What are the dietary taboos during pregnancy?

Any drinks containing alcohol, undercooked meat/eggs/seafood/raw sprouts and other foods that are easily contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, unpasteurized milk and dairy products, and other various "taboos" spread online are mostly about the need to control the intake, or are controversial content with individual differences and different views of Chinese and Western medicine. They are not as exaggerated as "just one bite will cause trouble".

A while ago, I accompanied my cousin to go to the obstetrics department to set up a file, and I met a little girl who was just 8 weeks pregnant and was crying at the triage table. She said that she couldn't help but drink half a cup of iced milk tea yesterday. The elders in the family said that iced tea would "freeze the fetal gas" and cause miscarriage. After the doctor asked her, she didn't usually suffer from gastrointestinal deficiency and cold, and she didn't have abdominal pain or bleeding. He just smiled and said it was fine. In the future, just don't drink two or three cups a day. Half a cup will not affect it at all.

Many people may think that what is said online about not drinking coffee, not eating crabs, and not touching hawthorns are all rumors? It’s not like I can kill them all at once, but most of these fall into the categories of “different from person to person” or “requires control of dosage”, and are not considered absolute taboos. Let’s talk about coffee. The current mainstream guidelines of Western medicine clearly state that it is safe to consume no more than 200mg of caffeine per day (about the amount of a medium cup of regular American coffee). However, if you have insomnia problems, severe morning sickness, or have had threatened abortion before, you can stop drinking it for the time being, and there is no need to drink it to "prove that you are fine." ； There are also crabs and hawthorns that the older generation is particularly nervous about. From the perspective of Western medicine, as long as they are freshly cooked and you are not allergic to these foods, eating one or two crabs or two or three hawthorns will not trigger the so-called "pregnancy". When my best friend was four months pregnant, she ate two steamed hairy crabs. The subsequent prenatal checkups were all normal. On the contrary, another friend of mine is allergic to seafood. She ate half a crab unknowingly in the early stages of pregnancy, and she was covered in rashes but did not dare to take medicine casually. She suffered from the old sin. By the way, some Chinese medicine practitioners recommend that pregnant mothers with a history of habitual miscarriage avoid blood-activating foods in the early stages of pregnancy. This is not unreasonable. If it is a high-risk pregnancy, it never hurts to follow the doctor's advice on appropriate dietary taboos.

In fact, rather than worrying about these taboos spread online, there are some details that people don’t pay attention to that are more worthy of attention. For example, if you often buy ready-cut fruit boxes in the summer, it is best not to eat them if they have been left in the refrigerator for more than half a day. If they are contaminated by listeria, it may only cause diarrhea for ordinary people, but it may affect the fetus for pregnant mothers.； There are also home-made kimchi and pickled vegetables. When they are not pickled thoroughly, the nitrite content is very high. It is okay to eat one or two bites of porridge occasionally, but it is definitely not okay to eat them all the time. ； High-sugar and high-fat milk tea, cakes, and durian are not completely untouchable, but don’t eat them too often. Last time I went to a prenatal check-up, I met a pregnant mother who ate small pieces of durian almost every day for half a month, and her weight increased by 8 pounds. The doctor repeatedly told her to control it, otherwise the risk of gestational diabetes and macrosomia will be much higher.

To be honest, I have seen too many pregnant women who dare not eat this or touch that during pregnancy. Even if they eat vegetables, they have to check for a long time whether they can eat them. In fact, there is no need to be too anxious. As long as you avoid those categories that must not be touched, eat the rest of the food in moderation and fresh, and feel comfortable eating. Every time the prenatal check-up indicators are normal, it is better than anything else.