Things You Should Avoid in Your Diet During Pregnancy
June 29, 2009
What you DON’T eat or drink during your pregnancy can be just as important as what you DO consume!
Here are some things to avoid while you are pregnant:
Alcohol – We shouldn’t have to tell you this, but we will anyway! STAY AWAY FROM ALCOHOL DURING PREGNANCY.
A glass of wine or bottle of beer may seem harmless enough but no study has yet to determine how much is a safe amount of alcohol and how much can cause mental retardation, central nervous system damage, brain damage, and birth defects in your baby.
It is better to be safe than sorry!
Alcohol goes straight into your baby’s body in high concentration levels through your blood stream, through the umbilical cord and into the placenta, and can cause any one of an array of symptoms included in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Children with FASD can have learning disabilities, memory and attention disorders, as well as language, and vision, or hearing problems, to name a few. So save that glass of wine or bottle of beer and enjoy it after you delivery your healthy child!
Caffeine – Consuming a lot of caffeine can increase your chance of miscarriage. Two or three cups a day may not seem like much to you, but just to be safe, you should try to stop drinking coffee altogether.
If you find you cannot do so, at least try to cut it down to one cup per day or start drinking decaffeinated coffee!
And remember that there are other beverages and foods that contain high concentrations of caffeine. Green tea and black tea, cola sodas (pop), even chocolate.
You can have these things in moderation (one cup of tea or a half of glass of soda or a candy bar once a week), because the caffeine content in these products is typically much less than that contained in cup of coffee (90-140 mg of caffeine).
You’ll be happy to know that the average candy bar only contains 5-30 mg of caffeine, but you still need to consider the FAT content in that candy and remember the word: MODERATION
Avoid foods that MAY carry bacteria and other food-borne illness (toxoplasmosis and listeriosis to name two). These can cause birth defects and miscarriage, and while you may be able to eat them with no problems, you may not want to take the risk during your pregnancy.
- Un-pasteurized (soft) cheeses, often labeled as ‘fresh cheese’ like feta cheese, goat cheese, brie, camembert, and blue or limburger cheeses.
- Un-pasteurized milk, juice, or apple cider
- Raw eggs or foods that contain raw eggs like tiramisu, mousse, cookie or cake batter, homemade ice cream, Caesar dressing (if made fresh).
- Raw fish like sushi and CERTAINLY raw meat
- High mercury content fish like shark, swordfish, tilefish (white snapper or golden snapper), and king mackerel
If you are a health advocate and you routinely take herbs, please do NOT take these particular herbs while you are pregnant:
Arbor vitae Autumn crocus
Barberry Basil oil
Beth root Black cohosh
Bloodroot Blue cohosh
Broom Bugleweed
Clove oil Comfrey
Cotton root Devil’s claw
Dong quai False unicorn root
Feverfew Golden seal
Greater celandine Juniper and juniper oil
Lady’s mantle Liferoot
Mistletoe Mugwort (avoid during pregnancy & breast feeding)
American pennyroyal European pennyroyal (avoid during pregnancy & breast feeding)
Peruvian bark Pokeroot
Pseudoginseng Pulsatilla (limit use while breast feeding)
Rue Sassafras
Shepherd’s purse Southernwood (avoid during pregnancy & breast feeding)
Squill Tansy
Wild yam Wormwood (avoid during pregnancy & breast feeding)
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