Can I Eat That During Pregnancy?

what to expect every step of the way. Maybe you're bracing for the bad news about your morning coffee now that you're pregnant, feeling blue because you've heard that blue cheese is all the menu, and your salad you prefer your cold cuts cold, and your salmon sashimi style, and your burger your way as in rare, maybe still moving instead of the pregnancy way gray and overcooked. But does eating for two really mean you'll have to think twice about all the foods and drinks you never gave a

second thought too. With some exceptions, a few limitations, and a healthy side of caution, you might be surprised to discover that the business of baby making can actually mixed surprisingly well with the pleasures of eating. Hungry for the truth about what you can really eat today, I'm here

to dish it out. So Emma's here today, And Emma, I would say, of all the pregnant women I've ever talked to, you probably had the easiest time with giving up things when you were pregnant, because okay, let's take an accounting here. You don't drink ever, black sheep of the family. You don't eat fish at all, cooked or raw, and you always order your meat well done. God forbid, I ever put a rare or even medium rare, even pink burger in front of you. Right, thanks, Mom. Now

nobody's gonna want to party with me. Well, it's a different kind of party. Um, you guys, I'm still cool. I'm still cool. You are the life of the party. I don't need a drink to have a good time. I'm a good time anyway. I'll dance on the tables, Yes you will. So what were you There had to be something that you were bummed about giving up when you were pregnant. Okay, So with Lennox, definitely it was coffee.

I missed my coffee. But with Sebastian, I wanted nothing to do with coffee, even like the smell of coffee made me sick. Common But yeah, the second I gave birth, I was like, give me that stop bucks. But with Letox, what was really helpful for me where those by those by juices, because they have a tiny bit of caffeine, because if I didn't have caffeine, I got that horrible no caffeine headache. For sure, it's probably the hardest thing to give up. But the good news is actually that

you don't have to give it up. And I'm pretty sure I told you that when you were pregnant, you just have to instead of surrendering the Starbucks card, you just have to pull it out less often and be judicious in your orderings. So, for instance, two milligrams of caffeine per day is what's considered the safe limit. That's before you're expecting, during pregnancy, and even when you're breast heating. So what does two hundred milligrams buy You are not

my trent to not a whole lot? What's the small sized hall bounces. Yeah, it's at all but you can get around that. But it's also the equivalent of two shots of espresso. So if you have a two shot Americano, that's fine, But if you want to add more shots, all you have to do is cut them half and half with decaf. And the other thing you can do, which I know you like to do, is to pour a lot of milk into your coffee. So yeah, twelve bounces is fine. And if you do have to wean

yourself off a really big habit, do that gradually. That's why I actually recommend doing it before you become pregnant. Um. But there were other things, like when you went out for dinner the first time to a restaurant and you were pregnant, there had to be something that you looked at the menu and you're like, can I have that? Can I eat this? What about blue cheese? Right? Didn't you worry about that? Yeah? I love blue cheese. Um, that's a hard one to give up. And I brata

to the soft. I love baratta and I remember um at the restaurant when I was when I was pregning with Seby, I wanted barata and I would ask the waiters is this pasteurized right right? And they would say yes, and I would say, okay, barata please. So definitely more about that later. Did you have any aversions? Well, Lennox, sour dough bread. The day I found out I was pregnant, I went to Um Cheesecake factory with my girlfriend and the smell and like the look of sour dough bread

made me like disgusted. That's interesting with Lennox, I want it nothing to do with beef. With Sebastian, I wanted nothing to do with chicken. Uh, And I liked beef with Seby. But it's ironic because the one thing that Seby doesn't like is burgers is beef, so the letox doesn't like chicken. So I did create a lot of muffins when I was breaking with flegs. I ate like a I ate pack some muffins every single day. Those who love muffins love muffins with like with the dried fruit.

Oh my gosh, she goes, They're so good, They're so They're like zen Bakery. They were the best thing that ever happened to me. I would eat them all day long. But I would add cottage cheese on the side, crocaine bit um more nutritionally valuable. Yes, good idea. You know it's funny because Mom's asked me all the time what they should eat when they were expecting, and of course

