Proper nutrition during pregnancy is a step towards a healthy body for mother and baby. From the moment of conception until the end of breastfeeding, it is advisable to adhere to the principles of a healthy diet and exclude foods that can harm the baby and increase the likelihood of complications during childbirth. Habitual food for an expectant mother becomes dangerous - find out what a nursing or pregnant woman should not eat, and study the rules of a healthy diet in advance.
What should pregnant women not eat? Complete list of prohibited products.
Raw eggs (chicken, quail)
An unprocessed product may contain salmonella, a bacterium that causes intoxication and intestinal damage. Salmonellosis leads to infectious-toxic shock and acute renal failure in the mother and fetus. Treatment is carried out with antibacterial, detoxification, rehydrating drugs (which negatively affect the course of pregnancy).
To avoid the risk of salmonella infection, you should not consume:
- homemade ice cream and mayonnaise;
- scrambled eggs;
- eat raw yolks and whites;
- homemade pate.
Why are there so many food bans?
Maintaining a strict diet can sometimes be difficult. Myths like “I want herring with ice cream” become a “terrible” reality during pregnancy. But building a clear diet now is not just a whim of doctors. A healthy diet for an expectant mother is truly extremely important. And that's why.
Firstly, some products can cause allergies, poisoning, infection with pathogenic microflora or helminths. For obvious reasons, these “side effects” of a delicious dinner should not be allowed. Let’s not forget that a certain category of products can increase blood pressure and blood sugar, which is also extremely undesirable.
Secondly, uncontrolled consumption of certain foods increases the accumulation of fluid in tissues.
As doctors say, swelling during pregnancy is observed in almost every woman. But don't forget that this is not only an aesthetic problem. Much more dangerous is the internal “stagnation” of fluid - the normal functioning of organs and the transfer of oxygen to tissues is disrupted, and general dehydration is observed.
Ultimately, the fetus does not receive the required amount of nutrients.
Thirdly, excessive consumption of certain foods provokes severe heartburn and constipation. Problems that worry many mothers in the later stages, since the uterus with the fetus literally “squeezes” the digestive organs. It is better to follow a diet so as not to swallow handfuls of heartburn pills - not all of them are allowed during pregnancy.
And fourthly, foods that are too high in calories contribute to a woman’s rapid weight gain. And this is a serious obstacle to the normal course of pregnancy, delivery and recovery after childbirth.
Alcohol
There is an encouraging opinion that a pregnant woman can have a glass of wine a day. It is not true.
What should pregnant women not eat? Complete list of prohibited products.
Alcohol in any quantity is absorbed into the blood and has a toxic and teratogenic effect on the child. Neither a glass nor half a teaspoon per day - alcoholic drinks are not allowed during pregnancy and breastfeeding!
What do you need?
Variety is the presence of different food groups in the diet.
In other words, a diet can be considered varied when a pregnant woman eats some meat products, dairy and fermented milk products, fish, cereals, vegetables, and fruits.
Now I will write a few smart words. The diet should be balanced in nutrients. It should include sufficient amounts of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
If we present them as a percentage, then proteins should be 20%, fats – 30%, carbohydrates – 50%.
Proteins are necessary for the body of mother and child as the main building material for cells and tissues. They are made of amino acids, like a house is made of bricks.
There are 20 amino acids in all. Each amino acid has its own chemical formula and its own properties.
Proteins eaten with food are broken down in the intestines into their building blocks - amino acids. Next, the amino acids enter the blood and are carried with its current to every cell of the body to participate there in the construction of proteins in the human body.
The main protein products are animal and poultry meat, fish, cottage cheese, eggs, cheese, peas, beans, and soy.
Each of the listed protein products has its own protein composition, its own ratio of different amino acids. Therefore, a pregnant woman’s diet should include several protein foods.
For what? To ensure an influx of all 20 amino acids into the body of mother and child. In this case, the proteins of the developing baby will be synthesized normally, and there will be enough “building material” for them.
What if it's not enough? Will any amino acid (or several amino acids) be insufficient? What will happen?
Here you need to get acquainted with the concepts of essential and non-essential amino acids.
Of the 20 existing amino acids, 8 amino acids are essential for an adult. For a child under 10 years of age there are 10 essential amino acids.
They are called essential because the human body cannot synthesize them. He must receive them from the outside - from protein products of animal and plant origin. Mostly animal, since animal proteins are closer in composition to human proteins.
Animal proteins from meat and fish are called complete proteins, since they contain all the amino acids a person needs in an optimal combination.
Useful: Coffee during pregnancy
Plant proteins are considered incomplete because they are far from the composition of human proteins and may not contain some essential amino acids or contain them in insufficient quantities.
Another important role of proteins in the body is their participation in the replication of DNA molecules and the construction of RNA. And without this, the transfer of genetic material is impossible.
