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Changes in The Diet When You’re Pregnant: Foods to Limit

Pregnancy is one of the most crucial times for women. It is also one of the times when special attention should be paid to nutrition during these nine months.

Pregnancy is the perfect time to take stock and reflect on your lifestyle, your eating habits, and how these choices will affect both you and your child. Women are advised to take care of themselves, rest, and eat better.

Even though pregnancy doesn’t require you to follow a special diet, there are foods women are advised to limit or avoid until they deliver. It would be best if you focused more on the different properties of foods from different group foods so you can improve the quality and variety you consume for the coming nine months. It is crucial that you make sure that all your nutritional requirements are adhered to.

Even so, extra care should be taken. While some food groups are essential, you should be careful about how much you consume them. To avoid health infections that could prove detrimental to your pregnancy, here are some of the foods you should limit during pregnancy:

foods to avoid when pregnant

Some Seafood

While fish is suitable for both you and your unborn baby, it can be equally harmful. Some kinds of fish have too much mercury, and mercury is considered unsafe for pregnant women.

Mercury can potentially harm your fetus’s developing brain. Hence, pregnant women should avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel. However, it is okay to limit your fish consumption to about 6 ounces of canned tuna weekly and make sure you opt for light tuna.

To know what amount and types of fish are safe for you, consult the Healthy Fish Guide provided by the Washington State Department. Carry the guide every time you want to dine or shop to make sure you are making wise and safe decisions when it comes to eating fish.

Unpasteurized Dairy

Many soft cheeses and raw milk from parts of the world like Europe and Mexico are unpasteurized. Unpasteurized dairy is considered unsafe during pregnancy because while they contain crucial bacteria, they also contain harmful bacteria.

Soft cheese contains bacteria like Listeria and E. coli, which can be very harmful to a pregnant woman. Hence, pregnant women should avoid soft cheeses like feta, brie, queso fresco, and Queso Blanco. You should also only eat cheese or drink milk that bears a pasteurized label.

Caffeine

We love coffee for its stimulating properties; however, during pregnancy, this stimulant will pass to your baby and potentially affect his or her growth. Caffeine isn’t just found in coffee but in tea, chocolate, over-the-counter medications, and many soft drinks.

During pregnancy, consider drinking beverages without caffeine. However, for those who really can’t do without caffeine, we recommend that you limit your intake to less than 200mg daily. This is equivalent to 1-2 cups of coffee.

foods to avoid when you are pregnant

Junk Food

While this is the time your cravings are at their peak, you should be careful about what junk foods and the amount you consume. A healthy pregnancy is also reliant on maintaining a healthy weight while still pregnant. The last thing you want to deal with is issues with preeclampsia and diabetes.

While cookies, soda pop, potato chips, French fries, and donuts are okay sometimes, you should allow them to take the pace of healthy foods. While you indulge in your cravings, do so with limitations.

Raw Foods

Undercooked meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and shellfish are not recommended during pregnancy because they may contain parasites or bacteria that can make you unwell and further put your unborn baby at risk. Sometimes, even when you don’t get sick from consuming raw foods, you still expose your child to danger.

Therefore, it is crucial that you make sure that you pre-cook all pre-packaged and processed food items before consumptions. Make sure that you thoroughly cook your meat, eggs, fish, poultry, and fish before eating.

Non-Food Items

Pregnancy cravings can sometimes divert from food items for some pregnant women. It has been evident in the history of womankind that not all women will have the same cravings.

Chalk, laundry starch, clay, and other non-food items can be very harmful to both you and your unborn baby. Hence, women who crave these non-food items should make sure to tell their doctor or health care provider as soon as these cravings pop up.

Cold Deli Meat

Cold deli meats tend to harbor harmful bacteria that can cause miscarriages when consumed during pregnancy. Make sure only to eat deli meat when heated to steaming hot. If you must eat cold deli meat, then make sure to heat on a stovetop or microwave.

 Diet When You’re Pregnant Pregnancy food


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