Foods and Your Pregnancy

Empty calories are empty calories and should be avoided or at least kept to a minimum regardless if your pregnant or not. But since you are, understand this, your body in the first stages of pregnancy requires an enormous amount of energy. This demand is the direct result of the increasing amount of hormones being produced to prepare your body for the growth and development of your baby. Follow a few simple rules and a carefree and safe pregnancy is yours.

Most pregnant women know to avoid or minimize things that have little or no nutritional value like caffeine, sweets, processed foods, etc. However, there are a few other things that wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep in mind:

No more licking the cake batter spoon or any batters that contain raw eggs. Make sure that all meats are fully cooked. Oh, you probably haven’t heard this one before; wash your cutting boards thoroughly after cutting up chicken. You need to wash all vegetables and fruits before eating. Common first symptoms of pregnancy include headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, shivering, and/or fever. Usually these symptoms occur within 12-48 hours after infection and last about 2-3 days. Does any of this sound familiar, salmonella. Only if the symptoms are severe will treatment be necessary. Excessive vomiting and/or diarrhea, basically anything where you are losing large amounts of fluids could be considered severe and possibly require IV therapy.

Need to eliminate any contact with foods that are unpasteurized. Foods that are unpasteurized have a greater probability of being contaminated with a bacterium called listeria. For example, milk products, improperly cooked meats, fully cooked meats that are chilled (e.g. luncheon meats, hot dogs…), soft cheese are some of the major players. Normally this bacteria is killed during the pasteurization process, however mistakes can happen at anytime. If during your pregnancy you come down with the flu or so you think, perhaps its listeriosis. Many expecting mothers are fooled by thinking it’s just the flu. Listeriosis has been linked to miscarriage (including recurrent) and stillbirths.

Do ya have a cat? What does a cat have to do with foods and conflicts with pregnancy? Many people associate litter boxes with toxoplasmosis. Cat boxes are considered to be a source of transmission of the bacterium toxoplasma. It’s the urine in the litter box that expecting mothers need to avoid. The more common method of transmission of the bacteria toxoplasma is through eating improperly washed homegrown raw vegetables, particularly when cats urinate near the growing area. Take note, undercooked meat and pork are another avenue to the infection. Again the symptoms are very similar to the flu, general aches and pains accompanied by fever.

Here are some general tips not only for your pregnancy but also for life in general.

• Avoid dented cans
• Never eat raw meat or eggs
• Always wash your hands after preparing foods
• Wash your hands after using the restroom
• Completely defrost foods, especially meats, prior to cooking
• Don’t refreeze anything that has been defrosted
• Reheat food only once, then toss it