5 foods you should not eat during pregnancy

This means she needs to avoid whatever would put her and her baby at risk. With this in mind, here are five foods women should not eat during pregnancy.

1) Raw fish

One food a pregnant woman needs to avoid is raw or undercooked fish. This includes the likes of sushi and any other seafood that is undercooked.

This is important because such foods might contain bacteria that is harmful to both the mother and the baby.

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2) Raw eggs

While eggs are rich in protein, contain all the essential amino acids needed in the body and are good for consumption by pregnant women, there should be a limit when they are raw.

Eating raw eggs exposes a pregnant woman to risk of Salmonella infection. Some foods which also contain raw eggs need to be avoided by pregnant women. These include the likes of homemade ice cream, cake icing etc.

Raw eggs Pulse Ghana

3) Alcohol

To have a healthy pregnancy and baby, alcohol is one drink every pregnant woman is advised to avoid. According to some studies, the intake of alcohol while pregnant increases the risk of miscarriage and still birth.

Some researchers even say a small amount of alcohol during pregnancy can negatively affect a baby’s brain development.

Alcohol Pulse

4) Caffeine

As soon as a woman is pregnant, she also needs to limit her intake of anything that contains caffeine.

This is because caffeine is easily passed on to babies via the placenta when ingested by the mother, and since the babies do not have the enzymes needed to metabolize caffeine, it affects them negatively.

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5) Organ meat (Liver)

Another food pregnant women should avoid is liver. This particular food contains high levels of vitamin A in the form of retinol which is dangerous and toxic to a developing baby.

Excessive intake of vitamin A in this form while pregnant can lead to birth defects in the form of mutations and even lead to the development of cancerous cells.

In addition to the above, it is also advised that pregnant women limit their intake of sugary foods and processed junk foods as these can also be harmful during pregnancy.