Fats, along with carbohydrates, perform an energy function. Fats are more energy-intensive - they provide more energy and are consumed slowly.
Fats supplied with food are sources or precursors for the formation of structural components of cell membranes, steroid hormones, biologically active regulators of cellular functions (prostaglandins, prostacyclins, leukotrienes).
Thanks to the protective lipid barrier, the skin is protected from drying out and exposure to damaging agents, including infectious ones.
Fats are also the main source of essential fatty acids. Fatty acids are saturated and unsaturated.
Saturated fatty acids are found in fats of animal origin (butter, dairy products, fatty meats, margarine).
Despite the fact that in excess quantities they can negatively affect fat and cholesterol metabolism, they cannot be completely excluded from the diet.
Unsaturated fatty acids are found in many dietary fats, but they are most abundant in vegetable oils. The main benefit of unsaturated fats is their ability to regulate levels of “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides.
Regular consumption of foods with unsaturated fats reduces the risk of heart disease, heart attack, hypertension and stroke.
Not all unsaturated fatty acids in the body can be synthesized. Therefore, they must be supplied with food.
Sources of oleic, linoleic and linolenic fatty acids are vegetable oils. The most biologically active arachidonic acid can be synthesized in the human body from linoleic acid in the presence of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine).
The record holders for the content of unsaturated fatty acids are fatty fish, olives, avocados, nuts, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax, sesame), soybeans, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, soybean and flaxseed oils.
A deficiency of unsaturated fatty acids leads to fetal growth retardation, dryness and inflammation of the skin of the mother.
Carbohydrates serve as the main sources of energy for humans. There are simple (easily digestible) and complex (slow).
Any carbohydrates in the body are broken down into glucose, which serves as food for cells.
Simple carbohydrates are glucose, fructose, sucrose. That is, they are sweet. They are absorbed quickly and also quickly increase blood glucose levels. But they do not give a long-term feeling of fullness.
Therefore, after eating such foods, the feeling of hunger reappears after a short period of time. They often contain hidden fats.
Many simple carbohydrates contain sweets, baked goods, candy, ice cream, etc.
Complex carbohydrates include cereals and grains (buckwheat, millet, rice, oatmeal (not instant), whole grain bread). They contain carbohydrates in the form of starch, which does not have a sweet taste.
Legumes (beans, lentils, peas, chickpeas, soybeans) include complex carbohydrates and protein.
Complex carbohydrates are digested more slowly. Therefore, they provide the body with long-lasting satiety. Moreover, the above products contain rich microelements and vitamins, especially group B.
Useful: Magnesium during pregnancy: Magne B6, nutrition, daily intake.
Complete list of prohibited products.
Below are the categories of foods that should not be eaten by nursing or pregnant women.
Liver
If it is impossible to exclude it from the diet, it is worth limiting your consumption.
- The offal is rich in vitamin A, an excess of which in the first trimester has a dangerous teratogenic effect (developmental defects).
- Difficult food to digest.
Cinnamon
- The spice causes uterine contractions.
- In later stages it can lead to premature birth.
Legumes, radish, radish
- Increases gas formation in the intestines.
- Causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure.
- Provoke uterine tone.
What should pregnant women not eat? Complete list of prohibited products.
Diuretic products
Edema often occurs in the last months of pregnancy and causes discomfort to the woman in the form of numbness of the limbs and limitation of the possibility of prolonged movement. Doctors recommend including special diuretic products in the diet to eliminate edema. These include:
- fermented milk drinks;
- vegetable and fruit juices diluted in half with water;
- fruits and berries: lingonberries, currants, apples, lemon;
- vegetables and leafy greens: pumpkin, dill, artichoke;
Reduce the intake of salt and sugar in your diet to a minimum, do not eat fatty foods, canned food and smoked meats. Once a week you can have a fasting day on vegetables and fruits. Water should be drunk in sufficient quantities in small sips.
List of prohibited products
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should limit their consumption or avoid the following foods:
Fatty sauces, mayonnaise, ketchup
They should not be consumed because of their high calorie content and high fat content - this puts a huge burden on the liver, pancreas and kidneys.
Hot spices These include hot pepper, paprika, turmeric, dry garlic, and a set of seasonings for pilaf.
- they increase appetite and lead to weight gain;
- can provoke the development of gastritis.
Herbal teas
You should drink with great caution and consult your doctor when purchasing. Harmless tea with chamomile during pregnancy in large quantities can increase the tone of the uterus and lead to premature birth.
Can pregnant women eat salted dried fish? Sometimes it's worth thinking...
Despite such obvious and undeniable arguments FOR its use, some doctors advise abstaining, and there are a number of reasons for this:
- due to the increased salt content, the load on the kidneys increases, which in turn can lead to swelling;
- there is a risk of becoming infected with helminths (worms);
- risk of opisthorchiasis (damage to the liver and pancreas).
