Today's topic is Meat and alternatives, lectured by Dietitian Shirley.

What can be the meat's alternatives,they could be beans, nuts, Tofu, fish, egg, peanutbutter, cooked legumes etc.

They are the sources of iron and protein.For iron, we can not get enough from only the food , so taking the prenatal vitamins is very important for pregnent women.

For a pregnent or breastfeeding woman, the recommended servings per day for meat and alternatives are 2 to 3 servings. One serving of meat is about 75g (like a fist size of meat),peanutbutter or nutbutter 2tablespoons, two eggs, cooked legumes about 3/4 cup etc.

Others suggestions are like having meat alternatives such as beans,lentils and tofu often;eating at least two food guide servings of fish each week;select lean meat and alternatives prepared with little or no added fat or salt...

Spinach has iron but it is hard to be absorbed by human body, the iron is bounded by the fiber. So spinach is not a good source of iron. Liver(special pork liver) is believed as another good source of iron but pregnent women are not recommended to take it since it is high in Vitamin A which is not safe for the fetus development.

Vitamin c can help with iron absorption that is why when taking meat and alternatives, it is always good to add some veggie and fruit which is high in Vitamin c. For example, when you cook pasta, adding tomato sauce not only make it taste better but also help with the iron absorption;or when you cook chili, adding fresh tomatoes or sauce is very good as well.

For fish taking, some fish are considered good for pregnent women, some are not, choose fish such as salmon, char, herring, mackerel, sardines or trout, avoid big, deep sea fish since they may contain high level of lead which is very harmful for the fetus.

At the end of the lecture, we had a fun activity, each one was handed a white board, and listened to the questions to choose answers false or true, or select answers from A,B,C,D or E.

The class was done with writing a valuation form.

Next class is on Dec.12 and starting from 11am. It is a Xmas celebration party,after that, the center will be closed for three weeks and re-open on Jan.9,2012.

Holiday is around the corner, my Xmas baby is around the corner as well.