Attaining motherhood is the greatest fulfillment in the life of every woman.
And the pregnancy period is the most delicate and careful time in a woman’s life. Every woman wants her going to be born child to be healthy and cute.
The unborn child in the womb also is very delicate, and the foods that the mother eats directly impact the child’s life and health.
So, it is important to know what foods to avoid during pregnancy.
The mother must pay careful attention to what she should and shouldn’t eat during pregnancy.
Great care to be given to a healthy diet during pregnancy, and the same or even more attention to be given to the foods to avoid when pregnant.
In this article, you can read about 12 commonly used foods that are NOT to be consumed by a pregnant woman.
1. Avoid Consuming Calorie Rich Foods In Excess Amounts
Most pregnant women have misunderstood the idea of eating excessive calorie-rich foods as they think they need to eat for two persons.’
A woman becoming obese or overweight during the pregnancy period adversely affects the health of both mother and child. They can face an increased risk of health complications such as diabetes, miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, blood clots, and death.
There is also the increased possibility of a ‘future child’ becoming obese during childhood.
For a generally healthy woman in the first trimester of pregnancy, the daily calorie intake could be limited to 1800 calories. Then increase the intake by 400 and 200 calories per day in the second and third trimesters of the pregnancy, respectively.
However, a pregnant woman who is already obese or overweight at conception should reduce their calorie intake per day but avoid dieting.
With the right amount of calorie intake, it is also necessary to ensure that all essential nutrients the woman consumes rich foods in increased amounts.
It is good to consult a professional dietitian to decide the right amount of calories per day required according to the body weight and lifestyle of the pregnant woman.
2. Avoid Fruit Juices, Cheese, and Unpasteurized Milk
Harmful bacteria, like Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella, could be present in unpasteurized dairy products and juices.
The unborn baby in the womb could easily get infected with these bacteria, which can produce even life-threatening consequences for the baby.
Even fruit juices can get infected with these bacteria through contamination during harvesting, transporting, and storage. The fruits in storage or with damage/rot could also carry these bacteria.
The pregnant woman should always avoid unpasteurized milk, cheese, butter, and fruit juice.
3. Vitamin A And Organ Meats
Normally organ meat is considered very healthy as it contains a lot of Vitamin A and important nutrients for health, but they are NOT good for the pregnant woman.
It is not healthy for pregnant women to consume organ meats because of the Vitamin A and high copper levels present in them. Vitamin A from animal food sources can produce toxic effects on the body. Vitamin A and copper can cause toxicity that may lead to congenital disabilities and liver toxicity in the child.
Avoiding high-dose multivitamins and fish liver oil supplements containing Vitamin A is also good.
4. Pregnant Women Should Not Eat Raw Or Processed Meat
The undercooked, raw or smoked, and stored meat could be sheltering harmful bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma, and E. coli.
These bacteria are dangerous to the unborn baby’s health, and they may lead to stillbirth or develop other health disorders in the baby, like blindness, epilepsy, mental retardation, or neurological problems.
These bacteria could be present in the deep layers of the meat piece. Meat should be cooked fully to get rid of these bacteria.
It is also good to avoid eating hot dogs, deli meat, and lunch meat as they could easily be infected with harmful bacteria while processing or during storage.
5. Certain Types of Fish Are Not Good For Expecting Mothers
Most fish are healthy and safe for consumption by a woman during pregnancy.
However, a few varieties, like Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, and Tuna, contain toxic mercury elements. The expecting mothers should avoid These fish verities.
Mercury is toxic, and even a little amount of mercury a pregnant woman consumes can affect the baby’s health.
The higher amount of mercury can adversely affect the immune, kidneys, and nervous systems.
Any type of fish found in polluted water and large fish that live in the seawater with industrial waste usually accumulates a high amount of mercury in their body.
Pregnant women should avoid high-mercury fish OR eat at least 1 or 2 servings per month.
6. Avoid Raw Or Undercooked Fish
Raw fish is bad for health as it could contain diseases causing bacteria like Listeria, Vibrio, Salmonella, norovirus, and other harmful parasites.
Listeria infections are very common among pregnant women as their particular health condition is suitable for their infectious effects to happen.
Listeria infection spreads from the mother to the unborn baby even when the mother does not show any symptoms of Listeria infection. This can lead to miscarriage, premature delivery or stillbirth, or the child being born with physical defects.
