Artigo:

INTRODUCTION: Supporters of the vegan and vegetarian diet style have grown in number in the last few decades. And, because of nutritional deficiencies, pregnant women should receive extra care, after all, the lack of vitamins, such as A, B12, Ca, Zn and folic acid can affect the patient and her fetus. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was done on the database PubMed, using the terms “((Nutrients) AND Micronutrients) AND Vegetarian pregnancy”; on the period of 2010 to 2019. A total of 19 articles were found. After the exclusion criteria was applied (reviews and case reports were excluded), 6 original studies were analyzed. OBJECTIVES: This review was done in order to investigate the possible effects of a vegetarian diet during gestation. RESULTS: Two studies showed that low B12 status was common in pregnant women, and this deficit is even more evident in women following vegan diets. One of them calculated this deficiency to be up to 40% in the mother and 29% in the newborn. Another study evaluated the consumption in pregnant women from Shaanxi (China), and found low ingestion of vitamin A, Ca, Zn and folic acid when compared with other groups of pregnant women. Furthermore, those who had their diet style based on snacks or vegetarian had less balanced diets and ingested less nutrients, because meat contributed 67,1% more with vitamin A when compared to vegetables, who contributed only 19,6%. Another study showed that organic food consumers adhered more frequently to vegetarianism or anthroposophy when compared to those who consumed only conventional foods. Still in relation to the organic foods, it was discovered less consumption of vitamin B12 and D. In addition, there should be more attention to vitamin b12 since 3 studies evidence its importance during pregnancy. Low quantities of this vitamin is associated with failure in the maturation of red blood cells, demyelination of nerve fibers in the spinal cord, pernicious anemia and neurologic malformations in the fetus. CONCLUSION: It can be inferred that the evaluation of the diet and nutrition of pregnant women, even more importantly of those following the vegan and vegetarian diet pattern, should be made and accompanied by a multidisciplinary team. Thereby, nutritional risks and losses to the pregnant women and baby can be avoided, as well as more serious problems.