The foods that built us: Protein, Pregnancy and Ancestral Wisdom

The Why of Protein

Building a Baby, a Placenta—and Keeping Something for Yourself

If you've ever sat across from me during a prenatal visit, there is a very good chance I have asked you this question:

What did you eat today?

And shortly thereafter:

That was 7 servings of protein!

I don't ask because I believe pregnancy should become another exercise in counting, measuring, or getting everything "right." I don't want women spending nine months anxiously entering grams into an app.

I ask because pregnancy is an extraordinary act of construction.

You are building a baby.

But you are also building a placenta—an entirely new organ. You are expanding your blood volume. Your uterus is growing from an organ that once fit quietly inside your pelvis into one capable of holding a full-term baby. Your breasts are preparing to make milk. Your connective tissues are changing. Your metabolism is adapting.

Your body is remodeling itself while simultaneously growing another human being.

And for all of this, it needs raw materials.

Protein is one of them.

Protein is not just for muscles

We tend to talk about protein as though it belongs to bodybuilders.

But protein is woven into nearly every aspect of human physiology.

Proteins provide structure to tissues and are required to make enzymes, transport proteins, hormones, antibodies, collagen, and countless other molecules involved in the daily work of keeping a human body alive. During pregnancy, protein deposition in both maternal and fetal tissues increases, particularly as pregnancy progresses.

And proteins themselves are made from amino acids.

I sometimes think of amino acids as a kind of alphabet.

Your body takes these individual letters and arranges them in thousands upon thousands of different combinations to write the language of the body.

A placenta.

A blood vessel.

A muscle fiber.

An enzyme.

The scaffolding beneath your skin.

And, of course, the growing tissues of your baby.

Some amino acids can be made by the body. Others—the essential amino acids—must come from food.

This is one reason I care not only about how much protein a pregnant woman eats, but also about variety.

Different foods bring different amino acid profiles and different nutritional companions to the table.

The goal is not perfection.

It is abundance and diversity.

So, how much protein do we actually need?

This is where the conversation gets interesting.

Traditional recommendations commonly put pregnancy protein needs around 1.1 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, with commonly cited targets in the neighborhood of 60–70 grams daily.

But newer research using more sophisticated methods of measuring amino-acid requirements has suggested that actual protein needs during pregnancy may be higher than older estimates—particularly later in pregnancy.

This is an area that registered dietitian Lily Nichols has brought into the public conversation through her work and Real Food for Pregnancy. She has highlighted research suggesting that protein requirements rise as pregnancy progresses and argues that, for many pregnant women, intake closer to 100+ grams per day may be a more useful practical target than the traditional minimum—adjusted, of course, for the individual woman's size, activity, appetite, and circumstances.

I don't believe every pregnant woman needs to hit an exact number every day.

Bodies are not spreadsheets.

But I do think many women benefit from asking a simple question:

Is there a meaningful source of protein on my plate each time I eat?

That question alone can change the landscape of a pregnancy diet.

And now, let's talk about animal protein

I have a particular appreciation for animal foods during pregnancy.

Not because plants don't belong on the pregnancy table—they absolutely do.

And not because every woman needs to eat the same way.

But because animal foods offer something particularly useful during a time when nutrient needs are extraordinarily high: density.

Eggs don't simply bring protein. They bring choline, a nutrient crucial to fetal brain development. ACOG recommends 450 mg of choline daily during pregnancy and lists eggs, beef, chicken, milk, soy, and peanuts among dietary sources.

Meat brings highly bioavailable protein alongside nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.

Fish and seafood can bring protein together with iodine, selenium, and—depending on the variety—DHA and other omega-3 fats.

Dairy, when tolerated (yes even raw!!), brings protein alongside calcium and other nutrients.

This is part of the wisdom I find in the work inspired by Weston A. Price: the recognition that traditional cultures often placed particular value on nutrient-dense foods during periods of reproduction. The modern Weston A. Price Foundation extends that philosophy to foods including eggs, meat, seafood, dairy, broths, and organ meats. Some of its specific pregnancy recommendations go beyond or differ from mainstream medical guidance, so I don't treat every recommendation as gospel—but the larger question it asks is a valuable one:

Are we feeding pregnancy with our most nourishing foods?