7. Raw Eggs Should Be Avoided By Women In Pregnancy
Salmonella bacteria are often present in raw eggs. The mother will show symptoms like stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea when infected with this bacteria.
In extreme cases of this infection, the woman might experience uterine cramps, resulting in stillbirth or premature birth.
The pregnant woman must be very careful in avoiding raw eggs and all foods containing this as an ingredient, like salad dressing, ice creams, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, and others.
They should eat only completely boiled or cooked eggs.
8. Avoid Foods Contaminated With Bisphenol A (BPA)
Bisphenol-A is an industrial chemical that makes hard plastics and liners for many canned foods and drinks, including plastic water bottles and ice cream containers.
Foods and drinks packed in hard plastic made of this chemical could have some elements of BPA in them.
This chemical mimics estrogen and could harm the brain and reproductive development in fetuses, infants, and children.
In 2012, Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of baby bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA). However, this chemical is still commonly used to produce plastic bottles and jars to serve or pack various foods and drinks.
A small exposure to BPA is not harmful to adult human beings.
The pregnant woman should avoid foods packed or served in BPA-rich plastic containers for the unborn child’s safety.
9. Certain Types of Raw Vegetables And Unwashed Raw Foods Need To Be Avoided By Pregnant Women
Salmonella is an infectious bacteria commonly found in raw sprouts like clover, radish, mung bean sprouts, and alfalfa.
Pregnant women should avoid eating raw sprout seeds as they could be easily infected with Salmonella.
In the same way, it is not healthy for a pregnant woman to eat unwashed and unpeeled vegetables and fruits as their unclean surfaces will lodge several harmful bacteria.
Bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, Toxoplasma, and Listeria, are very much present in most soils, and vegetables and fruits can get contaminated with these bacteria in many ways.
These bacteria are very harmful to both mother and, most importantly, to the unborn baby.
Infants commonly get infected with Toxoplasma while still in the womb, and it could remain suppressed in the child for many years, even after birth. But later on, the dormant Toxoplasma becomes active and can cause blindness and intellectual disabilities.
10. Junk Foods Are Not Healthy Expecting Mothers And Fetus
Junk foods void of essential nutrients and vitamins are bad for the health of the pregnant woman and baby.
A pregnant woman indeed needs to have an increased intake of calories (300-500 extra calories) in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.
However, she should eat only whole-grain foods to meet the body’s calorie requirements besides healthy vegetables and fruits.
Junk foods contain excessive empty calories from sugar and added fat. This makes the pregnant woman overweight and may lead to the development of type-2 diabetes and heart diseases.
The mother becoming obese during pregnancy can also lead to complications related to childbirth and having an obese child.
11. Excess Caffeine Intakes Is Bad During Pregnancy
The caffeine, usually present in beverages like coffee, tea, cocoa, and soft drinks, is not all that fine for pregnant women.
She should be couscous not to have more than 200 mg of caffeine (2–3 cups of coffee) daily, but it is best to go without the caffeine intake.
The mother’s caffeine is quickly passed to the placenta and the fetus.
As the fetus does not have the main enzyme needed to metabolize caffeine, it can lead to high levels of caffeine buildup in the unborn baby.
The other side effects of caffeine on an unborn baby are poor fetal growth and the risk of low birth weight at delivery.
12. Alcohol Is Bad For The Fetus
As per all medical suggestions, a pregnant woman should stay away from alcoholic drinks for the better health of the baby. Not even red wine consumption is considered healthy during this period.
Alcoholic drinks increase the chances of miscarriage and stillbirth and can adversely affect the child’s brain development.
Another biggest danger of alcohol consumption by a pregnant woman is the increased risk of fetal alcohol syndrome. This can lead to deformities, heart diseases, and retarded brain growth.
Final Thought
I hope it is clear now what food to avoid during pregnancy. During the nine months of pregnancy, the mother should try to avoid all the foods we discussed above.
Of course, there are exceptions to everything. Even the foods we consider safe could already be contaminated before we purchase them. The contamination of the foods could happen during harvesting, transporting, packaging, or even at the storage facility in the shop.
It is always safe to eat fully cooked foods as all bacteria will be eliminated during cooking.
The expecting mother should always prefer home-cooked foods and avoid all ready-to-eat junk foods.