Proper Nutrition For a Healthy Pregnancy – Part II

What You Should Not be Eating

Just as important as foods you should be eating are the foods and beverages you need to avoid if you are to prevent illness to you and your developing baby. First and foremost, never take any over-the-counter medicines without consulting your doctor: that includes vitamins and minerals and, most especially, any herbal products – some can be quite dangerous to your developing fetus. Alcohol is best avoided as it can do untold damage at the cellular level: this is damage that you would probably never be aware of but, for the sake of a healthy baby, it is not good for a child to begin life with cells damaged through the mother’s negligence when it is so easy to avoid it.

At one time eating liver used to be recommended as being an excellent source of Vitamin A. The trouble with liver is that it is too good a source of Vitamin A: one serving of liver contains much more Vitamin A than is recommended to safely pass through the placenta so, nowadays, midwives and doctors ask you to specifically avoid eating liver until after you have given birth. Studies have also shown that high caffeine consumption during pregnancy has been linked with increased incidences of miscarriages. So, while pregnant, it is best to change to caffeine-free products, just to be on the safe side.

There are various illness you can get from foods that contain certain levels of pathogens – levels that wouldn’t normally harm you. However, when you’re pregnant you really can’t take any risks with something that may or may not do you any harm. After all, you would never forgive yourself if you picked up Toxoplasmosis or Listeriosis from food that you had eaten and your baby died or was born deformed as the result of this. Nevertheless, this can happen and it is not a rare occurrence. The kinds of foods that could cause harm are:

· Raw or undercooked meats, such as beef which is often served rare

· Fish and shellfish, so avoid the Sushi Bars; some fish are very high in mercury so, much as fish is a good source of protein, there are some fish that need to be avoided. These include King Mackerel, also known as Tilefish; Swordfish; and Shark. It is always best to avoid eating the skin of fish as mercury tends to be absorbed through fish skin.

· Raw eggs, so avoid freshly made mayonnaise, tiramisu and freshly prepared mousses

· Deli meats and hot dogs: these should be very well-cooked as these products tend to be a source of E.coli

· Unpasteurised Dairy Products: this includes cheeses such as feta, Brie, Goat’s cheese, Camembert and some blue cheeses; also avoid unpasteurized milk

· Unpasteurised fruit juices such as apple juice and apple cider

Don’t Avoid Fish Altogether

Food is an excellent source of low-fat protein, high in Omega-3 and low in saturated fats, so avoiding fish during your pregnancy is not a good idea. In fact, if there is anything you have eaten during your pregnancy that you shouldn’t have done, there is little point in worrying about it. Most things you have been advised to avoid is to prevent you getting ill and passing it on to your baby. If you haven’t got ill from eating those foods, then don’t worry about it, as everything will clearly be fine.

The worry over fish is the amount of mercury it may have absorbed from the water surrounding it. Mercury is usually the result of industrial pollution which precipitates into streams and rivers and, ultimately, gets into the sea water. As the mercury mixes with the water it changes its biochemistry and becomes methylmercury. This can build up in some fish and, if eaten by a pregnant woman, can affect the developing nervous system of the foetus. The US Food and Drug Administration monitors the amounts of methylmercury found in foods and provides recommendations as to the levels considered safe during pregnancy.

Pregnant women are advised to limit fish in their diet to no more than 6 ounces per week and to avoid Albacore tuna and tuna steaks as much as possible. There is a lot of discrepancies amongst the advice over how much tuna to eat and, rather than get confused, it would probably be better to avoid tuna completely during your pregnancy. To clarify the situation over eating fish during pregnancy, the FDA recommends eating no more than 12 ounces per week of a variety of shellfish, salmon, shrimp, pollock, tilapia, catfish, and clams.

Avoiding Unnecessary Problems

Many women complain of constipation during pregnancy; others complain about bouts of diarrhea. These problems are common due to hormonal changes and, perhaps taking multivitamin supplements – especially those containing iron. One way to avoid these problems is to eat as much as 30 grams of fiber per day: lots of fruit and vegetables and whole-grain carbohydrates such as brown rice, wholegrain pasta and breads; skins left on potatoes provides an excellent source of fibre, as well as eating the skins of apples and pears along with the fruit itself.

Keep away from the castor oil – partly because it is absolutely disgusting and there are more palatable things to take if needed, and partly because it will prevent your body from fully absorbing nutrients from your food. So, in a way, if you can stand a dollop of castor oil, you are doing yourself more harm than good! Eat properly and maintain a diet high in appropriate nutrients and you really will not need to take fiber tablets or any other supplement to ‘make you go’. If you still suffer with constipation – any many pregnant women do, no matter how good their diet – visit your doctor.

Your doctor will be able to prescribe you something to soften your stools which, believe me, can be very effective! One way you can help yourself to avoid constipation is to ensure you drink plenty of water, in addition to your normal beverages and soft drinks. Also, take plenty of gentle exercise like walking the dog every day. Heart burn is something that many women experience, especially later on in pregnancy with the growing weight you are carrying in your abdomen pressing against your diaphragm and compressing your stomach. There are some foods that are notorious for causing heartburn or flatulence, such as leafy greens and food that has been fried.

I would say avoid the latter and reduce the amount of the former. Rather than cut such an excellent source of nutrients from your diet, I would suggest an antacid to relieve the symptoms. Nausea is another problem that affects many women, especially early in pregnancy. Sipping peppermint tea is an excellent remedy; another is to nibble dry crackers. Sucking peppermint sweets can also help alleviate the worst of the sickness. If the feeling of nausea is particularly debilitating speak to your doctor. Generally, though, awful though nausea is in pregnancy, it usually soon passes and, although that is poor consolation when you are feeling under the weather, the best recommendation is to try to take your mind off it by becoming absorbed in some hobby.

Pregnancy is Not an Illness

The key to a happy pregnancy is to eat well and exercise gently. Follow the basic rules of nutrition and get plenty of rest. Your body will respond to the changing situation it finds itself in so listen to your body’s clues. If nausea prevents you eating earlier in pregnancy your baby will not come to any harm and you will soon regain your appetite when the nausea ceases. Choose foods from each of the different food groups to keep healthy and eat little but often. If you are a vegetarian you will already be aware of healthy eating so just step up the number of calories per day, focusing on nutrients rather than empty calories.

During your first trimester you can expect to gain around 5lbs; for each of the following weeks of your pregnancy expect to gain 1lb per week. If you were underweight when starting your pregnancy you will probably gain more than the 25lbs – 35lbs that is the median and, if you started out being overweight or obese you could well gain less. Overall, though, choose to eat healthily and eat lots of small meals rather than three larger ones. Stay healthy and focus on the newborn you will soon be holding in your arms: it may be a bit of a cliché, but a healthy mum is a happy mum!

By Anne Evans