What Foods Do You Avoid When Pregnant

Rare Or Underdone Meat

When it comes to your meat, now is not the time to be seeing pinkor red. So while you may have cooked that steak medium-rare before your baby came on board, you’ll now need to refrain from blood-red meat.

Undercooked meat can harbor such bacteria as E. coli, Trichinella and Salmonella or cause toxoplasmosis.

And if you find that the restaurant burger you ordered came out a little too pink? Don’t be afraid to send it back. Now is not the time to be bashful.

Certain Kinds Of Fish

Fish is a good source of many vitamins and minerals. If fish is part of your diet, you should aim to eat at least 2 portions of fish a week. You should also aim to eat one portion of oily fish a week, such as salmon, trout, mackerel or herring. Oily fish helps your baby’s nervous system to develop. However, you should not eat more than 2 portions of oily fish a week as they may contain pollutants that can harm your baby.

You should also limit how much tuna you eat, because it has more mercury in it than other fish. If you eat too much mercury, it can be harmful to your unborn baby. You should eat no more than 2 tuna steaks or 4 medium-size cans of tuna per week.

There are some other types of fish you should limit. Don’t eat more than 2 portions a week of:

• dogfish

• cola and other energy drinks
• chocolate.

It is recommended to reduce your caffeine intake as much as possible below 200mg a day during your pregnancy.

You can work out how much caffeine you have each day with this caffeine calculator.

What To Eat When You’re Pregnant

Getting pregnant can be an exciting time. But avoiding lattes and red wine for nine months? Not so much. Is it really necessary to cut out caffeine, alcohol, cheese and sushi while you are pregnant? Here’s the latest research on what to avoid and what to be cautious about. Plus, learn which foods and key nutrients you should definitely eat for a healthy pregnancy and baby.

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Pregnancy: What To Eat And What To Avoid

If you’re pregnant and confused about what you can and cant eat, youre not alone. It’s as much about including foods that can be beneficial to your baby as it is about avoiding foods that may be harmful. You neednt feel deprived during these exciting nine months if you know the facts.

Advice changes and differs from country to country. This information is consistent with the NHS advice.

Herbal Supplements And Herbal Tea

Many people may suggest that you start taking herbal tonics and teas when pregnant, but these may cause more harm to you than good. Some herbs can even increase your risk of preterm labour or miscarriage when taken in large amounts. There are also chances that you may end up buying unsafe or spurious herbs because there isnt a way you can check their quality.

Avoid herbs like Wormwood, Saw Palmetto and Senna as they arent tested thoroughly like other medicines, and opinion is still divided on the advisability of consuming them during pregnancy. If you feel a lack of energy or fatigue, do ask your doctor to prescribe a multivitamin and continue with your regular tea instead of experimenting with herbal concoctions.

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Healthy Pregnancy: Foods To Avoid When Pregnant

A nutritious and balanced diet is an important part of a healthy pregnancy. However, certain foods and drinks can increase the risk of harm to your unborn baby. Knowing which foods to avoid and choosing safe alternatives will ensure both your own and your babys health. However, if you have accidentally eaten something potentially risky, there is still a low chance that it will cause harm. If you are worried about your intake or develop symptoms of food poisoning, always contact your doctor who can further advise you.

Environmental Exposures: Medium Risk

We all come into contact with environmental toxins every day, but you have to be extra careful during pregnancy. Its best to avoid unnecessary X-rays and exposure to lead, mercury, and pesticides, all of which may be associated with birth defects and miscarriage.

If you have an outdoor cat or do a lot of gardening, take proper precautions to avoid toxoplasmosis: wear gloves while changing your cats litter and gardening or be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after these activities.

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What Do I Need To Know When Shopping For Food

You should:

• buy cold or frozen food at the end of your shopping trip
• check the “best before” date on your food
• check fruits and vegetables to avoid buying items that are bruised or damaged
• avoid spreading bacteria from raw food to ready-to-eat food by:
• putting raw food in individual plastic bags
• keeping your raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood away from other food in your grocery cart
• labelling and using the same bag or bin for raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood

Tips For Nourishing Your Growing Baby

Congratulations on your pregnancy! With all of the excitement comes a lot of questions, a common one being: What do I eat?

It is important to follow a healthy diet at any time in your life, but its especially necessary during pregnancy. A balanced diet will help your baby to grow, develop and maintain a healthy weight.

Read on for our tips on how to shift your diet to accommodate and nurture your new family member.

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Foods To Eat & Avoid When Pregnant

Throughout your entire life, you hear about the importance of a healthy diet. And theres a good reason, what we eat to fuel our bodies can have a huge impact on our health and wellness.

If you were actively trying to get pregnant, you were probably given advice to adopt healthier eating habits. Once youre pregnant, proper nutrition is just as important, if not more so because you are responsible for your own health as well as the health of your baby.

