Foods they say not to eat

[fonxey]

How strict are you?

I gave up the chance to eat the most delicious beef tartare recently. Well i did grab a bite actually, not very much, just to find out what i was missing each was a hugely delicious meal, ugh!

And no blue cheese, or sashimi or smoked meats. Literally all my favourite things. God, I could do with i nice plate of sashimi right now. And i can't even have smoked salmon!

How good are you? I'm not talking about alcohol. Personally but bothered about that. But... The thing is I like my steak blue and now i have to have it more cooked. I settle for medium as completely cooked through you might as well just not eat it.

Beef taretar isn't something I eat often enough (sadly) but mmmn delicious especially with a nice raw egg yolk on top.

And decaff tea is just blergh. Maybe I just haven't found the right blend yet, but blergh.

Just having a moan. Anyone else find these food restrictions hard?

Assuming you're in the U.K., have you checked the NHS guidance? Some of the things you're avoiding are fine (e.g. smoked salmon), and you can have cured meats/sushi if they've been frozen. You can have a reasonable amount of caffeine too (200mg/day, I think). Don't deprive yourself unnecessarily!

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/foods-to-avoid-pregnant/

I think smoked salmon is allowed, as is sushi if it's been previously frozen - NHS website says so anyway. You're allowed small amounts of caffeine, so I just stick to 1-2 cups a day rather than drink decaf crap.

I have to say that the thought of steak tartare turns my stomach at the best of times, even though I do love a nice medium rare steak, so that's not been such an issue for me!

I'm still having my morning cup of tea, as 1 cup is under the NHS guideline amount.

The food side isn't really bothering me so far, but that might be a different story when we go on holiday as our hotel has my most favourite steak restaurant!

Most of the stuff we are advised not to eat, aren't really my favourite things or they're things i don't particularly like, so I'm quite lucky

Read 'What to expect when you're expecting' by Emily Ostler. It explains the studies that were done to advise that you shouldn't eat certain things.

For me it meant I've eaten sushi all the way through my pregnancy...!

You can have sashimi, sashimi grade fish is frozen for a set period of time which kills the bacteria.

I are rare steak, ripe cheeses, sashimi etc etc. The risk of getting listeria is lower than dying in a car accident and I couldn’t very well not get in a car for 9 months! The only thing I avoided was liver and liver products as vitamin a can cause serious birth defects, and alcohol.

Sushi is ok if the fish has been frozen beforehand. Smoked salmon is also ok. Blue cheese ok if cooked. Stilton ok uncooked as it's a hard blue cheese. Cured meats ok if frozen for a few days too

Yeah read expecting better by Emily ostler. It goes through the evidential base for different rules, some are much more well-founded than others.

The rules for pregnant women also vary country by country, it's all about judging risk and deciding how much of an impact it will really have on you to give something up eg I can give up caffeine easily, others would miss coffee.

Have you tried red bush tea? I like tick tock, bit of a different taste from tea but decaff is full of horrible chemicals. Or just have tea and coffee in moderation!

The only thing I avoid That I like is pate. I don't like egg yolk or soft cheese so fine there.

I eat smoked meats (never heard u were meant to avoid), peanuts, drink tea and fizzy drinks just not a lot.

In the UK smoked salmon is okay. As is sushi (it’s frozen beforehand). If you go overseas (even Europe, US or Canada) you need to avoid like the plague as the processes aren’t the same. IAny cheese is okay if it’s cooked.

I ate plenty of smoked salmon while pregnant! And smoked bacon etc. I think it's cured meats nrather than smoked that are iffy. I also drank 2 cups of tea a day. Basically I stuck with what the NHS page says.

I ate absolutely everything during my pregnancies (early 2000s) and didn't adhere to any guidelines whatsoever, my choice.

None of my teenage boys have any form of allergies and i was never ill.

Not advising that people should do this, but it was my personal choice.

I had prosciutto and Parma ham on holiday and iv had goats cheese cuz I fancied it.

I gave up everything I was told you shouldn't eat.

A pregnancy book I had said peanuts are ok so I continued eating peanut butter.

I had tea daily but I have my tea so weak i doubt that affected anything!

Even though I was strict, I'd never judge anyone for eating whatever during pregnancy. Each to their own.

Parma Ham is raw and non-supermarket bought goats cheese in a lot of countries is made from unpasturized milk. You were very lucky not to get Listeria.

The Emily Oster book is actually 'expecting better'. It's a good one!

Pah, my midwife said no to smoked salmon or cured/smoked meat unless they were cooked.

I'm gonna have to read further, ha.

1-2 cups of tea isn't enough. Especially when I'm at work when i could easily drink about 5+

Stilton here i come...

No pate for me which is really hard. Last time i ate it when i went into labour, i was really missing it lol.

I think these kind of threads often show that some people (midwives included) have very little understanding of risk. For example, there are less than 200 cases of listeria a year in the UK and generally around 30 cases a year in pregnant women. Whatever way you look at it, the risk is fucking tiny. I hate the assumption that pregnancy reduces your ability to think critically and make your own decisions.

I did avoid things that could give me listeria (I know the numbers are tiny but the consequences could be fatal) but ate normally other than that.

In a lot of cases Listeria is mild — most people would probably be unable to distinguish it from a cold / mild flu. As it can cause miscarriages often the first time it’s even identified (especially in the first trimester) is when fetal tissue is examined post a miscarriage. That’s why it’s important to follow food guidance and proper hygiene.

So I don’t believe it’s as rare as it’s claimed. Those 200 cases are the serious ones. The minor ones, the miscarriages it causes that get missed as mums don’t want the fetal tissue examined, all get ignored.

And that's your choice to make - at the end of the day, everyone can make their own assessment of what they're comfortable about.

I agree totally with you mynameiscalypso.

I've followed NHS website guidance about giving stuff up - mostly because until very recently I lived in a country where food safety standards are non existent so easier to just be strict than worry about risk each time.

I have a cup of tea every morning and have found M&S decaf earl grey tea to be not too bad. I'm struggling with fish though. All the fish available to me now is on the limit list and I can't be doing with weighing bits of bloody fish to see what a portion is. I mean what's a bloody portion anyway?! Where I'm from a portion is a whole fish. Pretty sure that's not what the NHS has in mind.

I honestly don’t think it’s as restrictive as people think...as pp have said lots of the things you mention are fine. Stilton, smoked salmon both fine, sushi/sashimi/cured meat etc also fine if been frozen which in most restaurants they have (or chuck a packet in freezer at home). Couple of coffees fine. They are also just guidelines so do your own research...I read that tox risk from rare meat was lower than getting in a car and virtually unheard of from beef, so I have indulged in the odd juicy rare steak when I know it’s from a really good source.
Healthy diet the most important thing!