What dietary taboos should you pay attention to during pregnancy?

Undercooked meat, eggs, seafood, any alcoholic drinks, unpasteurized raw milk and products, and foods that you are clearly allergic to. The remaining so-called "taboos" are mostly a matter of habits that vary from person to person, so there is no need to be overly anxious.

A while ago, I accompanied my best friend who was 10 weeks pregnant to a nutrition consultation. She was holding a "taboo list" given by her family members. Watermelon, crab, grapefruit and even beef were all on the list of things she should not eat. As soon as she sat down, the doctor made her laugh, saying that she was not pregnant, but that she was becoming an "ascetic" in advance.

For example, everyone is arguing about whether crabs and hawthorns can be eaten. The traditional Chinese medicine system does recommend that when the fetus is unstable in the early stages of pregnancy, you should try to eat as little cold and blood-activating food as possible to avoid irritating the gastrointestinal tract and causing uterine contractions. However, from the perspective of Western medicine, as long as you are not allergic to eating crabs and eating hawthorns, I won't suffer from acid reflux and stomach pain. Eating one or two steamed hairy crabs and two or three fresh hawthorns will not reach the so-called "fetal sliding" dosage. My distant cousin's sister-in-law had severe pregnancy problems when she was pregnant last year, so she relied on rock sugar hawthorn to stimulate her appetite. After eating almost two kilograms of it, the baby was born very strong. On the contrary, there was a pregnant mother in the obstetrics group who did not dare to touch anything and only dared to eat green vegetables and white porridge every day. During the prenatal check-up, the albumin was low, and the doctor ordered her to eat enough fish, shrimp and eggs every day.

Of course, this does not mean that there are no taboos in diet. Don’t touch those red lines that you should definitely avoid. I once met a pregnant mother who was 22 weeks pregnant. She was greedy and ate two bites of salmon sashimi from a Japanese restaurant. As a result, she was infected with listeria. She had a fever for two days and almost gave birth prematurely. She was hospitalized for a week before she stabilized. , the pathogenic bacteria that may be hidden in raw or undercooked food may cause diarrhea to ordinary people, but the risk is really high for pregnant mothers. There are also fresh milk squeezed by farmers at home and handmade unlabeled cheese sold outside. Many of them have not been pasteurized, so try not to touch them. Needless to say, as for alcohol, whether it is liquor, beer or what the elders call "a small amount of fruit wine or postpartum wine", the current academic consensus is that there is no safe intake threshold for alcohol during pregnancy. Even one sip may have an impact on fetal development, so don't take chances.

As for rumors that have no scientific basis at all, such as "eating rabbit meat will cause cleft lip, babies who eat soy sauce will have dark skin, and eating mutton will get epilepsy" are just fun to listen to. My best friend couldn't help but eat braised rabbit heads several times when she was pregnant. The baby was born with beautiful lips and white skin. It has nothing to do with what he eats. Problems such as cleft lip and neural tube defects are mostly caused by genes and exposure to teratogens during pregnancy, and have nothing to do with the shape and color of the food.

In fact, you don’t need to be too strict about your diet when you’re pregnant with a baby. As long as you avoid those clear minefields, it’s okay to eat something that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. For example, drinking half a cup of iced milk tea with less sugar when you’re too hot in the summer, or eating two pieces of spicy hot pot if you’re craving for it in the winter. As long as you eat No diarrhea or stomachache, that little stimulation will not affect the baby at all. Instead, you will hold back this and not eat that, and you will feel depressed and anxious every day, which will have a greater impact on the baby. If you are really unsure, ask your prenatal doctor. Don't always believe in the "old experience" of relatives at home.