I think that is a question worth bringing back to the table.

Does that mean you need to eat meat?

No.

This is where nutrition conversations can become unnecessarily tribal.

Pregnancy is not a contest between the beef taco and the tempeh bowl.

If you eat animal foods, I encourage you to choose a beautiful variety of them.

Eggs.

Chicken.

Beef.

Lamb.

Low-mercury fish.

Sardines.

Wild Salmon.

Greek yogurt.

Cottage cheese.

Whatever works for your body, your culture, your budget, and your table.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, the conversation becomes one of thoughtful combination and attention.

Tempeh.

Tofu.

Lentils.

Beans.

Chickpeas.

Nuts.

Seeds.

Whole grains.

Soy foods.

And sometimes, when appropriate, supplemental nutrients that are more difficult to obtain in adequate amounts from a completely plant-based diet.

The point is not to frighten anyone away from the way they eat.

The point is to become curious about what your body is receiving.

Because whether dinner tonight is tempeh or beef tacos, your body is asking for amino acids.

And tomorrow, perhaps, something different.

There is wisdom in variety.

What about protein and preeclampsia?

This deserves particular care.

For generations, midwives have paid close attention to maternal nutrition when thinking about healthy blood-volume expansion, fetal growth, edema, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

And I still believe nutrition belongs in that conversation.

But we should be careful not to reduce preeclampsia—a complex condition involving placental, vascular, inflammatory, genetic, and maternal factors—to simply "not eating enough protein."

The evidence doesn't support that.

What research does tell us is that in undernourished populations, balanced energy-and-protein supplementation can improve fetal growth and may reduce outcomes including low birth weight and babies born small for gestational age. Importantly, simply adding very high amounts of protein without adequate overall energy has not shown the same benefit and may carry risks.

So my message is not:

Eat enough protein and you won't get preeclampsia.

My message is:

Feed the pregnancy well.

Build the strongest nutritional foundation you reasonably can.

Protein is part of that foundation.

So are minerals.

So are healthy fats.

So are plants.

So is adequate energy.

So is hydration.

So is appropriate prenatal care.

And when risk factors for preeclampsia are present, nutrition should complement—not replace—evidence-based screening and prevention strategies.

There is room at this table for both food wisdom and good medicine.

And then there is you

Here's the part I wish we talked about more.

Pregnancy is not only about getting enough nutrients into the baby.

You are still here.

Your body matters too.

Your bones.

Your teeth.

Your muscles.

Your blood.

Your thyroid.

Your brain.

Your reserves.

Your postpartum recovery.

Your future self.

Nature is remarkably invested in growing the next generation. When nutrients are scarce, the maternal body can draw upon its own stores to help meet the demands of reproduction.

Which is one reason I don't love the phrase:

"The baby will take what it needs."

Sometimes it will.

But the unspoken second half of that sentence is:

From where?

Pregnancy nutrition should not be an extraction project.

My hope is not simply that you emerge from pregnancy with a healthy baby.

I want you nourished too.

I want you entering postpartum with something left in the well.

I want your muscles supported as you carry an increasingly heavy belly and, soon, a baby.

I want your meals to support your blood and tissues.

I want the long game considered—your strength, your resilience, your bones, your teeth, your recovery.

Protein doesn't accomplish all of this alone. No single nutrient does.

But it is one of the beautiful, fundamental building blocks.

So perhaps you don't need to count every gram.

Perhaps you begin here:

Look at your plate.

Where is the protein?

Where is the color?

Where is the fat?

Where are the minerals?

Where is the food that your grandmother—or someone's grandmother—would recognize?

Then eat.

Eat the eggs.

Make the lentil soup.

Grill the salmon.

Crumble the tempeh.

Slow-cook the beef.

Spoon the Greek yogurt into a bowl.

Make the tacos.

Let your meals change with the seasons and your appetite and the strange, magnificent tides of pregnancy.

Bring variety to the table.

Bring pleasure.

Bring enough.

Because you are not simply feeding a belly.

You are supplying the raw materials for an astonishing act of creation.

You are building a baby.

You are building a placenta.

You are preparing a body to give birth and recover.

And all the while, quietly and importantly,

you are nourishing the woman who will carry herself forward when the pregnancy is over.