Foods you can and can not eat!

[Sazzy312]

hey is anyone else finding food a mind field, I know the basic stuff no raw fish, soft cheeses ect but I've seen info on garlic, pesto, even hummus may not be safe during pregnancy, its making me feel quite anxious about eating anything, has anyone got any advice or comments on this topic , thanks

I just followed the NHS guidelines.

What on earth could there be in pesto or hummus that is harmful in pregnancy, btw?

Use the NHS website only for UK. Everywhere else will tell you everything is bad for you. I eat houmous all the time and did all the way through 1st trimester. Relax and enjoy it!

@theproblemwitheyes apparently herbs are bad for pregnancy if you read the wrong websites! Hence the basil in pesto. Plus some say garlic, which is in houmous. I'm with you on NHS.

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

Read the above.
P.s. you can have sushi if the fish was frozen first. Garlic, pesto, houmous are all fine too

It’s a total minefield. I’ve been eating pesto all the way thru pregnancy and then looked and saw it had unpasteurised cheese in it🤷‍♀️ I think if you just follow the nhs guidelines best you can you will be fine - you can drive yourself mad otherwise. I think a lot of what comes up on google is related to USA as well which has different food standards to us. My mantra is if the NHS says it’s ok, then it’s ok!!! I trust their advice implicitly and above anything else.

Don’t google everything as you’ll drive yourself mad. Just because sally from Timbuktu said it’s bad for your baby, doesn’t mean it’s true. As long as NHS website says it’s safe, then go with that. The only things I avoided were the obvious - raw fish, cured meats, rare meat, unpasteurised cheeses etc. Everything else was fair game.

If its unpasteurised parmesan thats in the pesto then that's OK to have in pregnancy as its a hard cheese. Its soft unpasteurised cheeses that you should avoid, unless cooked

Oh I ate pesto the entire way through my pregnancy. The amount of unpasteurised cheese is so minimal I wouldn’t even count it. I would however avoid things like raw burratta and the like

There's actually very few things you can't have: some things are totally fine, others are fine in moderation, only a handful are advisable to stay away from completely.

Just follow the NHS guidelines. Ignore Google as it brings up results from around the world as opposed to just the UK.

raw fish (as sushi) is ok if frozen first. Uncooked shellfish is not ok though. Cured meats also ok if frozen for a few days first or if cooked

I just went from the NHS list - I think probably if you look hard enough on the internet you will find information saying just about everything is best avoided while pregnant! Personally I have just stuck to this list, tried to be healthy and made sure I've taken my vitamin every day.

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

Aww thank you all for commenting, it was the basil in the pesto that could cause contractions ect that's what they say should be avoid, reading your comments has made me feel so much better and also know I'm not alone in thinking what the hell is it all about, and thanks for the tips for the NHS website your all right it is the best way forward and goggle will always find something bad about everything, hope you all have a lovely pregnancy 😊

@Sazzy312 I agree with everyone else! NHS guidelines only 😂 I drove myself nuts in the first few weeks googling things and I swear there are articles advising against just about every food in pregnancy if you look hard enough lol. I think all the advise about herbs is more if you’re taking them in supplement doses rather than in foods. I had a panic over sage and onion stuffing and I had a major hormonal breakdown over it 🤣 internet said no and it’s ALL I wanted, and it was already in the oven 🤣

As for the hummus etc, I believe that’s quite an American thing - it’s advised against if it comes from an open deli counter or salad bar because of possible bacteria but supermarket prepackaged or homemade hummus is actually really good for you 😊

@ritchie30 thanks I've even read things about pineapple but I'm now just gonna stick to NHS guidelines and eat in moderation, again with a lot of these site its all in large doses but who'd eat that much of one thing anyway and aww no I hope you eat your stuffing I was like that with the pesto hummus it was on my bread I'd eaten half then goggle said no so I left it for an hour than gave in haha 😆

You'd have to eat a shitload of pineapple to have any effect.

I just had a scan over the NHS guidelines.

There’s not much you shouldn’t eat.

Only thing I’ve said no to is steak, and that’s because I refuse to eat it when anything other than medium rare!

I agree - stick to NHS otherwise the internet will drive you crazy, far too many websites think they can offer health advice these days based on random studies no one knows anything about!

@Sazzy312 🤣 yes, I ate the stuffing. It’s the only part of the roast dinner I actually wanted lol. I read the same about pineapple 😂 pretty sure if we went along with everything online we’d be living on water and fresh air for the whole pregnancy lol.

Yes it would drive you crazy if you listened to it all and I've found eating hard enough due to sickness so I don't want to limit even more lol , I'll have to ask my consultant on Wednesday if there's anything I should avoid as I have a hemorrhage in the womb so I am slightly worried about things that could cause bleeding as I obviously have a weakness there but I'm sure he/she will probably say no its fine lol @Ritchie30 good, I'm fancying a roast may due one this week :) I'm actually getting fed up of water that's all I drink bar a few red teas ,

Yeah I’m sure your consultant will say everything’s fine @Sazzy312 but can’t hurt to ask it’s something you’re concerned about!
Pre-pregnancy, water was pretty much the only think that I drank! Maybe once a month I’d go wild and have a Diet Coke if I took a fancy for one or an iced coffee (I don’t like hot drinks lol) 😂 During pregnancy so far I’ve had 2 episodes which each lasted about 2-3 weeks each where I just couldn’t stomach water at all 🤢 I felt like it had a really strong taste and after taste! Tried tap water, Brita filtered, bottled and it was all the same 🤢 had to end up buying sugar free squash and was drinking it by the bucket load 😂

@ritchie30 its strange how our taste can change so much I can't seem to stomach juice very well and fizzy is out of the question it gave me so much trapped wind one night I was in a lot of pain, my poor mother in law thought an alcohol free grape drink would be nice and it did taste nice but I couldn't handle the fizz lol , how many weeks are you?

@Sazzy312 It really is strange! I’ve definitely had more food aversions so far rather than cravings. Fizzy drinks have been a no-go for me too - tried a small glass of fizzy flavoured water a couple of weeks ago and the bloating and discomfort was unreal so that’s not happening again lol. I’m almost 22 weeks 😊 how far along are you?

Aww nice so you've had your 20 week scan, all OK then? Did your partner go with you? I know they have stopped a lot of people attending scans, I'm 13 weeks so way behind you, is the second trimester really that much better? Lol