Diet for pregnant women: what you can and can't eat

One of the most frequently asked questions during pregnancy is what you can and cannot eat. That is why our team of midwives at Happymami has created this post with all the information provided by the Spanish Ministry of Health, with the latest on the diet for pregnant women, what you can and cannot eat, everything you need to know.

The latest on the pregnancy diet

Presumably, in a developed country like ours, most women are healthy and in a correct nutritional state when they start their pregnancy. If that is the case, it is enough to pay a little attention to your diet, although it is always advisable to check the following information on the diet for pregnant women. Complete this information with the pregnancy symptoms by trimester and what you should do.

Diet for pregnant women

Basic nutrition guidelines during pregnancy

To start with, you should follow these simple guidelines on eating during pregnancy.

• Eat 4 to 5 meals a day

Start the day with a full breakfast made up of dairy products, fruit and cereals, providing the greatest calorie intake of the day. At midday, have a not too large meal. In the afternoon, a light snack, and in the evening, have dinner early. You can have a piece of fruit or a dairy product before going to bed. And avoid snacking between meals.

• Increase your consumption of fruit and vegetables

During pregnancy, your body will need more vitamins and minerals. It is important to help provide them through your diet for pregnant women.

• Eat fish 3-4 times a week

During pregnancy in particular, eating oily fish is recommended because of its higher content of omega-3 fatty acids and other essential nutrients, which will be needed for the proper development of your baby.

• Drink at least 2.3 litres of water a day

Good hydration is very important, so drink at least 2 or 3 litres of water, the equivalent of 8 or 10 glasses. It sounds obvious, but we often forget to drink.

• Limit foods to avoid and salt

In the next section we will mention the foods you should avoid during pregnancy and in the diet for pregnant women. But in this section we are referring to discouraged foods, which would be: fried foods, as well as foods rich in fats and sugars. And do not forget to moderate your salt intake.

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Foods a pregnant woman should NOT eat

One of the big doubts about eating during pregnancy. What can I and what can I not eat? Many pregnant women ask themselves: what can a pregnant woman not eat? What can you not eat during pregnancy?

So let us set out the foods you should avoid on a diet for pregnant women.

• Fish: There are 8 large fish you should not eat, such as swordfish, shark, bluefin tuna, pike, king mackerel or mackerel, orange roughy, ray or emperor fish, and tilefish (Gulf of Mexico). You should also avoid raw fish such as sushi, ceviche or carpaccio, chilled smoked or marinated fish, as well as raw oysters, clams or mussels.
• Dairy: Avoid raw milk and fresh or soft cheeses, such as Brie, Camembert, Burgos, Mozzarella, blue cheese or Latin cheeses. Also, always check the label to see whether it is made with pasteurised milk. Avoid industrial grated or sliced cheeses, and remove the rind from any piece you eat.
• Fruit and vegetables: You should not eat raw fruit or vegetables that have not been peeled or washed and disinfected beforehand, as we explained in the previous section. Bear in mind that this includes bagged salads and those eaten away from home.
• Raw sprouts: Not recommended at all, such as soya and alfalfa.
• Raw eggs: You should not eat raw eggs or preparations made with raw eggs either, such as sauces, homemade mayonnaise, mousses, tiramisu, meringues, homemade cakes, homemade ice cream, eggnog, etc.
• Meat and packaged sliced meat products: You should not eat raw or undercooked meat. It should always be well cooked, as indicated in the previous section. As for packaged sliced meat products, you should know that you can eat them, but only after cooking them at more than 71°C, for example in croquettes, sautéed dishes or pizzas.
• Toxoplasmosis: Avoid eating raw cured meat products (chorizo, cured sausage, cured ham, salami...) if you are not immune to toxoplasmosis.
• Pâtés: Do not eat pâtés sold chilled.
• Prepared foods: Do not eat prepared foods containing vegetables, egg, meat, cold meats, fish and derivatives. Also, only drink freshly squeezed juices or, if they are bottled, make sure they are pasteurised. And it is clear that you should not drink alcoholic beverages.

Foods you CAN eat during pregnancy

Bear in mind that anything not on the excluded list you can eat. We also leave you a list of foods that raise doubts so that you can eat them with peace of mind.

