When you are pregnant, you need to be careful when you are choosing food. Every bite you eat may affect your baby’s health. So new mums should know these details about how to eat healthily.
What shouldn’t I eat when I’m pregnant?
– Soft cheese. As soft cheese contains water which may have bacteria in it. Listeria is a type of bacteria which can harm your unborn baby.
– Pâté. They can contain listeria which is a kind of bacteria.
– Raw or partially cooked eggs and meat. For eggs, they need to be cooked until the whites and yolks are solid. For meat, you need to make sure there is no trace of pink blood.
– Vitamin A. Avoid overeating vitamin A. It means you need to be careful about the food and supplements containing vitamin A. The max amount of vitamin A you can take daily is 900μg. If you make more than this amount, vitamin A will be harmful to your baby. Liver products contain a high percentage of vitamin A as well. Every 100g liver contains 140-848μg vitamin A. Some seafood also have vitamin A. (Canyinjunshi, 25 May 2012)
– Some types of fish. Not all kinds of fish are right for pregnancy. You should choose fish with low levels of mercury. When you choose shark(flake), broadbill, marlin, swordfish, orange roughy and catfish, you need to pay more attention to them. Check the details here.
– Raw shellfish. It’s about bacteria and viruses again. They may cause food poison.
– Peanuts. If you are allergic to peanuts, it is apparent that you shouldn’t eat them.
– Pre-packaged salads and Pre-washed vegetables. You need to wash the vegetables even the package said that they had been washed three times. It may contain bacteria. As the same as the pre-packaged salads.
– Sushi with chilled seafood.
– Cold cured meats. It includes salami, Parma ham, chorizo and pepperoni.
Unpasteurised milk. In other words, raw milk is unsafe for you.
– Alcohol. I think it’s a common sense that pregnant ladies shouldn’t have alcohol.
– Caffeine. It is not banned. It’s limited. You can’t have more than 300mg a day. Too much caffeine can increase the risk of miscarriage, low birth weight and experiencing a difficult birth. (Pregnancy birth & Baby, Aug 2018)
– Energy Drinks. Because of the high level of caffeine and other ingredients.
Foods with soil on them. Wash everything properly. Here is the guide about how to wash food properly.
What should I eat when I’m pregnant?
You only need 200 calories extra for a day when you are in the third trimester only. It means you don’t need to eat extra when you are pregnant. The key thing of eating when you are pregnant is the various kinds of food you eat. Here is an image of what you should eat daily. Don’t forget to drink enough water daily! It should be around 2L per day.
Reference List:
– Pregnancy birth & Baby, Foods to avoid when pregnant, Aug 2018, https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/foods-to-avoid-when-pregnant
– Christie Naze, “My Pregnancy Plate”: a blueprint for healthy eating during pregnancy, 2001-2019 OHSU, https://blogs.ohsu.edu/doernbecher/2013/04/25/my-pregnancy-plate-a-blueprint-for-healthy-eating-during-pregnancy/
– Canyinjunshi, All about Pregnancy ladies’ food, 25 May 2012, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_48dbd9310102eg8n.html
– PCbaby, about Vitamin A for pregnancy, https://baike.pcbaby.com.cn/qzbd/6828.html
– Expecting Health, Eating Seafood During Pregnancy, 27 Oct 2017, https://www.expectinghealth.org/nutrition-pregnancy/eating-seafood-during-pregnancy