Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

It is always important to have a healthy nutrition, but during pregnancy it is even more important. You may know all about the foods you should have, but you may be interested in what foods to avoid when pregnant.

In this case you should know that the majority of foods are safe, but there are some exceptions.

Raw meat and foods

Undercooked seafood or undercooked poultry or beef need to be avoided. This is because it is possible for the meat to be contaminated with bacterium like coliform, salmonella or toxoplasmosis.

Deli meat

It is a known fact that in some cases taking deli meat infected with listeria could lead to miscarriage. This is one of the foods to avoid during pregnancy because it can get through the placenta and affect the baby.

As a result there could be blood poisoning or an infection that could turn out to be life threatening. In case you would like to have some deli meat anyway, make sure that you heat it until it is steaming.

Fish and mercury

When asking what foods to avoid when pregnant, you should make sure to avoid the ones that are high in mercury.

If you have mercury during your pregnancy, the baby could be affected by developmental delays or even brain damage. Some of the fish exposed to mercury include shark, king mackerel, swordfish and tilefish.

Canned tuna isn’t one of the foods to avoid during pregnancy because it is usually low in mercury but you should make sure that you don’t have too much of it. Some of the fish used for sushi ought to be avoided, because they could come with high levels of mercury as well.

Smoked seafood

If you are interested in what foods to avoid when pregnant you should keep an eye out for the refrigerated smoked seafood. The ones labeled as nova style, lox, jerky or kippered should also be avoided since they could be infected with listeria. Such seafood can be bought in the deli aisle of the supermarkets.

Raw eggs

The avoidable foods during pregnancy also include raw eggs and the food containing raw eggs because they could be infected with salmonella. Such foods include homemade Caesar salad dressings, ice cream, mayonnaise, custards or Hollandaise sauces. All of them could have raw eggs.

When thinking about what foods to avoid when pregnant you should know that if the food is heated at some moment, it reduces the chances of you getting exposed to salmonella. The commercial products are usually pasteurized and so they don’t represent a threat from this point of view.

Soft cheese

Some of the soft cheeses are not recommended food for pregnancy because they could be contaminated with listeria. The soft cheeses that you have to keep an eye out for include Brie, Roquefort, Camembert, Feta, Mexican style cheeses and gorgonzola.

Naturally there are some other kinds of foods to consider when asking what foods to avoid when pregnant so you better take extra care not to consume them during pregnancy.