This is tricky. There isn’t a ton of updated research telling you what foods/drinks to remove and most importantly why. Just like there isn’t a ton of updated research about medications on what happens to pregnant/postpartum women if they take certain medications. It is basically a case of “Just be careful and try not to take anything”. 

It can feel like everything good is off limits during pregnancy such as sushi, cold/flu medication, deli meat, pressed juice, alcohol, etc…

In part of my Nutrition for Pregnancy & Postpartum e-course, I go into more detail about what to avoid and what to focus on. If interested check out my courses HERE.

The BIG ones that tend to be removed are alcohol, raw fish, unpasteurized foods/drinks, and combination medications like Dayquil. 

It is all about risk vs reward. Outside of alcohol which is known to cause issues, most of the other items are simply causing an “increased risk” of illness/complications. Personally, I don’t really see the difference between the risk of eating sushi/deli meat versus any vegetable/ice cream. Both are consistently recalled numerous times for E. coli and Listeria. 

So what do you remove? Stick to the list below but don’t be crazy about it. If you forget and eat at Subway one day… it’s ok. If you are horribly sick with the flu, talk to your doctor about your options. There usually are more options than they let on. 

Mitigate your risks but don’t be crazy. Just enjoy pregnancy and eat real whole foods. 

LIST OF WHAT TO AVOID DURING PREGNANCY AND POSTPARTUM

• Don’t eat undercooked meat, sushi, raw fish, and raw shellfish—but also don’t stress about your steak being medium versus well done please don’t eat well-done steak. 😉
• Don’t eat farmed fish if you can help it—these tend to be high in mercury and are not very healthy pregnant or not
• Don’t eat raw eggs
• Do not have any alcohol

BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT -Depends on the person whether they remove these things or not. Do your own research.

• Deli meat
• Raw juice
• Soft serve ice cream
• Runny yolks
• Anything not freshly prepared/cooked
• Raw vegetable sprouts
• Raw unpasteurized dairy

FEEL LOST AND WANT A PREGNANCY & POSTPARTUM COACH??

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OR Schedule an appointment HERE