I did write a book about it. But eating healthy during pregnancy, I think a lot of people don't realize is not different that different anyway from eating healthy at any other time in your life. So it's it's basically all the usual suspects, no surprises, lean protein, low fat, dairy, whole grains, healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables. And you know moms will say, okay, so witch fruits and vegetables should I eat? Just go for rainbow of colors, not

fruit loops like those don't count. That rainbow doesn't count. But anything from purple sweet potatoes to blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, broccoli, melon, anything that has a deep color inside is extra nutritious. Okay. So let's take a quick break, and when week come back, I'm answering the biggest questions you have about what you can eat and drink when you're pregnant. Okay, mom, let's break down the biggest questions our listeners have about what

they can really eat and drink while pregnant. First, I want to talk about booze. I hear doctors encourage women in Europe to have a glass of wine to relax while pregnant. What's dangerous and what's not? Okay, So don't shoot the messenger here. And I happened to be a

messenger who enjoys delivering herself a glass of wine. But the message from a COG, and from the c d C, and from the Surgeon General, and from just about all medical experts in the US is no amount of alcohol is a safe amount of alcohol when you're pregnant, and you know, chances are that sipper two and I have to admit I did have plenty of SIPs before I found out I was pregnant with you comforting, but that would not be harmful to obey, especially when it's taken slowly,

with you know, during the course of a leisurely meal, which is how they do it in Europe. I mean here, we just you know, gulp down some pretzels and then gulp down a glass of wine. But also because one mom sip is another mom's goldfish bowl, because if you've ever seen wine glasses in the US, they are super gigantic, And because those SIPs for some moms can be a slippery slope, you know, one sip leads to another sip.

So because those definitions are really tough, and because some moms might be more vulnerable than other moms, and because some fetuses might be more vulnerable than other fetuses, it's really best to play it safe and take a pregnant pass. Because there's no known safe limit when it comes to alcohol. Okay, what about booze and few sauces and salad dressing like

wine glazed salmon or whatever. Alcohol does cook off, just not as quickly as you might think, so it can take literally hours of cooking to get the job done and get all the alcohol to evaporate. The good news is, if you're not sipping like cups of sauce sauced up sauce, or guzzling that vodka sauce or that beer braise, and you're not drinking shots of white wine vinaigrette, you won't be ingesting enough to make a difference and to hurt

your baby. You know, you would want to stay away from anything that's been sitting in alcohol, like you know, those brandy cherries. But otherwise you're good. Okay, So what about caesar salad and the other dressings that are made with eggs. So here's the bad news. Eggs that aren't cooked well, like the raw eggs in a traditional caesar salad dressing or in homemade mayo, they might be contaminated with salmonilla and that can make a pregnant woman super sick.

Here's the good news. Though most commercially prepared Caesar dressing and other mayo based dressings are made with pasteurized eggs, which are safe to eat even when they're not cooked. Shelf stable dressing those are the ones you pull it off the shelf. There are always a safe bet, even if it's a seizer dressing, even if it contains eggs. Most refrigerated ones that you find in the produced apartment

are probably also pasteurized. But just in case, you know, read the label and you know if you're in a restaurant, some use pasteurized eggs and their Caesar dressing, others do not, So one in doubt, check with the chef, and if you can't get a really straight answer up for the vinaigrette. And now here's a cheat that you can try at home that I do all the time, which is, instead of the raw eggs and the oil in season dressing, I just substitute mayo commercially bought mayo, and that thickens

it up without any of the risks. And if you add a lot of harm in anchovies, you'll never know the difference. What about eating poached eggs, So it's best to take a rain check on running eggs when you're pregnant again. Pasteurized eggs are safe even if they're running um. You also want to pause on raw egg based desserts like moose that's raw eggs whipped up unless you're positive that all the eggs in your basket are pasteurized. What's

the cold, hard truth about cold cuts? I remember crying calling you from Sea World when I was pregnant with Lennox. I was like, oh, they have is cold cuts. I know. I cannot tell you how many moms have told me that they suddenly crave subway sandwiches as soon as they become pregnant. And that's a really cruel irony. There are many cruel ironies and pregnancy, but that's among them. Since cold cold cuts can be contaminated with a bacteria that

can cause listeriosis, and that's a rare infection. It's a food born infection. It's rare, but it's way way more common in pregnant women, and it can cause serious harm to a developing baby. So any ready to eat me smoked turkey, salami, deli, roast beef, bologny hot dogs can be contaminated with lissyria. The same for cold smoked salmon. Now happy news is that cooking destroys the bacteria. But that means heating the cold cuts until they're steaming hot. Yum.