Youve probably heard about certain foods to avoid from friends, family, coworkers, or media, as well as foods that are important to eat while pregnant. But getting information from a second hand sources can cause confusion. Your doctor will talk to you about the proper diet during pregnancy, and will probably give you a list of things to eat and avoid that looks similar to the one below.

You can use this as a quick reference and speak to your doctor or a recommended dietician if you have specific questions.

What to Eat During Pregnancy

Its important to have a balanced diet full of whole foods while pregnant. Your body will need more nutrients for the baby to develop. Make sure to hit each of the food groups and, when possible, get a variety of nutrients through what you eat instead of relying solely on vitamins because they are absorbed better that way.

Whole Grains

• Whole grain bread: Swap out white for whole-grain varieties of bread to increase fiber intake and get more zinc and iron.

Protein

Fruits & Veggies

Dairy

Other

Food Poisoning And Pregnant Women

Because of all the changes happening in your body, you and your unborn baby are at an increased risk of food poisoning. Your immune system is weakened, so it could be harder for you to fight off infections.

Some bacteria, such as Listeria can go through the placenta. So if you become sick, there is an increased risk that your baby could get infected. Your unborn baby’s immune system is not developed enough to fight off harmful bacteria.

Food poisoning can be even more dangerous to your baby’s health than to yours. If you develop food poisoning during the first 3 months of pregnancy, it can cause a miscarriage. It if happens later in the pregnancy, it can cause your baby to be born prematurely. Food poisoning can also cause a stillbirth or a baby who is born very ill. Because your baby depends on you for everything it needs, it is very important that you be careful about what you eat and how you store, prepare and cook your food.

This guide offers helpful advice on how to reduce your risk of food poisoning.

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Skin Care Products Containing Retinoids Formaldehyde And Hydroquinone: Medium Risk

We dont have a ton of evidence proving retinoids, formaldehyde, and hydroquinone are dangerous to a fetus, but experts suspect most products containing them do pose a risk.

If youve been a regular user of a product containing one of these ingredients and are struggling to find a safe substitute, talk to your doctorthey can work with you to find an alternative.

What Do I Need To Know When Storing Food

It is important to keep cold food cold and hot food hot. Perishable food should never reach temperatures between 4 °C to 60 °C . This is because this temperature range is where bacteria can quickly grow and cause food poisoning.

You can reduce your chances of getting food poisoning if you:

• set your fridge at 4 °C or lower
• set your freezer at -18 °C or lower
• put raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood in sealed containers or plastic bags on the bottom shelf of your fridge – this prevents raw juices from dripping onto other food
• store cut fruits and vegetables in the fridge
• refrigerate or freeze raw meat, poultry, fish, seafood and leftovers immediately dangerous bacteria can grow if left out for more than:
• 1 hour during summer outdoor activities
• 2 hours at room temperature

Fridge and freezer storage

If you freeze food that is well-wrapped, it can last longer. Here are the recommended refrigeration and freezing times for different foods.

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Should Pregnant People Avoid Caffeine

Consuming too much caffeine during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, fetal development issues, and a low birth weight. A caffeine intake as low as 100200 milligrams per day could have a negative effect on fetal development. The underlying reasons for this remain unclear.

Many foods and drinks other than coffee contain caffiene. Examples include some sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, and teas. Some cold and flu remedies also contain caffeine. A doctor, nurse, or pharmacist can provide more guidance about which medicines are safe.

Unpasteurized Foods And Raw Meat

According to the USDA, pregnant women are at high risk of getting sick from two different types of food poisoning: listeriosis, caused by the Listeria bacteria, and toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite.

Listeriosis is about 20 times more common in pregnant women than in the rest of the population, according to a study published in the journal Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The CDC says that Listeria infection may cause miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term labor, and illness or death in newborns.

To avoid listeriosis, the USDA recommends avoiding the following foods during pregnancy:

• Unpasteurized milk and foods made from it, such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, queso blanco and queso fresco. Pasteurization involves heating a product to a high temperature to kill harmful bacteria.
• Hot dogs, luncheon meats and cold cuts, unless heated to steaming hot before eating to kill any bacteria.
• Store-bought deli salads, such as ham salad, chicken salad, tuna salad and seafood salad.
• Unpasteurized refrigerated meat spreads or pâtés.

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Your Bffs During Pregnancy

Want to grow the healthiest baby possible while staying within your prescribed weight gain? Then build a prenatal meal plan around fresh, lean food choices, says Dr. Meredith Watson-Locklear, an OB-GYN with Orlando Health Physician Associates.

Start off right by shunning pregnancys biggest food fallacy that you can consume twice as much because you are eating for two.

No, no, no, says Dr. Watson-Locklear. Yes, its true youre eating for yourself and a growing baby, but that baby is the size of a pea in the first trimester. If you were REALLY eating for two, you would weigh what two adults weigh. But youre eating for someone who, at birth, will weigh about eight pounds. Dont use pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything you want.