• Canned or shelf-stable pâtés or meat spreads (they can be stored on shelves without refrigeration).
• Canned or shelf-stable smoked fish.
• Pasteurised milk or foods containing it.
• Frozen foods prepared following the instructions on the packet.
• Best fish options (2 or 3 portions a week)
  • Sardine, croaker, mackerel, sea bass, pompano, salmon, clam, cod, crab, squid, haddock, hake, herring, tilapia, mullet or snapper, oyster, pike, scallop, shad, prawn, ray, silverside, sole, crayfish, perch (freshwater and sea), anchovy, flounder or sole, pollock or haddock, catfish, trout (freshwater), tuna, canned light (including bonito), white fish, Pacific mackerel, flounder or sole
• Good fish options (1 portion a week)
  • Snapper, Spanish mackerel, black seabream, carp, grouper, monkfish, bluefish, halibut, mahi-mahi or dolphinfish, sablefish, striped bass (sea), tilefish (Atlantic Ocean), tuna, albacore or white, canned and fresh/frozen (yellowfin tuna), corbina or sea trout, white corbina or Pacific corbina, rockfish, buffalo catfish (or smallmouth catfish), Chilean sea bass or Patagonian toothfish

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Precautions you need to take with some foods:

• Wash raw fruit and vegetables. You can use water with bleach suitable for disinfecting drinking water (check the label), at a rate of 4 drops per litre of water. Soak the fruit and vegetables for at least 10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly with drinking water.
• Cook meats completely until they reach 71°C (the colour must change in the centre of the product)
• Meals as well as leftovers should not be eaten cold. Make sure you reheat them to more than 75 °C.
• Cook eggs well until the yolk and the white are firm. Fry the eggs for 4 minutes in a covered pan. Cook scrambled eggs until the whole egg is firm. Boil the eggs in the shell for 7 minutes.
• If you need a food supplement based on vitamins and minerals, take only those prescribed by your doctor.
• Read food labelling carefully, especially the warnings and conditions of use.
• Moderate your caffeine intake from any source (coffee, tea, cola drinks, “energy” drinks, yerba mate...)
  • A maximum of 200 milligrams a day; to help you work it out, a 60 ml espresso corresponds to 80 mg, or a 200 ml cup of filter coffee corresponds to 90 mg.

Basic rules for hygienic food handling during pregnancy

The basic guidelines for eating during pregnancy are important, but the basic hygiene measures for your food are equally important, and even more so in these times of Covid.

• Hand washing: Hand washing is very important; use soap and hot water. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, before and after handling food. Also after coming into contact with any dirty material, such as nappies, animals, and especially after using the toilet.
• Surfaces and utensils: Keep kitchen surfaces and utensils thoroughly clean after handling meat, fish, poultry, unwashed fruit and vegetables, or any other raw food.

• Cold storage: If you are going to put a cooked food in the fridge, store it for as little time as possible. Use closed containers, kept separate and away from cheeses and raw foods. Also, if you buy them already cooked, respect the date indicated on the label. Make sure your fridge works correctly and keeps the right temperature (4°C or less).
• Oven and microwave: It is well known that a microwave does not heat evenly, so in these cases make sure the food reaches an even and sufficient temperature.

How to cool food in the fridge?

• Make sure your fridge keeps the right temperature (4°C or less).
• Your fridge should show 4° C or less, and the freezer -18° C. Place an appliance thermometer in the fridge and check the temperature regularly.
• Refrigerate or freeze perishable food, prepared food and leftovers within 2 hours of eating or preparing them. Follow the 2-hour rule: throw away food left outside the fridge at room temperature for more than 2 hours. When the temperature is above 32° C, throw the food away after 1 hour.
• Use perishable ready-to-eat foods, such as dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, seafood and agricultural produce, as soon as possible. Remember that Listeria monocytogenes grows at fridge temperatures, so the longer the food stays in the fridge, the more bacteria it will contain.

What if there is food poisoning during pregnancy? Symptoms and what to do.

The symptoms of food poisoning vary, but may include stomach pain, vomiting or diarrhoea. Sometimes illnesses transmitted by food are mistaken for flu, as the symptoms resemble those of a flu-like state with fever, headache and body aches. A contaminated food will usually cause illness in between 1 and 3 days, but the discomfort can appear as soon as 20 minutes after eating or up to 6 weeks later.

It is possible that the effects of exposure to certain elements, such as methylmercury, are not evident until several months later, as mercury levels in the body can take time to build up. If you experience food poisoning, see your doctor immediately. And if you become ill after eating out, you should also call the local health department so that it can investigate whether there is a serious outbreak of illnesses transmitted by food in the area.

Conclusion: the latest on eating during pregnancy

These kinds of healthy habits have several functions: on the one hand, giving your baby the best possible state for developing during pregnancy, and on the other, preventing any possible poisoning that could affect them thanks to the diet for pregnant women. In addition, at Happymami we recommend that, since you are going to take on these nutrition habits, physical exercise during pregnancy, the diet for pregnant women and, if applicable, giving up smoking, you take the opportunity to continue them after giving birth: it will help you recover quickly. Lots of encouragement, and enjoy this stage.

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