Foods Not for Pregnant Mom
Pregnant women are more vulnerable to any kind of infection. Some food borne infection may pass through the placenta (a maternal organ that the growing baby needs for its necessary nutrients and oxygen) to the baby which could be life-threatening.
Thus foods that can cause bacterial (listeria or salmonella) infection, foods rich in mercury or contaminated with industrial chemicals should be strictly avoided during pregnancy.
Find out more here about foods pregnant woman should avoid :
- Unpasteurized milk (pasteurization is a hitting process that kills bacteria of beverages) or anything made of unpasteurized milk such as Brie, feta and blue cheese, freshly squeezed juice sold in supermarkets or restaurants if not pasteurized should be avoided as these are good sources of bacteria (listeria, salmonella and E Coli).
- Swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, albacore tuna contain mercury and too much mercury could harm your baby’s developing nervous system. However, omega-3 fatty acids present in seafood such as salmon are needed for your baby’s brain and eye development. Therefore, fish containing little mercury such as salmon, shrimp, Pollock, trout should be consumed but no more than 8 – 12 ounces per a week by a pregnant women.
- Fish coming from local lakes, rivers contaminated with industrial chemicals.
- A good source of salmonella is raw egg. Foods pregnant woman should avoid are those made with raw or partially cooked eggs, such as raw cookie dough, eggnog, raw batter, and homemade mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce and caesar salad dressing.
- Unwashed fruits and vegetables (may contain harmful bacteria) should be skipped.
- Undercooked meat, meat burgers, streaks should be avoided. Make sure the meat is steaming hot and thoroughly cooked.
- Raw fish and shellfish such as sushi, sashimi, and raw oysters, scallops or clams should be skipped.
- Refrigerated seafood, meat spreads and undercooked seafood or poultry should be avoided.
- A big no to any kind of alcohol as mothers who drink alcohol have a higher risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.
- They should also limit the amount of caffeine coming from tea, coffee, cola to less than 200 milligrams per day. For further details see here.
