and eggs can carry salmonella, a type of bacteria that causes food poisoning.
Processed food
It is all too easy to rely on processed food from time to time when we have busy lives. But try if possible to avoid convenience foods that have been highly processed, such as canned foods and packet mixes. This is because these often have added sugar and salt as well as a high fat content. So if you have been taking care of what you eat and limiting salt and sugar intake, you might be unwittingly undoing the benefits of your efforts by eating processed pre-prepared food. These foods may also contain chemicals in the form of artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives. The composition and additives in these foods can usually be identified by looking at the label.
must know
Foods to avoid eating in pregnancy
• unpasteurized milk and milk products such as soft and mould-ripened cheeses
• pâté
• raw and uncooked cured meat
• unwashed fruit, vegetables and salads
• raw or partially cooked eggs
• raw shellfish
• liver
• liver sausage
• dietary supplements rich in vitamin A, e.g. cod liver oil
• shark, swordfish, king mackerel
Fish
A US food and drug administration panel has recently recommended that pregnant women should limit their consumption of those fish that are at the top of the food chain. So you should not eat a lot of tuna, and completely avoid swordfish, shark, tilefish and king mackerel. This is because of concerns that these particular fish may contain levels of mercury that could be harmful to people, especially developing babies.
Mercury enters the sea environment through pollution and virtually all fish contain tiny amounts of mercury. Long-lived fish that are predators, such as sharks or swordfish, accumulate the greatest amounts of mercury in their bodies and so might be harmful to people who eat them regularly. The safe level of tuna intake with regard to the effects of mercury in pregnancy has not been established, but in the meantime it has been recommended that pregnant women should eat no more than two 175 g (6 oz) cans of tuna each week, just to be on the safe side.
Vegetarian and vegan diets
More and more people are turning to vegetarian or vegan diets. Some vegetarians eat dairy products and others eat dairy products but avoid eggs. Vegans avoid all animal products including meat, fish, dairy products, eggs and honey. Because a few micronutrients occur naturally only in animal products, planning a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet requires a little extra effort. There are not usually any problems with a well-balanced vegetarian diet before and during pregnancy, however. Such a diet provides sufficient protein, vitamins and minerals to meet the needs of most women, although sometimes iron supplements are required to help prevent anaemia caused by the extra demands of the unborn baby on the mother’s stores of iron.
Some very strict vegan diets contain no food at all that is derived from animal sources, including dairy products. Women following such a diet may need extra vitamin supplements and should discuss this with their GP. If you are a vegan, you may be prescribed supplements of calcium and vitamins D and B12. So there are not usually any problems with a well-balanced vegetarian diet during pregnancy; indeed, you will have some benefits, such as increased fibre in your diet from all the fruit and vegetables.
The quantity of food
How much food you need to eat depends on your body weight and BMI and also on how much exercise you take. However, if your BMI is in the healthy range for your age, typical servings per day of popular foods are as follows:
• one to two 75-110 g (3-4 oz) servings of lean meat
• six portions of fruit and vegetables, such as a medium-sized apple or peach or three heaped tablespoons of a vegetable
• five slices of wholemeal bread
• one to one and a half portions of rice (75 g (30 z)) or pasta (110 g (4 oz))
• one serving (medium bowl) of unsweetened breakfast cereal
did you know?
‘Eating for two’
Despite the old adage about eating for two during pregnancy, there is actually no need to substantially increase your food intake as your body becomes much more efficient in its use of food and energy when you are pregnant.
• 600 ml (1 pint) of milk or a 300 ml (½ pint) of milk and a yoghurt or serving (around 25 g (1 oz)) of cheese is enough to meet a pregnant woman’s extra calcium needs In addition, a portion (150 g (5 oz)) of fish can be eaten every other day
In late pregnancy, however, increase your energy intake by about 10 per cent, which amounts to an additional 200 calories for the average woman. This amount of calories can be gained by eating a large bowl of cornflakes with semi-skimmed milk, or two medium slices of wholemeal bread, very lightly buttered, although the amount can be spread out over several smaller meals if a large portion cannot be eaten in one sitting at this stage of pregnancy.
Dieting
Going on a diet to lose a lot of weight is not advisable or recommended immediately before or during pregnancy. This is because you may disturb your nutritional balance at crucial stages of your baby’s development. However, limiting weight gain in pregnancy is important for women who are overweight and this can be achieved by carbohydrate restriction, ensuring that you take no more than the recommended number of servings of carbohydrate in your daily diet.
Alcohol and caffeine
Every woman knows that excessive alcohol intake is harmful, especially in pregnancy, but few know just how much alcohol might be safe to consume. Similarly, we are increasingly conscious of our caffeine intake, with many of us now drinking decaffeinated beverages.
Alcohol consumption before pregnancy
Many women are unaware of the problems that excessive alcohol intake might cause for the developing baby, and few are aware that alcohol can reduce their fertility. Alcohol can upset the production of eggs from the ovary. A Danish study conducted in 1998 found that women drinking four or fewer units of alcohol a week were twice as likely to conceive than those drinking ten or more units a week. If your partner drinks heavily, this can affect his fertility, too, by upsetting the function of his testicles and their production of both the male hormone testosterone and sperm. However, moderate alcohol intake (up to three or four units a day) does not seem to cause male fertility problems.
The ideal is that you both give up alcohol while you are trying to conceive, or keep your alcohol intake very moderate as no one really knows what is the ‘safe’ level of alcohol. Remember, too, that if you are trying to get pregnant, you may not know that you have conceived until several weeks after
must know
Alcohol limits
• Generally, it is recommended that, to be on the safe side, you drink no more than two glasses of wine (or its equivalent in alcohol content) once or twice a week.
• Drinking more than 15 glasses of wine a week (or its equivalent) can be associated with a reduction in the baby’s birth weight.
• Drinking more than 20 glasses of wine a week can be associated with intellectual impairment in the baby.
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