An Extensive List of Food You Must Completely Avoid During Pregnancy

Food to Avoid

Detailed Reason

Solution

Raw Meat

Uncooked or raw beef or poultry should be avoided. They usually pose risk of contamination with coli form bacteria, toxoplasmosis (R) and salmonella (R).

Refrigerated meat of any kind like turkey, ham, hot dogs etc. should not be eaten unless heated until 165° F to kill the bacteria if they exist.

Also, dry uncooked sausages like salami or pepperoni must be avoided or again heated until steaming

Use a thermometer to cook any such meat which makes you sure that they are clean and safe enough to consume during pregnancy.

Unpasteurized milk

Unpasteurized milk is harmful for the pregnant woman and the baby. It is unsafe to drink raw milk because it has no nutritional advantage and moreover have high chances of food borne diseases.

They contain harmful bacteria similar to the raw meat like coli form of bacteria, listeria (R), cryptosporidium (R) that you might not be familiar to and pose a danger to your unborn baby in the womb.

Buy only pasteurized milk – check the label of the milk before buying to be confirmed.

You can as well pasteurize the milk by boiling it in a high temperature that kills the disease causing microbes.

Also, you can use non dairy milk like soy milk, rice milk, almond milk which are safer and considered equally healthy as well.

Fish

Fish that contains high levels of mercury should be avoided. It has been found out that mercury when consumed during pregnancy has a direct impact in the brain damage of the baby and delays the development.

Such high content of mercury is found in shark, sword fish, king mackerel, golden snapper and tilefish etc. Any fish should not be eaten raw or undercooked.

Shellfishes should be avoided too. Refrigerated smoked fishes that unpasteurized should be heated well until 165° F before consumption.

Canned fish should be avoided even if there is a possibility of it having lesser mercury content.

Cook fish to 165° F. Eat only 2 servings (12 ounces) a week of low-mercury fish only such as salmon, shrimp, trout or pollock.

Cook the shellfish by opening their shell instead of closed to ensure safety.

Egg

Raw egg, runny egg or undercooked egg must be completely avoided because of the exposure to the bacteria and salmonella.

Raw dough or food that contains raw egg is a no-no for pregnancy food. Homemade desserts contain raw eggs can be avoided too. Mayonnaise, custard, ice creams might contain raw eggs too if the recipe is intended to be not cooked further.

Cook eggs until the yolk yellow turns firm. Any other dish that contains egg should be cooked to 165° F.

You can use pasteurized eggs or its product for safe consumption.

Raw sprouts

Avoid eating raw sprouts or unwashed producelike lettuce and cabbage.

Uncooked sprouts may contain Coli bacteria and salmonella

Cook the sprouts thoroughly before consumption.

Unwashed vegetables

It is recommended to wash the vegetables thoroughly to ensure there is no potential exposure to toxoplasmosis which contaminate the soil where the vegetables are grown.

Wash and cook the vegetables instead of consuming it in the raw form.

Peel the fruits and vegetable skin before consumption.

Restaurant made salads:

Restaurant made salads should be avoided as they are uncooked and can have the bacteria coli which affects the health of the mother and the unborn baby

Avoid any uncooked food in restaurants

Cheese

Soft cheese is made of the unpasteurized milk, including feta, brie, camembert or queso.

Nearly all cheese is pasteurized in America, but worth checking the label “made with pasteurized milk” before buying it.

Eat hard cheeses, such as cheddar or Swiss.

Check the label and make sure that the cheese is made from pasteurized milk.

Alcohol

DO NOT drink alcohol. There is no amount of alcohol known to be safe to be consumed during pregnancy. It needs to be completely avoided.

Depending the amount and time of alcohol consumption can lead to Fetal Alcohol syndrome or other developmental disorders.

If you have consumed alcohol before realizing pregnancy, stop it now. Alcohol is a no until breastfeeding as it does reach the baby.

Stop drinking alcohol the moment you know about pregnancy.

Unpasteurized juice

Any fresh juice possibly can contain coli bacteria.

Drink only pasteurized juices.

Boil unpasteurized juice for a minute before drinking.

Caffeine

Caffeine is found in coffee and cocoa or soft drinks.

High caffeine intake shows restricted fetal growth and increase the risk of underweight baby at delivery resulting into infant death and higher risk of chronic diseases in the child if survived.

Caffeine is also considered to be a stimulant causing changes in the baby sleep pattern.

Pregnant women are generally advised to limit their caffeine intake to less than 200mg per day(2-3 cups of coffee) and must be avoided as much as possible as it gets absorbed very quickly by the body and passes to the baby via placenta easily.

Caffeine must be cut off from the diet to let the baby rest normally and grow healthy.

Herbal tea and supplements

Herbs used for tea and seasonings could be harmful for the baby and mother. Black walnut, fenugreek etc have negative impact on pregnancy as they lead to miscarriage.

There are no evidences that these herbs/ green tea are safe during pregnancy. Better to avoid than to be sorry later.

It is preferable to have hot cup of regular brewed tea than the herbal tea.

Smoked sea food

Smoked seafood must be completely avoided as they might contain bacteria which might lead to miscarriage or stillbirth.

Processed sea food contains high levels of salt which can lead to unwanted blood pressure and swelling of body parts.

Include canned smoked seafood

Or cook to 165° F to avoid risk.

Nitrate rich food

Nitrate rich food like meat sandwich, bacon, deli meat, sausages, salami and hot dogs as they contain nitrates.

Consumption of excessive nitrates turns into nitrosamines in the body which increases the risk of cancer in mother and abnormalities in the fetus.

Eat well cooked food and follow a routine diet.

Sugar rich food

Control the sugar content via desserts, candies, cakes, ice creams, biscuits, chocolates and beverages. The pregnancy discomforts are exaggerated (nausea, constipation, vomit and heartburn)

 Also helps in maintaining the weight as the increase in weight increases other health risks like preterm labor or risk of metabolic syndrome in babies.

Have healthier source of sugar like fruits, apricot.

Fatty Food

Control the trans-fats or hydrogenated fats in the fast food such as cookies, frozen pizza, fried food, frosting etc. This intake of fatty food increases the risks of heart diseases, obesity and preterm labor.

Follow your routine diet after discussing it with your doctor.

Include food containing omega 3 instead like flax seeds, avocados etc. in limited quantity.

Artificial sweetener

It is a controversial one if artificial sweetners are safe to use or not. However studies prove that you should avoid aspartame if you have any genetic diseases PUK ( Phenylketonuria) as the body cannot digest phenylalanine which leads to birth defects.

Use natural sugar in a limited quantity. Check with your doctor for usage of artificial sweetners if you want to use them.

Avoid Leftovers

Avoid any hot or cold food which has been at the room temperature for more than 2 hours. They are likely to harbor bacteria and this could be harmful for the baby and mother both.

Eat freshly cooked food and if required reheat the food thoroughly until165° F to ensure its safety.

Fruits

Avoid papaya, grapes and pineapple majorly during your pregnancy. Further details on why and how are mentioned in the article Fruits you must avoid during pregnancy written earlier.

Eat other fruits and leave these three apart. Consult with your doctor for any other dosage queries.