Not I'm not pregnant and I'm gonna puke. But if you crave a Deli sandwich, all you have to do is make sure that they use fresh roasted turkey. Or you can always order a panini because that keeps the meat through. That sounds good, although I would love a subway sandwich right now, like an Italian. That sounds really good. Okay, do we have to say sinara to sushi? Or can we eat fish while pregnant? Well, you know, you can belly up to the sushi bar, but only if you're

ordering up cooked fish and seafood. Or you can also have veggie rolls. That's because raw or rare fish, even that poque that delica just poquet, or this is a VH that's been pickling in lime juice or doused liberally with hot sauce, or that seared salmon or that fish tartar can make you sick. And pregnant women are more susceptible to getting sick and getting seriously sick from food poisoning and possibly even hospitalized, and that's something you definitely

definitely want to avoid. This is really important point. It's not the raw fish that harms the baby directly. I think a lot of moms assume that it causes birth effects or something to eat raw fish, but that's not true. It can harm you and indirectly be harmful for the baby because you're sick. Fish and seafood are a good source of lean protein and omega three, so it is smart to go fish. Just stay away from high mercury

fish like swordfish, fresh big eyed tuna, steaks, shark. And that goes for whether it's cooked or it's uncooked off the table. What about me eat? Do I really have to eat it well done? Even like a good hearty steak has to be well done. Yeah yeah, I mean gray may not make your day when it comes to hamburgers and steak, but not for mosmans. And sadly, rare or raw meet can contain bacteria that can also make

you sick, and especially sick when you're pregnant. So I hate to say it, but make it medium to medium well well, even if it means asking the chef to butterfly that beautiful full light because you're pregnant, you can get away with it. I butterfly my steaks and I'm not pregnant, so if I can ask, pregnant women can do anything they want. What's the difference between hard and

soft cheeses when you're pregnant. Well, actually, any cheese is a good cheese if it's a pasteurised cheese, which means any lurking bacteria, especially listeria, has been destroyed, and that makes the cheese safe to eat. So you might have heard that soft cheese is always risky and you've made it a habit to stay away for I'm all soft cheese, but not so if it's marked pasteurized, and a lot of cheese that's sold in the US and made in

the US is pasteurized. Be a label reader. It's a good habit to be in any way, But avoid any cheese that says raw or if it's not marked pasteurized, especially if you're gonna eat that peto or that case. So now if you're not sure, either skip it or heat it before you eat it, and that means getting your bris extra bubbling and then you're good to go at it. Now, when it comes to hard cheese, like parmesan. It's probably still safe even if the cheese is not pasteurized.

But when you can, what's the harm in choosing pasteurized? Right? What about blue cheese dressing, my favorite dressing. Tell me this is okay, okay, So most blue cheese is pasteurized in the US, which means you won't have to eat your blue cheese dressing piping hot as that sound. Just just make sure that you choose shelf stable blue cheese dressing, or make sure it's more pasteurized. Or you can make your own using pasteurized blue cheese and some butter milk

and yummy um. But when endowed, like say you're in a restaurant, you can't be sure that the waiters actually being upfront with you. Then just opped out of the blue cheese. That's how the blue cheese crumbles. I feel like the keyword here is pasteurized, pasteurized, and that goes and actually that goes for juice to a lot of people don't realize when you go to a juice bar, not such a great idea or buying those raw juices that you can find, like say it, whole foods. All

juice should also be pasteurized. So there are other foods that can be contaminated with bacteria, and that would be in case you're into it. Wheat grass and I'll falfa sprouts. Really, no sprouts for your little sprout. Finally, what I know a lot of moms stress about peanuts and honey, So what's the real deal. Actually, you can and should bring

on the peanut for you little peanut. Pregnant moms used to be told to skip the skippy and to avoid allergies and their babies, and now the reverse has actually been shown, So moms who eat peanuts and nuts during pregnancy are in fact less likely to have a baby who ultimately develops a peanut allergy. So check with your doctor if you have food allergies, and of course, don't eat anything that you're allergic to, even if it's really good for your baby, because the last thing you're gonna

want is an allergic reaction. As for honey, you may have also heard that babies should never have honey. Well, but that warning only holds true for babies who are already born, so not the ones that are safely ensconced in your uterus. So once the baby is born, no honey until their first birthday. Alright, guys, well, I hope you learned a lot today and I hope you had fun. And remember I'm still fun even if I don't drink. You, guys, I will still come to your party and dance on

the table. And now you have that on the record. Yeah, okay, thanks guys. For more on everything you need to know about eating well when you're pregnant, My new book, Eating Well when You're Expecting is out now. Baby Love, my baby Love. I need you, Oh how I need you. Thanks for listening. Remember I'm always here for you. What to Expect is always here for you. We're all in this together. For more on what you heard on today's episode,

visit what to Expect dot com slash podcast. You can also check out What to Expect when You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, and the What to Expect app. And we want to hear from you. Connect with us on our community message board or on our social media. You can find me at Heidi Murkoff and Emma at Emma Being wt E, and of course at it to Expect. Baby Love is performed by Riley Peter. What to Expect

is a production of I Heart Radio. From more shows from I Heart Radio check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. In my arms, White on s stain Nija knija, Baby, Baby,