Pregnancy is the most beautiful yet the most exhausting journey in a woman’s life. While there’s a lot of happiness, hope, and contentment, there are much more fear, confusion, and misconceptions as well. Both the woman and her partner want to practice and follow the best guidelines to protect the mother’s and the baby’s health. What to eat and what foods to avoid during pregnancy is usually the biggest concern of every couple who is expecting. It is because sometimes most harmless foods could also have severe reactions or effects on someone pregnant. Here’s a list of food items that should be avoided during pregnancy. These might not be harmful to all or some of them might be harmful in certain situations only. However, there’s no harm in avoiding for complete satisfaction.
Raw/undercooked eggs
Avoid raw or undercooked eggs completely. Only fully cooked eggs are alright to eat such as the hard-boiled eggs. Even half fry eggs could also cause issues. Undercooked or raw eggs have the risk of salmonella food poisoning. It is possible that not every pregnant woman gets it, but better to avoid it. Foods with raw/undercooked eggs like homemade mayonnaise are also dangerous. Also, avoid dirty or cracked eggs.
Raw/undercooked meat, and poultry
Throughly cook meat and poultry. Take special care with poultry, sausages, pork, and minced meat as sometimes we miss the trace of blood in them. Wash raw meat and poultry thoroughly and then cook until there’s no trace of blood or pinkness is left. There’s a parasite present in meat, cat feces, soil, and untreated water which could cause Toxoplasmosis infection. Even though the infection is rare in pregnancy, but it could harm the baby. There’s treatment available as well but better careful than sorry. Also, wash your hands and utensils properly which come in contact with raw meat or poultry. It will eradicate all the risk of the spread of bugs causing food poisoning.
Vitamin A supplements
Multivitamins are essentials especially during natal but make sure you take prescribed ones only. Ask your gynecologist for the prescription and only stick to those. Too high Vitamin A dose is dangerous. Therefore, you need to be careful in taking these supplements.
Liver products
Avoid eating Liver products like fish liver oil because there’s a high level of Vitamin A present in the liver. As stated earlier, Vitamin A is not fully beneficial during pregnancy.
Store packed salads
Salads and packed fruits/vegetables available at the stores have a higher risk of listeria contamination. Even the fruits/vegetable salads present at bars and buffet systems are not recommended during pregnancy. Make fresh salads.
Some types of fruits and vegetables
Rockmelon causes the risk of listeria and bean sprouts can cause salmonella. It is better to avoid both of these.
Sushi
Seafood usually has the most risk factors attached during pregnancy. If you are a seafood lover, you might have to compromise a lot. Following types of seafood should be avoided as they have a high risk of listeria contamination:
- Chilled seafood like raw oysters, sashimi, and sushi.
- Smoked ready-to-eat seafood.
- Cooked ready-to-eat prawns.
If you just can not handle your cravings, the safest option is to choose fully cooked sushi or vegetarian varieties like:
- cooked seafood, for example fully cooked eel (unagi) or shrimp (ebi)
- vegetables, for example cucumber (kappa) maki
- avocado — for example California roll
- fully cooked egg
Foods with soil
Wash all the products properly as the soil can be really harmful during pregnancy. It increases the risk of salmonella food poisoning. So it is better not to take any risk and thoroughly wash produce that comes in direct contact with soil.
Alcohol
Alcohol is not just one of the foods to avoid during pregnancy. In fact, you should completely stop consuming alcohol ever since you start planning a baby and then till when you are breastfeeding. It is extremely harmful to an unborn and then a newborn baby.
