The REAL Brewer Pregnancy Diet - and how you are supposed to teach it and why it WORKS!

Given the misinformation out there about The Brewer Pregnancy Diet, it is important to make sure midwives, doctors, childbirth educators, doulas, consumers, etc... know how to correctly teach women to follow THE pregnancy diet.  It's also important to debunk the myths recently circulating on some blogs out there.

DEBUNKING THE BIG MYTH:  The Brewer Pregnancy Diet first and foremost is NOT all about protein.  The Bradley childbirth educators have taught the Brewer diet by stressing the importance of protein so much so the Bradley Method's Brewer Diet pink nutrition worksheet counts up daily protein and most women walk away thinking the Brewer diet only focuses on the importance of protein intake at 80 to 100g per day.  Their worksheet does have some boxes at the bottom (often ignored) that allows students to check off whether they are eating all essential food groups.  Most natural birthers and other professionals erroneously believe that the Brewer diet is just about the high intake of protein.

TRUTH:  The Brewer Pregnancy Diet is made up of 3 essential components and without just one of these the diet is not going to provide the woman the nutrition necessary to avoid complications that ensue from low blood volume.  To teach the Brewer diet properly it is important to relay all of the information below clearly.  Following this post adapted from the writings of the Brewer diet as written by Gail Brewer Krebs and Joy Jones will result in a healthy mom and healthy baby throughout pregnancy.

MYTH:  There is no known prevention of pre-eclampsia of pregnancy.

TRUTH:  There is a known cause of pre-eclampsia - low blood volume.  How can you avoid this?  By making sure you follow the 14 food groups of The Brewer Pregnancy Diet.  If a pregnant woman can successfully follow each of the 14 food groups daily, then she will consume the necessary 3 components of the Brewer diet.

What are the 3 components of The Brewer Pregnancy Diet?

1. 80 to 120g of protein each day
2. 2300-2600 calories per day
3. salting your food to taste

Why is it necessary to get 2300 to 2600 calories?

If a mother only gets 1700 calories of the 2300 to 2600 she needs each day, then half of the protein she consumes will get burned for calories.  Therefore, only 60 of her 120 g consumed would get used to make albumin and thus she'll have trouble expanding her blood volume adequately. 

Why is albumin important?

Albumin is made by the liver when the blood volume has increased adequately.  Albumin is necessary to create the osmotic pressure from protein that the mother eats.  Calories are vitally important for preserving protein that the mother eats.

Isn't too much salt bad for you?

Studies have shown it is not possible for a healthy pregnant woman to eat too much salt.  Her kidneys will excrete the extra salt that she eats. 

Why is salt an essential part of The Brewer Pregnancy Diet?

Salt is a vital nutrient in pregnancy and salt restriction is dangerous in healthy pregnant women.  When a pregnant woman develops edema in her ankles, fingers and face it is a result of an abnormally contracted blood volume.  If she is advised (like many women today are when swelling is present) to reduce salt in her diet, she will experience dangerously low blood volume which can develop into a life-threatening situation.

What happens if the blood volume is too low in any stage of pregnancy?

The body will try to compensate for the lack of blood as if the body is hemorrhaging but the body is not losing blood.  In the event of a hemmorhage, the kidney will produce renin causing the blood vessels to constrict.  During hemmorhage, this is helpful.  But when the kidneys produce renin causing the blood vessels to constrict when there is no hemmorhage in response to low blood volume in pregnancy, more blood is sent to the internal organs causing a rise in blood pressure.  If salt restriction is advised, this causes the blood pressure to only go up. 

What happens to the kidneys and how does pre-eclampsia occur?

The kidneys are desparately trying to increase the blood volume when it is too low.  The kidneys are reabsorbing as much water and salt as they can from the fluid they have filtered out of the blood.  However, since there is not enough albumin and salt in the circulation to hold this reabsorbed water, much of it leaks out into the tissues.  The kidneys keep reabsorbing water at one end of the process, the water keeps leaking out of the capillaries at the other end, and the mother sees rapid swelling in her ankles and rapid weight gain (from the extra water in her tissues).

