Diet taboos during pregnancy

There is no one-size-fits-all fasting list during pregnancy. There are only three types of foods that you really need to avoid 100% - undercooked meat/eggs/aquatic products, any alcoholic food and drinks, and food that has become moldy and spoiled. The rest of the commonly mentioned "taboos" basically need to be judged based on your own body constitution, consumption, and gestational age. There is no need to dare not touch anything, and don't eat blindly.

Let’s first talk about the three categories of things that should not be touched. Don’t take any chances. Undercooked foods include sashimi, soft-boiled eggs, grilled skewers with bloodshot eyes, raw pickled crabs/shrimps/shells, as well as fresh milk that has not been pasteurized, and freshly squeezed cow and goat milk, which may contain Listeria and Toxoplasma gondii. If an ordinary person is infected, they will have diarrhea for up to two days. Pregnant women who are infected may cause intrauterine infection, and serious cases may even lead to miscarriage and premature birth. There is really no need to gamble on this risk. Needless to say, as for alcohol, the current consensus in the global medical community is that there is no "safe alcohol intake during pregnancy". Even a small amount of alcohol may affect fetal neurodevelopment through the placenta. Regardless of whether it is glutinous rice dumplings, wine-filled chocolate, or undercooked braised dishes with too much cooking wine, avoid them as much as possible. Not to mention the spoiled ones, even if it is half a rotten apple or moldy bread that I usually eat, my immunity is low during pregnancy and I am likely to suffer from vomiting and diarrhea. There is no need to suffer this.

As for those foods that "will cause miscarriage when touched" that are so popular on the Internet and mentioned repeatedly by the elderly at home, they have always been very controversial, with different opinions in different fields. I went with my best friend to a community hospital for an early pregnancy check-up. She held a small book and asked the doctor if she should give up crabs, hawthorn, longan, iced milk tea, and coffee. The doctor looked through her prenatal check-up report and said that you don’t have uterine cold or threatened abortion. There are no signs of labor, and you are not allergic to seafood. If you want to eat crabs, eat one or two crabs. As long as they are freshly cooked, don’t eat raw pickled crabs and drunken shrimps. If you don’t have diarrhea after drinking iced milk tea, it’s okay to drink it once or twice a week. Don’t drink it as water every day.

This is actually very true. For example, crabs and hawthorns are foods that are cold and can promote uterine contractions. Traditional Chinese medicine generally reminds pregnant mothers who have a cold constitution, are prone to abdominal pain and diarrhea, or have had a history of miscarriage to eat as little as possible. If they are angry and have severe pregnancy symptoms and want to eat something sour, they can eat one or two candied haws or half a steamed crab, and there will really be no big problem. When I was pregnant with my second child, the weather just happened to be cold in the third trimester of my pregnancy. I wanted to eat half a hawthorn fried with sugar every day, but the elderly at home stopped me several times. I asked the doctor during the prenatal checkup, and the doctor said that your contractions are normal. Eat what you want, and don't just eat a pound at a time. In the end, nothing will happen if you eat until you're pregnant.

There is also the most controversial thing about coffee. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that daily caffeine intake should not exceed 200mg, which is about 350ml of a medium cup of Americano, or two small cups of instant coffee. As long as it is controlled within this amount, it will not affect the fetus. Of course, there are also many conservative doctors who recommend completely quitting caffeine throughout pregnancy. This depends on your own choice. There is no need to be anxious because others say "drinking coffee can cause teratogenesis", and there is no need to drink two or three cups every day just to compete. Oh, by the way, many Internet celebrity milk teas have higher caffeine content than coffee. If you feel flustered and insomnia after drinking it, try to consume it as little as possible and don’t take it seriously.

There are also some old sayings that have been passed down for decades, such as eating rabbit meat will cause harelips, children eating mutton will develop epilepsy, and children eating soy sauce will have dark skin. These have no scientific basis at all, so just listen to them. Harelips are caused by a combination of genes and environmental factors during pregnancy, and have nothing to do with eating rabbit meat. If we really follow this logic, wouldn’t the babies of people who eat pork every day have pig noses?

I have met so many pregnant mothers, and almost none of them actually got into trouble because they ate a mouthful of crab or drank a sip of ice drink. On the contrary, many people did not dare to eat this or that, and were depressed every day. During morning sickness, they could not even eat what they wanted, which in turn affected their own condition. To put it bluntly, the core of pregnancy diet is never strict taboos, but fresh, balanced, and comfortable to eat. If you are really unsure about something, you can eat one or two bites to satisfy your cravings and it won’t make the world collapse. If you are really worried, just ask your prenatal doctor. It is much more reliable than the various rumors posted on the Internet.