Eating the proper foods when pregnant can do plenty of good for you and your baby. Therefore you start to add more fruits and veggies to your daily diet, gnaw on nuts during nibbles, and cook more dishes with legumes and/or fish in it. But did you know what foodstuffs to avoid during your pregnancy?
Keeping away from foods that could be harmful to the growing baby in your womb is equally as critical as selecting the right foods that can be good for both of you. To help you plan your diet accordingly, these are some foodstuffs that you could need to ban from your grocers list “at least for now. Eat yourself healthy when pregnant is my motto.
Undercooked Meat, Birds and Egg
The difficulty with eating undercooked foods is that they significantly raise your possibility of food poisoning and other food-borne sicknesses. Therefore cook your foods well and confirm there are no evidence of blood or pink left before eating them. Some foods that you might want to avoid during pregnancy include the following:
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Processed meat like hotdogs, bologna, burgers
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Chilled meat spreads and pates
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Pre-stuffed raw poultry
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Foods that contain raw or partly cooked eggs like homemade dressing and sauces (Caesar dressing, mayo and Hollandaise sauce) homemade puddings (tiramisu, meringue and mousse) and raw biscuit dough
Seafood
While the 2010 Nutritional Rules for Northern Americans recommends pregnant moms to consume 8 to 10 oz. of seafood per week, these are some things you need to know about preparing and eating them so that you will stay safe all all though your pregnancy.
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Avoid fish which will contain elevated levels of mercury. Expectant moms are advised to avoid eating swordfish, shark, marlin, king mackerel and tilefish during their pregnancy. These fish may contain high levels of mercury that can damage your baby’s nervous system.
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Avoid eating raw fish and shellfish. Do not eat oysters and clams unless you're sure they're completely cooked. Lobsters, shrimps and scallops are completely cooked when their color turn milky white.
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Avoid chilled smoked seafood such as lox (thinly cut cured salmon fillet). Nevertheless you can eat them when they serve as an ingredient in a cooked dish.
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Don't eat seafood that came from polluted waters.
Soft Cheeses
If you are keen on eating mold-ripened soft cheeses or soft mould ripened cheeses, it's often best to delay eating them while you are pregnant for they may contain Listeria monocytogenes “a microorganism that may cause miscarriage, early delivery and even death.
According to the Centers for Illness Control and Prevention (CDC), Listeria contamination or listeriosis is affecting about 1,700 folks in the USA every year. Out of this figure, about 260 are reckoned to die from complications stemming from the condition. Expecting women are advised to take special precautions since they're about 20 times more subject to this condition as compared to non-pregnant individuals.
As a healthy care, please avoid:
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Brie, chevre and camembert (mold-ripened soft cheeses)
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Danish blue, gorgonzola (soft mould ripened cheeses)
For the moment, use cheeses made with pasteurized milk like feta and mozzarella. Hard cheeses such as cheddar and parmesan, although unpasteurized, may also be considered to be safe for eating since they contain little amount of water “a condition that impedes the expansion of the Listeria bacteria.
Other Special Precautions in Selecting and Preparing your Food
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Avoid alcohol. Consuming alcoholic drinks ups your risk for miscarriage and stillbirth.
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Avoid drinking coffee and herbal tea. Caffeine can influence your baby’s heart beat rate and may even cause miscarriage. Diet consultants advocate that pregnant moms shouldn't consume more than 200 mg of caffeine each day. But to ensure maximum safety, it’s best to avoid it altogether during your pregnancy months.
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Don't eat unwashed fruits and vegetables. They can increase your risks of contracting food borne illnesses.
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Avoid eating sprouts. If it cannot be evaded, ensure that you cook them thoroughly before eating them.
Eating healthy while pregnant is the finest that you can do for you and your baby. Therefore follow these proposals and you can be certain that you’ll have a safe and comfortable pregnancy.
Kitty Baker provides more tips and info on her blogabout pregnancy. For indepth information regarding the foodstuff to eat when pregnant register here for free to learnthe easiest way to diet while pregnant.