What can a woman do if she is starting to see signs she might be developing pre-eclampsia?

She should immediately eat according to The Brewer Pregnancy Diet while also eating some kind of protein snack every hour giving her the high intake of protein she needs and the caloric intake she needs at this point.  Eating an hourly protein snack is reserved for women who are showing signs of pre-eclampsia and not for the healthy pregnant woman.

What are the 14 food groups and their portions needed? (Make a chart for yourself!)

1. Milk and milk products (4 choices)
2. Calcium (1 choice) (this box is as needed by vegetarians and non-milk drinkers)
3. Eggs (2 choices)
4. Protein Combinations (6 to 8 choices)
5. Dark green vegetables (2 choices)
6. Whole grains, starchy veggies, fruit (5 choices)
7. Vitamin C food (2 choices)
8. Fats and oils (3 choices)
9. Vitamin A foods (1 choice)
10. Liver (once a week - optional)
11. Salt and other sodium sources (to taste, unlimited)
12. Water (drink to thirst, unlimited)
13. Snacks and additional menu choices (unlimited)
14. Optional supplements as needed (prenatal vitamin, herbs, etc...)

Avoid all foods and drinks with diuretic properties that can lower blood volume.

What does a typical day eating according to The Brewer Pregnancy Diet look like?

Breakfast: 
1 cup of whole milk (1)
1/2 cup of OJ (7)
1/2 cup of Blackberries (6)
1 cup of Yogurt (1)
1 scrambled egg (3)

water to drink (12)

10AM Snack:
1/4 cup of peanuts (4)
1 boiled egg (3)
1/3 cup apple juice (6)

water to drink (12)

Lunch:  (salt food to taste)
2 oz Chicken (4) (4)
1/2 cup Romaine Lettuce (5)
1 1/2 cup Tomatoes (6)
1 1/4 oz chedder cheese (1)
1/2 cup pineapple pieces (6)
1 cup broccoli (5)
1 tbsp raspbery vinagrette salad dressing (8)
1/2 cup carrots (9)
12 oz water (12)
water to drink (12)

3PM Snack:
1/4 cup cottage cheese (1)
1/2 cup canteloupe (13)
1 cup tomato juice (7)

water to drink

Dinner:  (salt food to taste)
1 slice wheat toast (6)
1 tbsp butter (8)
1/2 cup lima beans (13)
1/2 cup rice (4)
3 tbsp parmesan cheese (4)
2 oz fish (4) (4)
1/2 cup green grapes (13)
1/3 cup winter squash cooked (13)
1 cup icecream for dessert (1)
12 oz water (12)

Before bedtime snack:
1tbsp peanut butter (8)
1 cup whole milk (1)

Prenatal vitamin (14)
Omega 3 fish oil (14)

(#) - The food group this portion corresponds to.


What if I'm a vegetarian/vegan or am having twins?

The Brewer Diet is specified just for you by visiting www.DrBrewerPregnancyDiet.com and clicking on the link that applies.


How can I get more information and see the tables displaying the many choices of foods under each food group and their portions? 

Contact your local Bradley childbirth educator (www.BradleyBirth.com).  Pregnant women can take a Bradley class which includes the Brewer diet instruction to learn everything she needs to know to stay healthy for her and her baby in pregnancy.  She can avoid the preventable condition - pre-eclampsia - if The Brewer Pregnancy Diet is properly followed and the mother is getting all 3 essential components - protein, calories and salt while also avoiding junk foods, highly processed foods, excessive sugar, sodas, candy, etc..., exercising daily, availing yourself to supportive alternative health care practitioners (like chiropractors, acupuncturists, cranio-sacral therapists, massage therapists), and practicing daily relaxation to reduce unnecessary stress day-to-day.


This blog post was adapted from The Brewer Pregnancy Diet summaries written by Gail Brewer Krebs and Joy Jones.  For questions, please log onto http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/ and if necessary, email pregnancydiet@mindspring.com to speak directly to Joy Jones.