So I'm officially pregnant, what can I eat?
Ok, there is bound to controversy about what you can and can't eat. So if you disagree with me, that's your choice. These are just some recommendations to some women who choose to listen.
10 Don't's
1) Sushi
Some types of sushi, such as California rolls (which contain steamed crab) and cooked eel, are fine to eat while you're pregnant. But it's best to avoid eating the kinds that contain raw seafood, such as tuna. Fresh, raw seafood is potentially risky because it can contain parasites such as tapeworm, which, if they grow large enough, could rob your body of nutrients needed for your growing baby. If the restaurant serves frozen fish before it's thawed your risks for parasites are lessened, but there is no rule that restaurants have to follow to serve frozen fish versus fresh fish.
Unfortunately, one concern about seafood, raw or cooked, is PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls),
a persistent and potentially hazardous industrial chemical that has become nearly ubiquitous in our environment which pollutes what we eat.
2) Lunch meat and Hot dogs
It's not safe to eat deli meats (or hot dogs) when you're pregnant unless they're heated until steaming hot. Pregnant women are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis, and newborns — not moms — suffer the most serious effects of infection during pregnancy. Listeria can cross the placental barrier, or more commonly, be transmitted in the birth canal, which can be devastating for the baby.
3) Honey
This was a new one to me, I couldn't figure out what could possibly be wrong with Honey. In short it's the botulism that "could" be in the honey. It has been linked to something called
infant botulism. This is Dr. Greene's response to the safety of Honey:
"Botulism spores are found throughout nature, in soil, in dust, and on the unwashed surfaces of unpeeled fruits and vegetables. The spores are present in about 10 percent of the samples of honey tested. These spores are tough to kill. They are quite heat-resistant; some can survive boiling for several hours. Honey is naturally resistant to many bacteria. Sometimes, honey is pasteurized – usually it is not. Pasteurizing does not reliably destroy botulism spores. Some honey is filtered; some is not. Filtering does not reliably remove botulism spores. There are advantages and disadvantages to pasteurizing and filtering. I don’t feel strongly either way, but this is one food I prefer un-pasteurized. No honey, though, is best for infants."
4) Caffeine
Let's see there are so many things that contain Caffeine in them these days, it's not just limited to Coffee. Tea's, pop and chocolate all contain caffeine. While most experts agree that small amounts of Caffeine is ok, large amounts of it (more then 3 cups of coffee) increase your risk of miscarriage. It also has an effect on birth weight of your unborn child. For the first trimester, I would try to stick to decaf products or limit your caffeine intake to one pop/coffee a day.
5) Artificial sweeteners: namely aspartame
This is such a touchy subject for many women. Especially pregnant women. So in order to be politically correct I've consulted the Government of Canada's website on this issue. Personally I don't drink stuff with aspartame when I'm not expecting, and did not touch the stuff when I was pregnant. The body does not break down aspartame very well and it's just being linked (inconclusively) to too many things for my comfort level.
Check out Wiki's page on the Controversy of Aspartame
Government of Canada's thoughts on Artificial Sweeteners:
Artificial Sweeteners
Aspartame is a dipeptide containing the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid. The acceptable daily intake of aspartame is 40 mg/kg body weight/day, which is equivalent to a person weighing 60 kg drinking approximately sixteen 355 mL (10 oz.) cans of diet soft drink daily. Individuals needing to control phenylalanine intake (I.e., phenylketonuria), should limit their aspartame intake"
Evidence suggests that consumption of aspartame by pregnant women is safe and does not pose a health hazard. However pregnant women should be cautioned against excessive consumption of products containing aspartame and other artificial sweeteners since such foods could be replacing nutrient-dense, energy-yielding foods.
Neither saccharin nor cyclamates are currently permitted to be added to foods sold in Canada due to health-related concerns that have been raised in the past. However, they may be sold as table-top sweeteners with some restrictions as to point of sale and labelling. Pregnant women should be advised to carefully read all precautionary statements on the labels of these sweeteners and to only use them on the advice of a physician.
