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The 10 Common Foods To Avoid When Pregnant.
The perfect way to meet both your baby’s and your own nutritional needs is to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods and stay as healthy as you possibly can.
This is because pregnancy affects your immune system, meaning you and your unborn baby are more susceptible to the bacteria, parasites and viruses that cause food-borne illness. You must understand that healthy pregnancy nutrition is of prime significance throughout your 9-month pregnancy period. As the mother, what you eat directly affects the well-being, as well as the growth of your unborn child.
So there are certain foods you should avoid when pregnant – these are the foods that may harm your baby, make you feel unwell and therefore, jeopardize your pregnancy.
Below is a checklist of 10 foods that you should try to avoid at all cost during pregnancy to help ensure that you not only create a healthy environment for yourself, but also for your unborn baby. Read on!
The 10 common foods to avoid when pregnant.
1. Raw Meat
Try to avoid uncooked or seared seafood and under-cooked or rare beef or poultry. Before you visit your favorite raw food bar, or local sushi joint, be informed that uncooked or even seared seafood is off limits during pregnancy, this is because they have the risk of possible contamination with toxoplasmosis (a rare but serious blood infection), coliform bacteria and salmonella.
So to reduce your risk of food-borne illness, test the doneness of your meat or poultry with a food thermometer. Avoid deli meat’s, sausages, and hot dog’s in your pregnancy nutrition program, an added benefit is it will also help you avoid pregnancy weight gain.
You don’t want to go through the difficult path of food poisoning during your pregnancy, do you?
2. Some types of Fish.
There are some types of fish such as swordfish, shark, tile-fish, and king mackerel that have high mercury contents. Mercury is one of the most toxic metals on earth. It can lead to brain (neurological) damage in an unborn child.
If you have to eat some fish, then I would rather recommend that you eat no more than 12 ounces of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury such as salmon, cod, catfish, tilapia, shrimp and Pollock.
3. Raw Eggs.
Avoid raw eggs or any kind of food that contain raw eggs, so as to escape the danger posed by salmonella. Some of the foods that contain raw eggs include mayonnaise, cake butter, homemade ice cream, egg nog, raw cookie dough, Homemade Caesar dressing, mayo and Hollandaise sauces.
4. Raw Sprouts.
Are you thinking of putting some bean sprouts into your salad or sandwich with the aim of giving it an extra crunch?
You better think twice.
Whereas to most of us sprouts may look innocent enough, (considering the fact that it is also a great source of vitamin C amongst other vitamins), it’s advisable that you avoid raw sprouts including clover, radish, alfalfa, and mung bean sprouts since they all are a potential source of bacteria and viruses such as Salmonella and E.coli.
Though sprouts have a distinct texture and are hard to replace, you’ll be better off shredding carrot or zucchini on your salad for a healthy and safe alternative.
5. Soft Cheeses.
Soft cheeses made from unpasteurized milk, including feta, bleu cheese, Camembert, queso blanco, Brie and queso fresco ought to be avoided at all cost.
These kinds of cheese, especially from the way they are made are likely to cause listeriosis – a very common food poisoning caused by eating foods contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
6. Pate.
Refrigerated pate or any sort of meat spreads ought to be avoided because it is one of the major sources of listeriosis.
Your body’s natural defence against the listeria bacteria is weaker during pregnancy. Listeriosis can result into premature birth, miscarriage or loss of the baby during birth. So keep off pate, whether it’s made from fish, or meat or vegetables.
7. Alcohol.
No amount of alcohol whatsoever is safe during pregnancy. Prenatal exposure to alcohol, depending on the amount, pattern of use, and timing will surely affect the development of your baby.
It can lead to a condition known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome – a development disorders in the fetus. Keep off alcoholic drinks and keep your baby safe.
8. Excess calories.
You are not eating alone. You are two.
But this doesn’t mean that you need twice the amount of calories! If you want to know how to avoid pregnancy weight gain then take it from me; avoid eating too many calories.
Gaining too much weight, especially during pregnancy threatens your health, and may increase the risk of childhood overweight in your future baby.
9. Diet Soda
Did you know that despite the belief that artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas have been deemed safe by the Food and Drug Administration, drinking artificially sweetened diet soda during pregnancy may increase your risk of preterm delivery?
It’s best to skip the soda during this time and instead drink 8 to 10 ounce glasses of water a day.
10. Licorice.
Now that you are avoiding fish, your morning coffee, and alcohol as well, you are probably more or less an absolute monster every morning. But that’s not all.
Add licorice to your don’t-touch list. Medical experts warn that licorice contains a natural component known as glycyrrhizin that is very dangerous during pregnancy. This component can impair the placenta and allow stress hormones called glucocorticoids to enter the baby’s system. You can’t imagine doing this to your innocent baby.
This list of foods to avoid when pregnant is only a sample and not large enough, so ensure that you take every possible care and follow the best pregnancy nutrition and advice, and give birth to a wonderful healthy baby. The day to day development of your baby is dependent on your pregnancy nutrition, never forget that!
Disclaimer. This advice is only of a general nature and does not replace the advice of your registered care provider.
The 10 Common Foods To Avoid When Pregnant
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