It sounds scary, but it's actually not that bad. To avoid swelling, you just need to refrain from frequently eating dried fish, with or without pepper, in the later stages of pregnancy. You can become infected with worms not only through fish, this is only one of the products (if you are afraid of helminths, then the diet of a pregnant woman will be very much reduced). In order not to be afraid of opisthorchiasis, you just need to carefully choose the product. This disease occurs when eating poorly processed dried fish.
In the United States, doctors strongly recommend that not only pregnant women, but also breastfeeding women and children avoid dried fish. However, they do make one very important caveat: if you are confident in the high quality of the product, then you definitely can.
Principles of nutrition for pregnant women
A pregnant woman's diet should be correct, varied and healthy. The common truths - giving up fatty, fried, salty, smoked and sweet foods - should be followed by any person who wants to have excellent health, not just a pregnant woman.
What should pregnant women not eat? Complete list of prohibited products.
- Pregnant women need to choose a variety of foods with a high content of various vitamins - it is better to get them in the form of food, and not in synthetic pharmaceutical vitamins for pregnant women.
- Do not increase your caloric intake. It has been proven that it is enough for a pregnant woman to consume plus 300 kcal to her usual daily caloric intake. In the first trimester, you need to eat as the pregnant woman is used to. There is no need to eat for two: this will only lead to an increase in the woman’s weight and the body weight of the fetus, which is bad for its health.
- Wash vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating them. Give preference to steaming and oven cooking, limiting pan-fried products. Fried foods contain carcinogens that negatively affect the brain of the unborn baby.
- Cook at home, avoid fast food, frozen processed foods and instant pasta and soups (obviously!)
- Monitor expiration dates and ingredients of purchases (especially dairy and meat products).
- Do not eat unknown foods, especially exotic fruits, seafood, superfoods (chia seeds, spirulina). They can cause an immediate allergic reaction.
Nursing mothers and women who are expecting a baby should avoid salt and sugar.
- Salt has a negative effect on the cardiovascular and urinary systems and causes swelling.
- Large amounts of sugar lead to rapid weight gain and even the development of type 2 diabetes.
- Sweets are fast carbohydrates that saturate the body for a short time.
- An increase in calorie intake leads to weight gain and the birth of a large fetus.
Follow the rules: eat at least 400 g of vegetables and fruits per day, drink at least 500 ml of fermented milk products, consume no more than 4 g of salt per day.
A woman decides for herself how to eat during pregnancy. Sometimes she wants pickles, sometimes she wants some incredible flavor combinations.
One main rule applies here: you can, but not much, because unrealizable desires have a bad effect on the mood and well-being of the expectant mother.
Remember that how you eat during pregnancy determines not only how quickly you get into shape after childbirth, but also the health of you and your baby.
Foods that thin the blood
Many pregnant women experience an increase in blood viscosity, which is a physiological norm. The body thus protects the expectant mother from blood loss. However, increased viscosity can provoke varicose veins, hypertension and related conditions. Some products have the ability to thin the blood and alleviate a woman’s condition.
These include: turmeric, tomatoes, different varieties of cabbage, zucchini, whole grains, natural oils, cucumbers, fruits and berries, unrefined oils, bee products, birch sap, spices. By including these products in the menu and maintaining proper drinking regimen, you can normalize blood viscosity and avoid many health problems.
Sausages
Sausages for short term pregnant women cause nausea, heartburn and headaches. This happens because the composition contains a small percentage of natural meat and a large number of synthetic additives.
Can pregnant women eat sausages?
It is recommended to completely exclude the purchased product from the diet. Sausage for pregnant women should be prepared at home from natural meat, with the addition of approved spices. This dish will be tasty and safe.
What kind of sausages can pregnant women eat?
- purchased – if there are no additives marked “E” on the label;
- homemade, made from chicken, turkey or rabbit.
It is important that the product is fresh and does not have a bad smell. Sausages and small sausages are often used for breakfast, but you should avoid them while you are expecting a baby.
Pregnant women can prepare healthy low-calorie chicken sausages at home. The recipe does not use harmful additives or concentrates.
For cooking you will need the following products:
- 500 grams of chicken fillet;
- 1 egg;
- 100 ml milk;
- salt, spices.
Cooking process:
- rinse the chicken fillet and pass through a meat grinder;
- add egg, milk, spices to the meat and mix thoroughly;
- put the minced meat in cling film and roll it into sausage shapes;
- Boil for 20 minutes in boiling water.
This dish will help saturate your body with energy for the whole day. Chicken sausages are low in calories, which will help a woman not gain excess weight. They are rich in protein, essential for healthy teeth and nails.
