Pregnancy and Nutrition - Foods You Should Avoid When Pregnant

Some of the basic things which a woman should do or not do when she is pregnant is common knowledge. There are some known things like taking less caffeine, no smoking or alcohol and avoid spending time in a hot tub. A lot of studies are being conducted to find out more on the kinds of food that women should avoid during this period.

Pregnancy and nutrition have a vital relationship and it is essential for women to have a well balanced meal. She has to provide her growing baby with minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients which are essential for the healthy growth of the infant. On the other hand there are some food items which should not be eaten as they can become hazardous to the mother as well as the developing baby.

Raw meat increases the risk of developing toxoplasmosis and salmonella and should be completely avoided. You must not have rare burgers and steaks. It is essential that all the meat which is eaten by the women during her pregnancy should be well cooked. You should also avoid having cold deli meat as it has the risk of listeria. Listeria can go to the placenta which has the potential to develop blood poisoning or an infection in the baby. You can of course eat deli meat by heating it till it starts steaming as that decreases the risk.




In fact there are some other foods which have these bacteria known as listeria. These foods include soft cheeses like gorgonzola, brie, and feta. Unpasteurized milk is generally used to manufacture this type of cheeses. One of the pregnancy and nutrition stipulations is that pregnant women should ensure that the soft cheese they have should be made from pasteurized milk as unpasteurized milk many times have listeria.

With regards to pregnancy and nutrition there has been a lot of discussion over the fact if pregnant women eat fish or not. It is true that fish has a lot of nutrition which is useful for the baby but there are times when the fishes are rich in mercury which can be harmful for the growing baby. Do not have fishes with more mercury like swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish shark, as well as sushi throughout your pregnancy. It is possible to have developmental delays or even brain damage in some cases with consumption of mercury. You can have some amount of canned, chunk light tuna as it has less amount of mercury. It is much better not to have raw shellfish during your whole length of pregnancy.

It is essential to have no food which has raw eggs or even raw eggs by themselves at this time as there are chances of being exposed to salmonella. You should not eat raw brownie mix or cookie dough or homemade sauce like blue cheese dressing hollandaise and Caesar dressing. Don't order any dressings with raw eggs when you eat out.

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