"Caution pregnant women consuming excessive amounts of products containing artificial sweeteners which are low in nutrient value, for example, diet soft drinks, because such foods could be replacing nutrient-dense foods.
Encourage women who are consuming large amounts of products containing artificial sweeteners to read food labels and to ensure that they do not exceed acceptable daily intakes."
6) Soft cheeses (that are unpasteurized)
In Canada the cheeses that are sold at your chain grocery stores should say on the packaging if they are pasteurized or not, if they are then eat away. Yes ladies even Feta cheese is ok as long as it's pasteurized. BUT anything not pasteurized is a big no no because of the unknown bacteria in the food could cross the placental barrier and affect baby.
7) Alcohol
Bottom line, there is
no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy. That's a good enough reason to stay away from it during pregnancy.
8) Herbal Tea's
Herbal tea's in small amounts are usually deemed safe. The ones they caution you about are the ones that contain
nutritional supplements (like St. John's Wort or ginseng). It's not so much that supplements are bad for the baby, but that "they" don't know that they are necessarily good for baby. Keep in mind that being
called "herbal" does not mean a product is safe. Some teas contain dissolved substances which have a drug-like effect on the body - and that would include an unborn baby. Herbal teas do not fall under Canadian drug regulations.
Certain herbs can produce negative side effects, ranging from allergies, dizziness, headache or nausea to toxic reactions or stimulation of the uterus. Here are some of the no no's for herbal teas: calamus root, chicory root, coltsfoot comfrey,dong quai, elder flowers, feverfew, ginseng, goldenseal, groundsel, hawthorne berries, kombucha tea, juniper berries, licorice, life root (rag wort), lobelia, mistletoe, pennyroyal, pokeroot sassafras, St. John's wort, uva ursi (bearberry).
Ladies often the tea's that are "blends" of other tea's contain one or more of these ingredients, so please read the label and make an informed decision.
9) Raw Eggs
Again bacteria that lives in our egg's is usually killed off by pasteurization but you can't be sure that your local restaurant's Caesar salad dressing doesn't have unpasteurized raw eggs in it. Best bet is to stay away from real Caesar salad dressing. The stuff that comes in a bottle should be fine because of all the preservatives. I would also caution you to not eat your eggs runny, but to make sure they're cooked well.
10) Limit your Fish intake
Seafood can be an excellent source of nutrients, but it can contain contaminants These chemicals include methyl mercury and, to a lesser extent, dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides. When
eaten in amounts higher than those found in most commercially sold seafood, these contaminants have been linked to developmental delays in children who were exposed to them before birth.
But because nearly
all seafood--and food for that matter, contains trace levels of contaminants, it's best to vary the types of fish you eat during the course of a week so that you have only one serving of any particular kind, and no more than three servings total. Removing the skin (where many of the contaminants are stored) and cooking fish thoroughly will also reduce some of the harmful chemicals it contains. So in short, yes you can eat tuna, but limit your intake of it!
The Bottom Line
There are so many, don't do this and don't do that when you are pregnant. The above list is a guide line, and some of the reasoning about why you should and shouldn't eat and/or drink certain things. But you are the master of your own body. My concern during pregnancy was for my little baby, so no matter how much I wanted X I most often didn't have X.
The problem stems from how over indulgent our lives are! Our portion sizes are massive compared to European standards (who actually saying that having a glass of wine once in a while relaxes the mom). I think it's more to err on the side of caution.
Women have been living for centuries with unpasteurized foods, alcohol etc. But infant mortality rates were higher, mother's died more often in child birth etc. So you have to look at where science has brought us today, there may be some "oh come on, you mean I can't do anything any more?"moments, but there are ways around things. Such as non-alcoholic bevies and small amounts of coffee (latte's-I rationalized that they have less caffeine then coffee (the darker the roast of bean the less caffeine) plus they mostly contain milk!) While you can still live your life and eat what you want during pregnancy, making an informed decision is always better then walking into a situation blindly.