#HealthBytes: A few foods you must avoid during pregnancy
What's the story
Pregnancy is that time when you're officially allowed to indulge in your favorite foods. But having said that, a healthy pregnancy diet is crucial for both the mother's health and the baby's development. In addition, it is also important to know about those foods that must be limited or completely avoided as well. This article lists few foods that must be minimized or avoided.
Alcohol
No level is safe, so avoid alcohol completely
Drinking alcohol when pregnant can increase the risk of miscarriage and even a small amount can affect your baby's brain development. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can also cause fetal alcohol syndrome that may result in facial deformities and heart defects in the baby. Since no level of alcohol has been proved to be safe for pregnant women, it is best to avoid it completely.
Meat
Skip undercooked meat and fish during the three trimesters
This may be a hard pill to swallow for sushi lovers but undercooked or raw meat and fish increases the risk of bacterial infections. This can lead to stillbirth, neurological illnesses, blindness, or epilepsy in the baby. To keep yourself and your child safe, avoid foods like sushi, hot dogs, burgers, deli meat, etc. You may also want to avoid processed meat as well.
Coffee
Coffee connoisseur? You may want to limit your caffeine intake
Limited intake of coffee, tea, and cocoa is considered safe but if you are someone who sips through 5-6 cups every day, you may want to limit it to one glass per day. This is because babies and their placentas cannot metabolize caffeine and it can lead to restricted fetal growth and increase the risk of low birth weight at delivery.
Raw sprouts
Raw sprouts may be contaminated with bacteria, too
Surprised to see raw sprouts? Well, the fact is that your favorite salads can get easily contaminated with salmonella. The humid environment for sprouting is ideal for bacterial growth and once contaminated, it's impossible to wash it away. For this reason, it is best to avoid raw sprouts like clover, radish, and mubg beans. However, fully cooked sprouts are deemed safe for pregnant mothers.