Instead, create a nine-month meal plan designed with your babys needs in mind. Opt for fresh, whole foods while bypassing those packed with empty calories or ingredients with possible parasites, food-borne illnesses or toxins.

Botox Injections And Chemical Peels: High Risk

When you use Botox for cosmetic or medical reasons, youre essentially injecting a toxin into your bloodstream. And chemical peels literally involve applying chemical exfoliants directly to your skin.

Since you should avoid exposure to unnecessary chemicals and toxins during pregnancy, these procedures should wait until after birth.

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What Do I Need To Know When Defrosting Food

You should:

• a sealed bag or container submerged in cold water

You cannot always tell if food is safe by its look, smell or taste. When in doubt, throw it out!

Liver And Other Foods Containing Vitamin A

Avoid liver and liver products, such as liver pâté and liver sausage. Liver products have lots of vitamin A in them. This can be harmful to an unborn baby. It is not safe to take multivitamins containing vitamin A or fish liver oils, such as cod liver oil. It is fine to eat low levels of vitamin A found naturally in foods like carrots. But it is important to avoid any foods that have vitamin A added . It is okay to use cosmetic products, like face cream, that contain vitamin A.

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A Note About Supplements

Dietary supplements arent regulated by the FDA, so its best to avoid taking any extra vitamins or minerals during pregnancy unless your doctor has specifically told you to.

You can and should take a prenatal vitamin, which will be full of many of the most essential nutrients you need but may not already be getting in your diet. If youre still worried about a deficiency, try to get as many vitamins and minerals from real food sources as possible .

Unpasteurized Milk And Cheese

If your cheese or milk product has “unpasteurized” on the label, it’s best to skip because the potential infection with Listeria could lead to miscarriage, preterm delivery or affect a newborn. Goat cheese, feta, Brie, blue cheese, Camembert and queso fresco or blanco typically contain unpasteurized milk and are best to avoid, Parents reported.

Hispanic people who are pregnant might be much more susceptible to listeriosis because their diets are more likely to include soft cheeses like queso fresco or blanco, panela and asadero. If queso blanco and queso fresco are made with pasteurized milk, it’s safe to eat.

It’s best to eat small amounts of highly processed foods during pregnancy because they usually offer little nutritional value.

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Raw Or Undercooked Greens And Sprouts

Greens and sprouts are generally great foods to add to the diet as they contain large amounts of fiber and nutrients. However, some greens or sprouts may contain bacteria, such as Salmonella or E. coli, which can cause infection.

A study in the Clinical Microbiology and Infection notes that bacterial infections of the blood, of which E. coli infections are among the most common types, are potentially fatal during pregnancy. It is essential to avoid E. coli while pregnant.

The CDC note that E. coli infections are hard to pin down because they can derive from many different sources.

An E. coli infection can cause a variety of problems, including food poisoning, urinary tract infections, and respiratory illness.

About 20 percent of E. coli infections are due to contaminated foods, which may include greens and sprouts.

Avoid raw or undercooked sprouts, such as:

• mung beans

• Roquefort
• queso fresco

Soft cheese may contain harmful bacteria, such as Listeria or E. coli. It is safer to eat hard varieties, such as Swiss or Cheddar cheese. Pasteurized cheese is an even better choice, so check the label to ensure the cheese is made from pasteurized milk.

While some people can enjoy a small amount of caffeine during pregnancy, doctors often recommend that pregnant women avoid it completely because caffeine can pass to the fetus.

A fetus is unable to break down caffeine, which can cause problems.

As a 2016 study in

Unpasteurized milk may contain E. coli, Listeria, or Salmonella.

Raw Undercooked Or Contaminated Seafood And Fish

Dont worry you dont have to give up on your favourite seafood entirely. You just need to ensure that you steer clear of certain types of seafood.

• Raw fish in your diet is definitely a big NO. This means that if youre a lover of sushi, you will have to hold back for the next few months.

• Certain fishes, like mackerel, shark, swordfish, and tilefish contain high levels of mercury in them, and mercury consumption during pregnancy could lead to delayed development and brain damage to your child. Opt instead for fish like chunk light tuna which has low levels of mercury and can be consumed in moderate amounts. It is best to avoid refrigerated and smoked seafood as it may be contaminated with Listeria, a harmful bacterium. Being exposed to Listeria during pregnancy can put you at an increased risk of preterm birth, or an infection spreading to the newborn.

• A few kinds of fish may have been raised in contaminated water bodies, like bluefish, salmon, walleye, trout, and striped bass. These fishes are exposed to high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls , which is extremely unhealthy for both mother and child. Exposure to PCB while pregnant can also have a negative impact on your babys immune system.

• Raw and undercooked shellfish like clams, mussels, and oysters, carry a majority of the seaborne illnesses. While cooking them can prevent some diseases, they wont affect the algae-borne diseases. This is why it is a good idea to avoid shellfish entirely during pregnancy

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