Whether or not to eat sausages during pregnancy depends on the well-being of the expectant mother. It must be remembered that the development of organs and the fetal skeleton depends on nutrition. If there are contraindications, allergic reactions, or disturbances in the functioning of the stomach, sausages are excluded from the diet.
If we talk about the possibility of eating sausages during pregnancy, then you need to immediately decide: among these products there are more preferable ones and those that are recommended for women in an interesting position to avoid.
For example, it is advisable to limit smoked and semi-smoked sausages as much as possible during pregnancy, since they are more difficult to digest, and also because during the smoking process, nitrosamines and benzo(a)pyrene are formed, which are not unreasonably attributed to carcinogenic properties.
Occasionally, but not every day, you can eat cooked sausages and premium sausages from trusted manufacturers, but choose those where the label indicates that they are recommended for baby food. Before use, such products must be boiled, having first removed the polyethylene shell, since this will cause excess animal fat, as well as salt, phosphates and sodium nitrite, to go into the water.
Why are “sausage” phosphates harmful during pregnancy?
Phosphates (food additive - E 450–452) are introduced into sausages to retain moisture, stabilize color, improve consistency, increase the shelf life of sausages by suppressing bacterial activity, stopping fat oxidation and reducing the possibility of product rancidity.
By the way, with an excessive concentration of phosphates, the protein dissolves and the sausage becomes loose. Therefore, if the sausage is loose when cut, and not tightly rolled into a loaf, this may indirectly indicate a high phosphate content. At the same time, the nutritional value of the product decreases: there is less animal protein in the sausage, and more water, thanks to phosphates.
With an excessive intake of phosphates into the body, calcium absorption deteriorates, which creates a risk of developing osteoporosis in the mother and rickets in the unborn child. Also, excess phosphorus stimulates the production of a hormone by the parathyroid glands, which stimulates the leaching of calcium from the bones. In addition, an excess of poorly soluble phosphates from sausages provokes the formation of stones in the kidneys and gall bladder, complicates the work of the liver and gastrointestinal tract, and can lead to iron deficiency anemia (since there is a connection between the metabolism of phosphorus and iron in the body).
Sodium nitrite - why is it needed in sausage?
Sodium nitrite (food additive - E 250) is added to sausage products in order to preserve the beautiful pink color when cooking sausages, as well as to extend shelf life. With regular and excessive consumption of sausages with nitrites, nitrosamines can be formed in the body, which can cause cancer. By the way, ascorbic acid (which is also often included in sausages in the form of a food additive E 300) prevents the formation of nitrosamines (therefore it is important to see on the label the combined presence of E 250 - sodium nitrite and E 300 - ascorbic acid).
What pregnant women can and cannot drink
Water
The rate of water consumption per day is known; for pregnant women it practically does not change, especially if not. If your pregnancy is progressing well, you can drink up to 2.5 liters of water; if deviations or concerns arise, the level of consumption is regulated together with your doctor. If you are concerned, you can buy water for small children; it goes through a lot of tests before it is put on the shelf in the store. During this time, add a slice of lemon to a glass of water.
Can pregnant women have carbonated mineral water? Doctors answer this question in the negative, since the gases contained in such water can cause increased gas formation in the expectant mother, and in addition, have a negative effect on the stomach. So, we answered the popular question, why pregnant women shouldn’t drink soda, and now let’s talk about other favorite drinks.
Tea and coffee
Coffee and strong tea should be excluded from the diet for now. These drinks have a stimulating effect on the nervous system: an undesirable process during pregnancy. Therefore, when asked whether it is possible to drink, doctors answer with an unequivocal refusal.
Can pregnant women eat chicory?
Doctors are neutral about coffee substitutes such as chicory.
Juices
In addition to the fact that it is better to drink juices exclusively freshly squeezed, you should also avoid juices from just one fruit. The composition should contain at least 2 fruits, or even better - several. Firstly, this avoids the formation of allergies, and secondly, monofruit juices have an aggressive effect on the expectant mother, which also affects the condition of the baby.
Milk and dairy products
If you choose between a glass of milk and a fermented milk product, it is better to give your preference to the second. They contain much more vitamins, which help digest food and strengthen the immune system.
What other additives may be contained in sausage?
The product may contain monosodium glutamate. It increases blood pressure and causes dizziness and headaches. The flavor enhancer contributes to the deterioration of kidney function and causes sweating. Eating sausage in large quantities in the early stages of pregnancy may increase the discomfort that occurs with toxicosis.
Important!
The dyes contained in sausage can cause an allergic reaction. Sausages usually contain quite a lot of salt. It promotes the retention of excess fluid in the body, causing swelling.
Many manufacturers add phosphates to sausage. These substances contribute to the leaching of calcium from the body, which provokes deterioration of the teeth and the occurrence of osteoporosis.
