yogurt contains about 400mg of calcium. One ounce of cheddar cheese contains about 200mg of calcium.

Vegetables and Fruits that Contain Calcium

If you are not able to digest any dairy, then consider adding certain calcium-rich vegetables and fruits to your pregnancy diet. All "greens" such as collard, mustard, turnip or kale, spinach and swiss chard will contain calcium and have the added benefit of being among the top foods for pregnant women whether they have lactose intolerance or not.

Believe it or not, the calcium content in spinach beats out dairy foods such as cheese. One cup of frozen, cooked spinach contains 290mg of calcium. One of the top calcium-rich foods is collard greens at 350mg per cup. You can also get a smaller amount of calcium from vegetables like green peas (1 cup - 94mg) and broccoli (1 cup - 36mg).

In terms of fruit, dried figs are one of the best sources since 10 dried figs contain 269mg. One orange also contains 56mg of calcium if you prefer fresh fruit.

Fish that Lactose Intolerant Women Can Eat During Pregnancy

While they do not appeal to some people, sardines also contain a good amount of calcium, at around 400mg of calcium. A top choice of fish for the mother with lactose intolerance is salmon. One can of salmon contains about 180mg of calcium and is a flavorful fish to add to your pregnancy diet.

Beans and Legumes for the Mother with Lactose Intolerance

Most people know the beans and legume family for their protein and fiber benefits; however, they do not know that these are among the top calcium-rich roods that make good choices for lactose intolerant moms-to-be. White, black or navy beans are some of the best legume choices at 120mg in 3/4 cup of cooked beans.

A cup of cooked soybeans contains about 250mg and a cup of fortified soymilk contains a whopping 400mg of calcium. However, it is probably a good idea to limit the soy and soy products like tofu in your pregnancy diet due to the potential for this food source to alter hormone production.

The copyright of the article Lactose Intolerance and Pregnancy in Prenatal Health is owned by Brenda Lane. Permission to republish Lactose Intolerance and Pregnancy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.