foods not to eat while pregnant or TTC ?

2134 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by flyingspaghettimama, Apr 12, 2006

mamaGjr

Discussion Starter · Apr 10, 2006

Congrats all you prego moms! My boss at work asked what books I read during pregnancy that listed foods that would be bad to eat while either TTC or Pregnant. I could not think of a book per se, but know of somethings, like raw fish or any mercury laden fish etc...

we work in the natural foods industry so we I am sure he know the basic stuff.
Any ideas? he and his wife are TTC and he is so cool, always asking me questions etc. I wish all fathers to be ,(or fathers who want to be , in this case) were so cool!

thanks if you have any info!

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bass chick

· #2 · Apr 10, 2006

I remember there was a list of things I stayed away from during pg#1. I can't remember all of them, and I'm sure I've eaten some of them this time.
I do remember that you shouldn't eat soft cheeses (like feta) and deli meats. Well....I read that you can eat deli meats as long as they are heated so they are steaming. That kills the listeria bacteria that is potentially harmful to babies in utero.
I stay away from all fish because I think it's yucky, so I'm not sure what fish is considered safe to eat....I suppose it's fish that has low to no levels of mercury, but I'm not sure what those are. And I remember seeing an interview with Julia Roberts on TV while she was pg and she mentioned that during pregnancy you aren't supposed to eat any peanuts or peanut butter. But they are totally a staple for me, especially when the blood sugar starts to drop.

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earthgirl

· #3 · Apr 10, 2006

Here are some no-no's:

soft cheeses (brie, feta, blue, etc. pretty much any cheese that does not come from pasteurized milk)
raw/ undercooked eggs (no ceaser dressing, eggs benedict, etc. Also, Julie's ice cream, as yummy as it is, has egg yolks listed on the ingredients. I'm pretty sure this is raw, but haven't verfied that)
sushi
lunchmeat & hotdogs -unless steaming hot
swordfish
shark
tuna should be very limited b/c of the mercury

The peanutbutter thing comes form allergy concerns. People have different ideas about whether to avoid this or not.

HTH!!

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RosesToys

· #4 · Apr 11, 2006

I believe that canned tuna isn't a problem with mercury, btw. I've heard that fresh or frozen tuna is the real problem with mercury. But the canned stuff is ok.

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BundleFishMama

· #5 · Apr 11, 2006

Actually the canned tuna that is labeled Chunk Light is much lower in mercury than the Solid White (or Albacore) which has more significant levels of mercury. Which stinks for me because I love the solid white tuna and think the chunk light is kind of gross....but when I'm craving tuna salad it has to do I guess

Anyway it's a lot cheaper!

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flyingspaghettimama

· #6 · Apr 12, 2006

I see it is time for another FSM public service announcement. Cheese-lovin' mamas, do not despair! Your doctor and waaaaaay too many websites are totally out of date on this one.

You can eat almost ANY cheese made in the USA, including feta and soft cheeses. All you have to do is look at the label for the ingredients, and you will see "Pasteurized Milk" and you can eat it. Almost any cheese (feta, brie, cream cheese, etc) sold in mainstream grocery stores is made with pasteurized milk, even imported ones. If it is made with raw milk, US regulations require that the cheese has been aged to a certain amount of time as to lower your chances of contracting listeria. If you are buying your unpasteurized cheeses on the black market or from Amish farmers...well, you might reconsider that habit while pregnant, at least.

There are many things to worry about in pregnancy, but soft cheeses are not something to include in your 3am anxiety fest. I am the biggest food safety person in the world (aka I'm a wild caught Alaskan salmon only snob), but I did not worry about the soft cheeses.

To read more about it from the FDA, see here:
Protect Your Baby and Yourself From Listeriosis

To read more about just how difficult it is to get your hands on unpasteurized (aka "unsafe") cheeses in the USA, see here:
Cheesy does it

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bass chick

· #7 · Apr 12, 2006

I think I have eaten about 8 caesar salads in the past 2 months! I had forgotten about that one.

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Miss Juice

· #8 · Apr 12, 2006

flyingspaghettimama, I love you

Every time I see a cheese post, I think, "now, where is that wonderful caped woman?" I tried to do a search for some of your posts and links, but came up empty handed (mostly because I only had about 30 seconds).

Thank you for challenging cheese falsehoods and crusading for cheese truth.

(Now, if only dairy weren't making me so queasy these days...)

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flyingspaghettimama

· #9 · Apr 12, 2006

Ah, Miss Juice, perhaps it will not be long for you...soon you too may experience the pleasures of a good camembert or brie. I know what you mean though. Bread made me want to yack, and I love bread.

If you see other cheese posts, feel free to PM me. I wish we could make a sticky about it...cheese is such an awesome protein source, and way too many traditional media are out of date as to US regulations.

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