20 Foods Pregnant Women Should Avoid - Page 2

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You may know some of the biggest offenders when it comes to foods pregnant women can’t eat. Sushi and jello shots are obviously off limits. But do you know all of the foods that an expectant mother should stay away from? New research comes out every year showing how some ingredients (including natural ones) can harm a growing fetus. So the list of no-no foods for pregnant women may be different than it was when your best friend Karen was expecting three years ago. It’s certainly not fair that you need to skip some of these foods (since you already have to stay away from wine night with the girls!) but, you can just make a Costco run after your delivery and stock up on them. Or you can make your partner eat them so you can watch…whatever floats your boat. Here are 20 foods pregnant women should avoid.

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Raw shellfish

Raw shellfish is risky enough for non-pregnant women. But this stuff can carry algae-related infections that won’t even cook away if you boil or steam them. While your system might be strong enough to fight those off, your baby’s isn’t.

Smoked salmon

Smoked salmon and other smoked fish can carry the listeria bacteria, which can cause all sorts of nasty complications like diarrhea and vomiting. This can be toxic to a growing fetus.

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Eggs sunny side up

Undercooked or runny eggs can carry salmonella, which is already very dangerous for fully grown adults, and extremely dangerous for developing fetuses.

Soft cheese

Soft cheese is typically unpasteurized and can carry the listeria bacteria which can result in listeriosis, a condition that can lead to premature birth or miscarriage.

Undercooked meat

Undercooked meat can carry the toxoplasma gondii parasite that can cause food poisoning and, in pregnant mothers, fetal damage and even miscarriages. So no medium rare burgers during pregnancy.

Unpasteurized dairy products

Milk can give a pregnant mom plenty of the calcium she needs to grow a healthy baby, but unpasteurized dairy can cause food poisoning which as we’ve established is dangerous for a baby.

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Artificial sweetener

Artificial sweetener cannot be filtered by the placenta, so they go straight to your baby. Studies are still out on the effects of giving artificial sugar to a baby, but we know it’s not great for adults.

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Cured meats

Cured meats like bacon and sausage contain nitrate. High amounts of nitrate can lead to fetal abnormalities. Besides, these are very high in fat, which you may not see while you’re pregnant, but will sit stubbornly on your tummy after delivery.

Raw sprouts

Raw sprouts can add a nice crunch to a hummus sandwich, but they’re also one of the biggest carriers of harmful bacteria. If you want sprouts when you’re pregnant, cook them.

Some nuts

If you are allergic to any nuts, make sure to take special precautions to avoid these when pregnant. An allergic reaction can cause your organs to inflame, which can harm your baby.

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Too much caffeine

Pregnant women who consume a lot of caffeine are at a higher risk for stillbirths, fetal deaths, and low birth weight. Plus it’s a diuretic, and as a pregnant woman, you pee enough as it is.

Canned foods

Canned foods can sit for months or years before being consumed, allowing for plenty of time for the harmful BPA in them to seep into the food. BPA can affect fetal endocrine activity.

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Mysterious juice

Once juice leaves its fruit, it becomes vulnerable to all sorts of bacteria. Buying bottled juice out of the refrigerator at a grocery store should be okay, but avoid open-air kiosks selling juice in plastic cups at malls and fairs. The juice may have left the fruit hours ago.

White flour

White flour can lead to constipation, which is something pregnant women already struggle with. Being constipated isn’t just uncomfortable, but it can put pressure on your fetus since the intestines, and reproductive organs sit closely together.

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Cookie dough

Cookie dough and cookie dough ice cream are some favorite items among pregnant women, but cookie dough contains uncooked egg, which we already know is trouble.

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Salad bars

You don’t eat an entire salad bar, but you eat the foods sitting inside of it, and these could have been sitting out for hours. For salad bar veggies to be safe for consumption, they must always be under 40 degrees and switched every two hours. A lot of salad bars don’t maintain these conditions, which can lead to bacteria like E. Coli, Salmonella, and Listeria.

Leftover meat

Even if you cook meat thoroughly the first time around, it can be exposed to bacteria when it’s wrapped in foil and saved for later. When you cook meat initially, it has to be cooked to at least 145 degrees but what many people don’t know is that when you reheat it, it has to be cooked to at least 165 degrees.

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High-mercury fish

You already knew high-mercury fish could damage a baby’s nervous system, but let’s just have a refresher on what high-mercury fish it. Shark, swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel and canned albacore tuna are all off limits.

Alcohol

Some doctors may say a glass of wine here, and there is okay when you’re pregnant because there is no evidence that this will harm a baby. But consider this: there’s no conclusive evidence that it can’t harm a baby. Is it really worth the risk?