Eat Safe: Eat Like a Pregnant Woman

I've been thinking a lot about food lately, okay all the time because I'm pregnant and all of this thinking has led me to wonder about something.

When you're pregnant, you're not supposed to eat certain foods because chemicals in these foods are harmful to both you and the unborn child. I've always wondered if these foods aren't safe to eat when you're pregnant, then why the hell are we eating them when we're not pregnant?

Here are some examples of foods you're supposed to avoid while pregnant and why. Perhaps after reading this, you'll think about eliminating these foods from your diet because if they aren't safe to eat while pregnant, then they aren't safe to eat period.

When You're Pregnant, You're Not Supposed to Eat:

Meats containing nitrates and nitrites. Nitrates and nitrites are found in processed lunch meats, pepperoni, bacon and such. Nitrates and nitrites form nitrosamines in the body and nitrosamines are potent carcinogens that love to become stomach cancer. Yuck!

• Fish that are known to contain high levels of mercury such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, grouper and certain types of sushi...and tuna, which the FDA says is okay in moderation, but isn't that about the same as saying arsenic is okay as long as you don't eat enough to kill you. Mercury is highly toxic. It can cause a laundry list of illnesses, but most importantly it disrupts the brain and nervous system and toxicity can lead to death. I don't know about you, but that's a good enough reason for me to give up these fishy offenders permanently. Besides, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
  

• Fish that are high in PCBs, usually fish caught from local streams and lakes that are contaminated with industrial waste or farm raised fish. These fish include bluefish, big mouth and small mouth bass, salmon, pike, trout, and walleye and for safety's sake before you go fishing or buy locally caught fish, you're supposed to check with the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure what you catch is safe to eat. PCBs are potent carcinogens and they can also lead to a long list of other medical conditions. UGH! Check out Ocean's Alert for more info.

• Anything but organic, free-range meats, dairy products and produce and eggs that come from "free range" chickens. ("Cage free" and "Free roaming" are not the same as "Free range." Only buy eggs from "free range" chickens.)

Herbicides, pesticides, artificial ripening agents, hormones, antibiotics aren't good for you whether or not you're pregnant. Think cancer, learning disabilities and serious hormone disruptions which can cause everything from fatigue to obesity.

Additionally, non-organic products are lower in vitamins and minerals and heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids so you aren't really getting what you pay for anyway. So, with side-effects like this, let me ask you why aren't you buying organic all the time?

Cost, you say, organic products are expensive. Trust me I know, but think of it this way. Spend a little more now to ensure your health and then you won't have to fork out thousands of dollars later to treat a disease, like cancer, that was caused by the crap food manufacturers put on and in non-organic produce, meat, eggs and dairy products.

Not only that, the more demand there is for organic products, the less expensive these products will get. Also, in some markets finding organic products is very difficult. Again, the more we demand, the more they will supply.

• Caffeine because it may increase the risk of miscarriage and it leaches both water calcium from the body. In a non-pregnant person, this makes you much more prone to both dehydration and osteoporosis. Not only that, but caffeine has been linked to heart arrhythmias, anxiety disorders and adrenal exhaustion. If you can't give it up, at least attempt to reduce your intake. Remember, chocolate contains caffeine too.

• MSG, also known as autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed protein, whey protein, monopotassium glutamate, vegetable protein extract can cause a laundry list of problems that range from muscle tightness to obesity. For more info, read Discovery Health's "The Dangers of Monosodium Glutamate."

• Food additives because many of them are carcinogenic. Think BHA, BHT, aspartame, potassium bromate, anything you can't recognize in the nutrition information.

• Certain sunscreens. I know, you don't eat sunscreen, but it's worth mentioning anyway because recent research shows that the active chemicals in most sunscreens cause serious hormone disruptions. Read, "The Chemical Sunscreen Health Disaster," then make the wise decision to choose sunscreens containing zinc such as UV Natural, which is available at Amazon.com.

Although this is not an exhaustive list of what to avoid, it's a place to start and my point is this: whether or nor you are pregnant, you have a choice as to what you put in and on your body. With few exceptions, if something is unsafe for a pregnant woman, then it's also unsafe for a non-pregnant person and is best avoided.

Pregnant? Expecting? Check out my pregnancy blog: The Tender Breast.