When you are pregnant, one of your biggest health concerns may be to do with what foods you can eat and how they may affect your unborn baby. When you are pregnant, your wellness and the wellbeing of your unborn baby can be adversely affected by certain types of food.
Food cravings are a classic ‘side effect’ of pregnancy, and these are very normal and healthy, and can be given in to (whether they are peanut butter and pickles for breakfast or chocolate and cornflakes in the middle of the night). Some cravings can even be useful as they can indicate a nutrient or vitamin that is lacking in the pregnant woman, such as that she needs more protein (when she’s craving MacDonald’s) or that she needs more calcium (when she’s downing chocolate milk by the litre).
The other side of food and pregnancy, however, relates to foods that contain dangerous bacteria or chemicals which can interfere with the development of your baby or pose a serious risk to your health or even the survival of the baby.
No matter what, you must afford some fish, such as swordfish, mackerel, shark, tile-fish and albacore tuna, as these fishes have high levels of mercury. This can cause serious damage to the developing eyes of the foetus.
Any kind of meat or fish that has been undercooked is also off limits for a while (and this includes sushi) as these can be contaminated with bacteria that carry diseases, such as salmonella. Healthy adults would simply suffer from food poisoning, but a pregnant woman who got food poisoning like this could end up miscarrying or delivering prematurely. Make sure you store all meat safely and then cook it thoroughly to ensure that it is piping hot in the middle, as this will kill off any bacteria lurking in the meat.
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