"Threatened Miscarriage" Turned Out to Be Caused by Crab Recalling an embarrassing moment during her pregnancy, Yueyue's mom laughed as she shared that she experienced a "threatened miscarriage" just over a month into her pregnancy. At the time, she and her husband were in Ottawa, Canada—a place where they knew no one and felt lost, unsure of what to do.Following a friend's recommendation, they sought treatment from a familiar Chinese medicine practitioner to try and save the pregnancy. Mom was forced to drink bitter herbal medicine day after day, feeling like she was being tortured, but the baby was ultimately saved. Later, she learned from a male friend that her ordeal was caused by her love for "Vancouver Dungeness crab."It turns out crabs are considered cooling in nature, and pregnant women should consume them sparingly. Additionally, nourishing foods like soft-shelled turtle and longan should also be avoided. Yueyue's mom nearly lost her precious baby because of her cravings.
Once you become an expectant mother, you truly must part ways with certain delicacies. Improper dietary choices during pregnancy can affect fetal development and maternal health, so moms-to-be must learn to control their appetites. So, besides cooling foods like crab, what other foods should pregnant women avoid? And what foods shouldn't be mixed together?
I. Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy
Food to Avoid #1:Instant Noodles
Many expectant mothers report loss of appetite or bland taste, turning to instant noodles. However, even healthy individuals should limit consumption. Instant noodles primarily consist of carbohydrates, with broth containing minimal nutrients—just MSG, salt, and seasonings. Pregnant women require proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and water for normal bodily functions.A prolonged deficiency in any one of these nutrients can lead to illness. Therefore, expectant mothers should avoid or strictly limit this food. While instant noodles offer no benefits for pregnancy, some mothers simply can't resist their tempting flavor. In such cases, expectant mothers must observe the following precautions when consuming instant noodles:
1. Limit intake to no more than once per day, and avoid eating them daily.
2. Supplement with additional side dishes to compensate for nutritional deficiencies.
3. Expectant mothers with gastrointestinal disorders, poor appetite, or malabsorption should avoid instant noodles.
Foods to Avoid #2:Unpasteurized Protein Foods
Includes milk, cheese (e.g., French Brie, goat cheese, Camembert, goat cheese, white cheese, fresh cheese), frozen or smoked meats, and seafood such as salmon, trout, cod, tuna,mackerel (often labeled as "star-rated food," "smoked salmon," "smoked," "smoked products," or "dried meat"). These foods frequently harbor harmful bacteria. Frozen or smoked seafood remains safe when thoroughly cooked through methods like baking or steaming.
Regarding whether pregnant women should drink fresh milk or yogurt: Fresh milk retains most nutrients due to minimal processing, making it a preferred choice for many mothers. However, it's prone to contamination and spoilage, so purchase from large supermarkets and choose products from reputable brands.
However, some mothers cannot tolerate fresh milk. Due to a lack of lactase or low lactase activity, the lactose in milk cannot be broken down in the intestines. Instead, it ferments and produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, leading to bloating and diarrhea. These expectant mothers can opt for yogurt instead.Yogurt is made by fermenting fresh milk with lactic acid bacteria. Its smaller curds make minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc more easily absorbed. It also inhibits harmful bacteria in the gut while stimulating intestinal motility, providing a dual-action regulation for gut function. Thus, yogurt is an excellent choice for lactose-intolerant mothers.
Food to Avoid #3:Any Alcoholic Beverages
After becoming pregnant, expectant mothers should avoid all alcoholic beverages. These can cross the placenta into the fetal bloodstream and cause harm. Therefore, expectant mothers should not consume alcoholic beverages, including beer or wine. Even though they contain low alcohol content, they may contain harmful chemicals like additives, and the potential damage to the fetus is difficult to estimate.
Cola-type beverages are also off-limits for expectant mothers. Most cola drinks contain caffeine, kola nut extract, artificial colors, and other ingredients. Excessive intake of kola nut extract and caffeine can stimulate the central nervous system, leading to adverse reactions such as restlessness, rapid breathing, muscle tremors, tachycardia, insomnia, tinnitus, and blurred vision.Caffeine can also cross the placenta and directly affect the fetus, potentially causing fetal death or low birth weight due to poisoning.
Additionally, some cola-type beverages contain phosphorus compounds. Excessive phosphorus intake interferes with calcium absorption in the skeletal system, weakening bone strength and severely hindering normal fetal development.
Food Restriction 4: Heating Spices
Heating spices include cumin, star anise, Sichuan pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, five-spice powder, chili powder, and similar seasonings.Consuming these spices can easily deplete intestinal moisture, reduce secretion from gastrointestinal glands, and cause intestinal dryness and constipation. When constipation occurs, pregnant women must strain during bowel movements, increasing abdominal pressure and compressing the fetus in the uterus. This can lead to adverse outcomes such as fetal restlessness and premature birth.
Food to Avoid #5: Hawthorn Berries
Pregnancy often brings fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite, making sour-sweet fruits appealing. Hawthorn berries, with their sour-sweet taste, are favored by many pregnant women. However, hawthorn has a certain stimulating effect on the uterus, potentially causing contractions.
Excessive consumption of hawthorn or hawthorn products during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage.
Food to Avoid #6:Longan (Dragon's Eye)
Although longan is highly nutritious and considered a premium tonic, it should be minimized or avoided during pregnancy. Its warming and highly heating nature can exacerbate internal heat in pregnant women, who often experience yin deficiency post-conception. Consuming longan may intensify this heat, leading to constipation, dry mouth and tongue, and fetal heat. This can trigger symptoms of threatened miscarriage such as vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain.
Food to Avoid #7: Papaya
Papaya contains female hormones that can disrupt hormonal changes in pregnant women. Green papaya, in particular, should be completely avoided as it not only harms fetal stability but may also cause miscarriage. In Southeast Asian countries, locals even use papaya as a contraceptive, highlighting its detrimental effects on pregnancy.
Food to Avoid #8: Stored Potatoes
Potatoes contain alkaloids, and the longer they are stored, the higher their alkaloid content becomes. Excessive consumption of such potatoes can affect normal fetal development and lead to birth defects. While individual responses vary and not everyone will experience abnormalities, it is best for pregnant women to avoid them, especially potatoes stored for extended periods.
II. Foods That Should Not Be Mixed During Pregnancy
Incorrect Combination 1: Eggs and Soy Milk
Consuming eggs and soy milk together reduces protein absorption.
Raw soy milk contains trypsin inhibitors that suppress human protease activity, impairing protein digestion and absorption. Egg whites contain mucoprotein that binds with trypsin in soy milk, hindering protein breakdown and reducing protein absorption rates.
Incorrect Combination 2: Milk and Chocolate
Consuming milk and chocolate together can easily cause diarrhea.
Milk is rich in protein and calcium, while chocolate contains oxalic acid. When consumed together, the calcium in milk combines with the oxalic acid in chocolate to form insoluble calcium oxalate. This compound is not absorbed by the body and can cause symptoms like diarrhea and dry hair, affecting growth and development.
Additionally, many chocolates on the market contain caffeine, so pregnant women should consume them with caution.
Incorrect Pairing 3: Radish and Tangerine
Radish and tangerine should also not be consumed together, as they can easily induce goiter.
Radish produces thiocyanate, an anti-thyroid substance. If large quantities of fruits like tangerines, apples, or grapes are consumed simultaneously, the flavonoids in these fruits are broken down by intestinal bacteria into thiocyanate, which inhibits thyroid function and may trigger goiter.
Incorrect Combination 4: Spinach and Tofu
Avoid eating spinach and tofu together, as this combination significantly increases the risk of developing kidney stones.