What dietary taboos should you pay attention to during early pregnancy?

The core dietary taboos in early pregnancy are not actually about not touching crabs and barley as reported online. The essence is to avoid several types of foods that are clearly known to increase the risk of miscarriage and teratogenesis. Most of the widely circulated "folk taboos" depend on physical constitution and consumption, and do not need to be generalized.

A while ago, the little girl downstairs in my house who was just 6 weeks pregnant had a little trouble because of this. My mother-in-law kindly cooked barley porridge to relieve her edema. She saw a short video saying that barley would cause miscarriage. She cried on the spot and said that her mother-in-law was causing miscarriage. She finally went to a community hospital and asked the doctor before she felt relieved. Instead, she had a bunch of wine-cocoa and wine-containing desserts that she had stocked up on. The doctor specifically told her to throw them all away. Those were the things she really needed to avoid.

All foods containing alcohol are 100% to be avoided. Whether it is rice dumplings, wine-filled chocolate, or stir-fried dishes with cooking wine that has not been cooked for enough time to evaporate completely. There is no safe intake of alcohol for the fetus. Even trace amounts may pass through the placenta and affect developing nerve cells. Traditional Chinese and Western medicine do not have any knowledge of this. Controversial, don’t believe what the older generation said about “drink less mash to warm up”. I once met a girl in a group of pregnant women who didn’t know she was pregnant when she was 5 weeks pregnant. She drank half a cup of sparkling fruit wine and was worried about prenatal check-ups for the next three months. Although the final result was good, there was really no need to suffer that anxiety.

Don’t touch foods that are not fully cooked, including soft-boiled eggs, sashimi, half-cooked steaks, and tender meat that has just been blanched for more than ten seconds in a hot pot. These foods can easily carry Listeria and Toxoplasma gondii. Ordinary people with normal immunity may not have any reaction after eating them. The immunity in early pregnancy is much lower than usual. Once the infection is mild, it can cause uterine contractions with vomiting and diarrhea, or in severe cases, it can directly lead to fetal stoppage or fetal malformation. When my colleague was pregnant with her first child last year, she was greedy for the salmon platter from a Japanese restaurant. She had diarrhea for two days, and the progesterone level dropped by less than half. She lay down for almost two weeks before she stabilized. After that, she never dared to touch raw things again.

As for crabs, barley, and hawthorn, which are the most popular foods, there are actually no clinical studies that can prove that eating them will directly cause miscarriage. Traditional Chinese medicine says that these foods are cold in nature, have the effect of promoting blood circulation, and may stimulate uterine contractions. Generally, pregnant mothers with cold constitutions and prone to diarrhea and stomachaches are generally advised to eat as little as possible. Western medicine has a more relaxed attitude. As long as you are not allergic or uncomfortable eating these foods, occasionally eat one or two steamed crabs and take a few bites. Hawthorn rolls and half a bowl of barley porridge are totally fine. When I was pregnant with my eldest son, I was very pregnant and couldn't eat anything but wanted to eat sour food. I ate half a hawthorn stick every day and there was no problem. On the contrary, I saw a girl before. I had severe dysmenorrhea due to uterine cold. I ate three ice-drunk hairy crabs in one meal less than two months after I was pregnant. I went to the emergency room with stomachache for a long time. In fact, the essence was that the raw and cold food irritated the gastrointestinal tract, and it was not that the crabs themselves caused any harm to the fetus.

There are two other points that are easily overlooked. One is not to take supplements indiscriminately, especially "pregnancy remedies" with unknown origins and health products that claim to "replenish the fetus." Many supplements with unknown ingredients may contain blood-activating ingredients, which may cause problems. If you want to supplement vitamins or folic acid, it is best to ask a doctor to prescribe it. Don't buy it blindly.； The other is not to overdose on caffeine. Medical advice is that caffeine intake should not exceed 200mg per day, which is about the amount of a medium cup of regular American coffee. If you usually feel flustered and insomnia after drinking coffee, then just don’t drink it. When I was pregnant, I drank half a cup of latte and vomited it all afternoon, and I never dared to touch it again after that.

In fact, pregnancy reaction is already very uncomfortable in the early stages of pregnancy. You don’t need to set too many restrictions for yourself. Except for those categories that are clearly harmful, eat a few bites of whatever else you want to eat. Feeling comfortable is more important than anything else. If you are really unsure, ask the doctor. Don’t scare yourself by watching short videos.