Foods to Avoid When Pregnant

When a woman is pregnant, her body is going through miraculous changes every minute of every day to develop the fetus. The developing fetus will demand what it needs from mother even if mother is not providing it, sometime at the expense of the mother! In countries where mothers have limited diets and consume little protein, they can still give birth to relatively healthy babies at normal birth-weight. The developing fetus will be the first consideration as innate orchestrates the development of the child. This is Mother Nature’s way of insuring the race will continue. Dr. Simeon, who studied women in impoverished countries, said that even when mother’s diet was very lean, she still gave birth to healthy babies. Her body made sure to give to the developing fetus what was needed by taking from the mother’s body. In our country where food is available in large quantity and assortment, malnourishment is not common. In the best of situations, the pregnant mother will get a well-balanced, chemical free diet that will insure her nutritional health and support the developing baby.

There are foods and other toxic insults that mother must try to avoid:

• Soda : Soda has no nutritional benefits and should be avoided. Soda with carbonation will reduce the body pH level making it more acidic. If you drink a soda, be sure to drink several glasses of water to counter react the acidic affects. Causes severe tooth decay, Phosphorous in soda weakens the bones by depleting calcium.
• Artificial Sweeteners : Man-made sugars (high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, fructose) highly refined white sugar, processed molasses, processed honey, malto dextrin, Splenda, Sweet ‘ N Low and Equal are all very toxic and difficult for the body to eliminate, cause hundreds of problems and must be avoided. You are better off using raw cane sugar, Agave nectar, raw honey or Stevia if you need to sweeten things.
• Processed Foods : Foods that come in packages, ready to eat, microwavable, frozen and canned may be full of preservatives, soy additives, chemical colorings and many other taste enhancers that are very bad for the body. Go natural, organic, cook from scratch like Mother Nature intended! If it is too easy, it is probably not good for you. To eat healthy takes planning and is a labor of love and time.
• Lake Fish : Many inland lakes are polluted and the fish will contain high levels of PCB’s and other chemicals including mercury. There are warnings by the DNR about how often a pregnant woman or nursing mother should consume fish. In some areas, they do not encourage eating any fish caught in inland lakes and if fish are from the Great Lakes, consume very sparingly. Fish in cans at the grocery store can also contain mercury and other pollutants. Farm raised fish should always be avoided as the food given to fish is grain and GMO corn, color enhancing chemicals and completely unnatural food for fish to eat.
• Ocean Fish : Fish caught in the deep sea off Alaska and in other oceans in the world may have some toxic chemical burden but not enough to avoid completely. Bass, Cod, Halibut, Mahi Mahi, Snapper, Monkfish and Sea Trout are fish lowest in mercury and are usually safe. (Six servings or less per month).
  Undercooked or Raw Meats : Due to the possibility of bacteria and parasites found in undercooked meats, it is important to get your meats cooked well. Avoid sushi, clams, ray oysters, uncooked eggs and undercooked pork.
• High Sugar : Foods high in processed sugar can promote yeast and a pregnant mother is very venerable to yeast over-growth. Yeast over growth can cause many problems for the child post-birth.
• MSG : Monosodium glutamate is a man-made excitotoxin that is very, very bad and unfortunately, found in thousands of food products from crackers, snacks, canned fruit, food bars, cereals, cookies, gravy, breads, bakery goods, canned meats and frozen meals to name just a few! It is used as a flavor enhancer and causes severe problems of all kinds.

Become a label reader to insure you avoid these unnatural toxic ingredients found in millions of foods. A great rule-of-thumb is to eat as natural as possible, feed the baby first by eating a good source of protein and use common sense and moderation. You only have one chance to build that baby’s constitution, consider that child every time you put something in your mouth or inject your body! It is no longer just about you!