DO question conventional wisdom about what you can & cannot eat
Pregnant women are commonly recommended to avoid a long list of foods - raw eggs, raw fish, cheeses, deli meats, to name a few. The general fear is that food illnesses can bear a risk to the baby.
Many foods that are commonly avoided are fine to eat!
Typical food poisoning is caused by Salmonella, E.coli, and Campylobacter. These pathogens cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, but do not usually affect the baby. For foods more at risk of harboring these bacteria, like raw eggs, raw fish, and shellfish, use the same kind of caution that you did before you got pregnant. Chances are you haven’t gotten food poisoning more than once a year, and this isn’t going to get more likely when you’re pregnant if you choose to eat sushi from a reputable source, caesar salad dressing, over medium eggs or raw cookie dough.
There are two illnesses caused by food that ARE more dangerous in pregnancy:
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis affects 1 in 1,500 babies and causes mental retardation, blindness, and epilepsy. Acute toxoplasmosis in the mother has a 30% chance of infecting the baby. You can get toxoplasmosis from undercooked meats, dried/cured meat, and unwashed vegetables and fruits. Cat feces can carry toxoplasmosis, but is actually less likely to cause infection than the above dietary sources. If you already have toxoplasmosis (25% in the US do), then there’s no risk to your baby.
Listeria
Listeria affects 1 in 8,000 babies and, in 10-50% of pregnant women who are infected, can cause serious problems. The mechanism seems to be infection of the placenta, which triggers defense by the mother and expelling the placenta. The sources for listeria outbreaks are sporadic and unclear, with sources in ice cream, cantaloupes, celery, deli meats and most recently romaine lettuce. There seems to be a pattern of listeria contamination in queso fresco (Mexican soft cheese) and deli turkey meat so it's likely best to chose to avoid those.
Listeria grows well at fridge temperatures, so if you want to be safer, get ride of anything that’s been in the refrigerator for too long.
Don't miss out on the benefit of fish - just choose the right kind!
The Best Fish to Eat
Fish have two competing effects on the fetus:
These fish are somewhere in the middle: tilefish, halibut, sushi-grade tuna, flounder, and snapper.
Caffeine, Alcohol and Cigarettes
There’s a lot of stigma and confusion around the use of substances in pregnancy. However, caffeine and alcohol, in moderation, show no evidence of being harmful to the child. Smoking however is never okay.
Many foods that are commonly avoided are fine to eat!
Typical food poisoning is caused by Salmonella, E.coli, and Campylobacter. These pathogens cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, but do not usually affect the baby. For foods more at risk of harboring these bacteria, like raw eggs, raw fish, and shellfish, use the same kind of caution that you did before you got pregnant. Chances are you haven’t gotten food poisoning more than once a year, and this isn’t going to get more likely when you’re pregnant if you choose to eat sushi from a reputable source, caesar salad dressing, over medium eggs or raw cookie dough.
There are two illnesses caused by food that ARE more dangerous in pregnancy:
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis affects 1 in 1,500 babies and causes mental retardation, blindness, and epilepsy. Acute toxoplasmosis in the mother has a 30% chance of infecting the baby. You can get toxoplasmosis from undercooked meats, dried/cured meat, and unwashed vegetables and fruits. Cat feces can carry toxoplasmosis, but is actually less likely to cause infection than the above dietary sources. If you already have toxoplasmosis (25% in the US do), then there’s no risk to your baby.
Listeria
Listeria affects 1 in 8,000 babies and, in 10-50% of pregnant women who are infected, can cause serious problems. The mechanism seems to be infection of the placenta, which triggers defense by the mother and expelling the placenta. The sources for listeria outbreaks are sporadic and unclear, with sources in ice cream, cantaloupes, celery, deli meats and most recently romaine lettuce. There seems to be a pattern of listeria contamination in queso fresco (Mexican soft cheese) and deli turkey meat so it's likely best to chose to avoid those.
Listeria grows well at fridge temperatures, so if you want to be safer, get ride of anything that’s been in the refrigerator for too long.
Don't miss out on the benefit of fish - just choose the right kind!
The Best Fish to Eat
Fish have two competing effects on the fetus:
- High mercury lowers IQ.
- A 1 ug/g increase in mercury sampling causes a decrease of 0.7 IQ points. In other words, the average American woman and the highest mercury-exposed woman produces a 3.5 IQ point difference in kids.
- Predator fish and long-living fish (listed below) have the highest levels of mercury. The former eats other fish harboring mercury, and the latter accumulates mercury over a long lifetime.
- Omega-3 fatty acids increase IQ.
- Increasing DHA fatty acids by 1 g/day would increase IQ by 1.3 points.
These fish are somewhere in the middle: tilefish, halibut, sushi-grade tuna, flounder, and snapper.
Caffeine, Alcohol and Cigarettes
There’s a lot of stigma and confusion around the use of substances in pregnancy. However, caffeine and alcohol, in moderation, show no evidence of being harmful to the child. Smoking however is never okay.
- Pregnant women can drink 0.5 drinks a day in the first trimester, and 1 drink a day in the second and third trimesters. This is meant to be a maximum limit per day, not an average. No binge drinking though - you shouldn't save up your 7 drinks per week for one night.
- 3-4 cups of coffee per day (about 300-400mg of caffeine) is fine. There is no apparent benefit to cutting caffeine out completely. It's likely that healthy pregnancies cause you to be more nauseated, accounting for nearly all of the relationship between avoiding coffee and healthy outcomes.
- Smoking is never OK.