What dietary taboos should you pay attention to during pregnancy?

There is no "blacklist" of foods that must not be touched during pregnancy. The core principle is to avoid categories that are clearly teratogenic and infection-causing. As long as you tolerate them and consume them in moderation, there is no need to be overly anxious. There is no need to repeatedly consume the food you are craving for.

A best friend of mine secretly ate half-cooked beef rice from a Japanese restaurant when she was 6 weeks pregnant. She suffered from vomiting and diarrhea that night. She went to the emergency room to check a bunch of indicators in the middle of the night. The doctor said she was lucky not to be infected with Listeria monocytogenes, otherwise it would most likely affect the development of the fetus. This kind of undercooked meat, eggs, sashimi, unpasteurized fresh milk, and soft cheese are all high-risk carriers of Listeria. The risk of infection during pregnancy is 17 times higher than that of ordinary people. In severe cases, it can lead to fetal arrest, premature birth, and fetal malformation. This kind of food must be strictly avoided and there is no need to discuss it. There are also all alcoholic drinks, whether they are low-alcohol fruit wine, home-brewed rice wine or boiled glutinous rice wine. Alcohol is a clear teratogen. Even a small amount of intake may affect the neurological development of the fetus. It is safest not to touch it at all. In addition, high-mercury marine fish such as shark, swordfish, and tilefish will accumulate in the body and affect the development of the fetal nervous system due to slow metabolism of mercury. Do not eat them throughout pregnancy.

The rest are mostly controversial categories, and different doctors have different recommendations, which can be based on your own physical condition. Take coffee, for example. In the past, old people always said that you should not drink even a sip of coffee during pregnancy. Now, many authoritative organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have made it clear that it is safe to consume no more than 200mg of caffeine per day (roughly the amount of a medium American cup). I myself was so dizzy from vomiting in the first trimester. When I was pregnant, I drank half a cup of iced American coffee every day to suppress morning sickness. The prenatal check-ups throughout the pregnancy were all green, and the baby was born healthy. However, many clinicians believe that the fetus is unstable in the first trimester and simply recommend not to drink it during the whole pregnancy. If you have heart palpitations and insomnia after drinking coffee, there is really no need to drink it. There are also crabs and hawthorns, which are the "magic tools for slipping" that elders talk about. There is no such thing as "sliding" in Western medicine. As long as you are not allergic to eating crabs and steam them thoroughly, eating one or two is absolutely fine. When I was 4 months pregnant, I even ate two hairy crabs that were full of yellow, and there were no problems. No, if you have a weak stomach and you usually have diarrhea when you eat something cold, then definitely don’t touch it, lest the diarrhea stimulates uterine contractions and the gain outweighs the gain. The same is true for hawthorn. Pregnant mothers with acid reflux will suffer more acid reflux after eating it.

The last time I went for a prenatal check-up, I met a pregnant mother who was 39 weeks pregnant. She said that she didn’t dare to drink a sip of milk tea during the entire pregnancy. She couldn’t help but drink half a cup that day. She sat in the waiting area and cried for almost ten minutes. She said she was sorry for the baby, but it was really not the case. As long as you don’t have gestational diabetes, occasionally drinking a cup of full-sugar milk tea, eating a stick of ice cream when the weather is hot, or eating a spicy hot pot (all dishes are cooked thoroughly) will really not affect the baby. It is much better than enduring your emotions and being unhappy all the time. Pregnancy itself is hard enough, so there is no need to put such heavy dietary shackles on yourself. As long as you stick to the red line of high-risk foods, you can enjoy the rest.