5 Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy


Avoid almost anything raw

There are no illnesses that you "want" to have during pregnancy (or ever, for that matter).

But food-related illnesses — like Salmonella, E. coli, and particularly Listeria — are a few that you definitely must try to avoid at all costs, since they have been linked to uterine infection, preterm delivery, stillbirth, and miscarriage.

These bacteria can be found in restaurants, grocery stores, and on your own fridge. And, unless frozen or cooked at least above 165°F, they can continue to spread and contaminate other foods in your fridge.

There are certain types of food where these are found the most:

✘ Raw meats and fish: skip sushi, carpaccios, and rare or medium-rare barbecues

✘ Unpasteurized milk: or anything made it

✘ Unwashed vegetables: pretty much any fruit and vegetable, since the contamination can occur at any time during production, harvest, processing, storage, transportation or retail.

✘ Pates and soft (moldy) cheese: Brie, Roquefort, Camembert, Gorgonzola.

✘ Raw sprouts: alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts.

✘ Raw eggs: this includes meringue frosting on cakes or cookies, homemade mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce, etc.


No level of alcohol has been proven to be safe during pregnancy.

Even more, after pregnancy and during breastfeeding, alcohol should still be avoided since its effects can still carry over to the baby.

Alcohol at any stage of the pregnancy has been linked to higher risks of stillbirth, miscarriage, or fetal alcohol syndrome, which can cause deformities and intellectual disability.

Empty Calories

Pregnant women will need to consume more calories than normal, but those extra calories must not come from chips, candy bars, and processed junk foods.

Such foods may have the needed extra calories, but lack all the nutrients that you need, and will, in turn, give you unwanted extra sugar and fat that can increase the risk of gestational diabetes and heart diseases. No only on you, but your child as well.

High-Mercury Fish

Tuna, mackerel, swordfish, and (as a rule of thumb) "big fish" usually have high levels of mercury in their bodies.

Which, when eaten, will pass on to you, and then to your child.

High levels of mercury can be toxic to your nervous system, immune system and kidneys, as well as cause developmental problems in children.

Not all fish have high levels of mercury, and fish do have important omega-3 fatty acids for your developing child, so consider anchovies, salmon, sardines, or trouts.


The accepted limit of caffeine for pregnant women is 200 milligrams per day.

That's enough for you to keep having your lattes, but the problem is that coffee is no nearly the only thing with caffeine nowadays.

Soft drinks, energy drinks, some teas, chocolate bars, all have caffeine as well. So, you will need to choose between having your cup of coffee, or having the rest of caffeinated things.

Now, caffeine is absorbed very quickly by your body, and into the fetus, but your child doesn't have the metabolism to process caffeine, so it will build up in his/her little body, and high levels will lead to complications later.

So, the safest and wisest choice? Avoid them altogether during pregnancy :)