What you cannot eat when you are pregnant. A list for future mums
Are you wondering what you should eat during pregnancy? Or rather, which products should you avoid?
Although normally it said that there is nothing better than a well-balanced diet rich in nutrients, slightly different rules apply to future mums. Which...? Read the following dietary rules for pregnant women and see that, although some products are excluded, it is not difficult to eat healthy during this special time!
Can pregnant women eat everything?
As you have probably noticed, already at the beginning of this entry we signalled that pregnant women cannot eat everything. This is really the case, and even if your mother or grandmother have a different opinion about this (as they quite often do), you should follow the commonly available recommendations created on a basis of the current medical and dietary knowledge.
Nutrition rules during pregnancy
Before we move to what you should eat during pregnancy, let’s start with absolutely fundamental aspects! See which products are essential in a diet of a pregnant woman. What is important, we understand the diet as a way of eating, and not as a set of, frequently unnecessary, restrictions.
Choose a well-balanced and well-considered diet!
A diet of a pregnant woman should be correctly balanced. This is a fact, and you can read about this in the majority of studies for future mums. However, do you know what “well-balanced” means...?
The diet of pregnant women should include correct quantities of proteins, sugars, fats, and other minerals. If you will bear this in mind while preparing your meals, you will provide yourself (and thus also your baby) with the best things possible. Remember that what you eat definitely influences the development of your baby. So you should provide it with things good for it, ensuring its healthy development, to be ready to leave your belly.
Do not establish any “false” nutritional restrictions for yourself!
Although we definitely are in favour of a well-balanced and well-considered diet of future mums, it does not mean that there is no place for some small pleasures in it! If you used to eat lots of chocolate before you got pregnant, you do not have to “delete” it completely from your menu. Even in the well-balanced diet of the future mum, there is some place for something sweet or less healthy.
As you probably know, the most important thing is finding a happy medium. Actually, it is better to eat small amount of sweets frequently than go for chocolate and eat the entire bar (or even more) at one go!
Eat for two, but not twice as much!
Have you heard that now that you are pregnant, you can eat more? That’s not entirely true. You should eat for two, but not twice as much. This means that you should think more about how and what to eat, instead of eating whatever you want (and frequently in excess)!
Energy demand in successive pregnancy trimesters
Talking about how much you should eat during pregnancy, we will focus on official recommendations of the Institute of Mother and Child, presented in the Nutritional Recommendations for Pregnant Women
.
They clearly show that in the first pregnancy trimester, the energy demand does not change when compared to the period before pregnancy. At the same time, the demand for specific nutrients increases significantly. This is why balancing your diet correctly is so important already when you try for a baby.
You should eat more at later stages, by 360 kcal in the second, and by 475 kcal in the third pregnancy trimester, on average. Especially last three months of pregnancy are a very demanding period for bodies of future mums. For this reason, you need to eat more but, once again, the quality of your meals should not deteriorate.
What you CANNOT eat when you are pregnant.
So let’s move to foods you should avoid during pregnancy. There are several issues you must definitely remember. Otherwise, you may have serious health problems, so you should definitely read this part of the entry carefully.
To facilitate understanding of the information provided in the entry, we described for you individual forbidden products.
Blue and mould-ripened cheeses
Let’s start with blue and mould-ripened cheeses, although actually, we should use a more general term for those forbidden products, ‘cheeses made of unpasteurised milk’. They include popular cheeses of brie or camembert type. Their consumption may increase a risk of being infected with Listeria, and you should remember that pregnant women are much more susceptible to various food poisonings.
Do you love mould-ripened cheeses and cannot live without them? Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem! If you correctly prepare such products (e.g., bake them in an oven), they cease to be dangerous to you or your baby! Therefore, thermal processing is a solution for you to eat them without worrying about your baby’s health.
Raw eggs
You must have heard about dangerous Salmonella poisoning many times. When you are pregnant, you must be even more careful, so you should not eat products containing raw eggs. Remember, they include mayonnaise and other egg-based sauces. So pay particular attention to product ingredients when shopping.
Raw meat/raw fish/seafood
Not only raw eggs are dangerous to pregnant women. This is also the case with raw meat, fish or seafood, which may be a source of dangerous pathogen bacteria.
For this reason, you should avoid products such as steak tartate, sushi or carpaccio. Fortunately, if you love Japanese cuisine, you can always order sushi without raw fish. And you can eat seafood that was thermally processed. Then, similarly as in the case of cheeses, it will be safe for you and your baby. However, if you decide to use thermal processing, remember to avoid frying in deep oil, if possible.
Unpasteurised milk and its products
Do you love fresh milk? Or oscypki (sheep milk cheese)? We have bad news for you! You should not eat them during pregnancy due to their unknown microbiological quality.
Fortunately, there is an extensive selection of UHT milk available and you can easily include it in your diet.
Dirty fruit and vegetables
You hear so much about fruit and vegetables being a source of the best things possible. So why are they on our list...? When they are washed, you can eat them, and they are good for you! But dirty ones may be harmful to you, and you should avoid them!
Now, it may be surprising to you, but as a future mum you should not eat raw sprouts during pregnancy. They may contain bacteria dangerous to you (and your baby), so you should not take this risk!
Coffee during pregnancy - is it allowed?
Are you wondering what about coffee? Can you drink it during pregnancy?
Some women intuitively cease to like coffee during the first trimester. It is completely natural, and you should not fight this. Especially as caffeine frequently intensifies nausea affecting future mums in this period.
However, if you feel like having a cup of black or white coffee, you do not have to give it up! But later you should limit your caffeine intake to 200–300 mg a day.
Important!
Caffeine can be found not only in coffee, but also in other products, like tea, chocolate, or coca-cola. You should bear this in mind!
These products you must definitely avoid!
The rules below concern all people, not just future mothers. However, during pregnancy, you should be even more careful, so it is worth recalling them and - what is more important - strictly adhere to them!
First, always remember to store food in a correct way. If you defrost anything, do not freeze it again. After coming home from shopping, immediately put into the fridge those products that require cold storage. Remains of a dinner or a supper must be put into the fridge immediately, so they do not go bad.
Additionally, products past their best before date should be thrown away and you should not risk eating them! You should also do this with any other food, if you have any doubts as to its freshness.
Remember, you are responsible not only for yourself, but also for the baby you carry under your heart. Pregnancy lasts just nine months, and definitely you can refrain from eating several types of products during that time. Especially, as sometimes a moment of pleasure associated with eating something forbidden may result even in a risk of premature birth!
Fortunately, you can do much more after you give birth!
Are you looking for nutritional advice for pregnant women? Install HiMommy!
As a future mum, you definitely know very well everything about the correct nutrition at this special time. Although you are aware of what you can eat and what you should avoid during pregnancy, we are certain that nutritional recommendations will be an excellent help and a “crib sheet” when you have any doubts.
You will find them in HiMommy, an excellent pregnancy application
! It contains information about a correctly composed diet and harmful substances that you should not eat, to ensure your baby develops normally.
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