[key_gal]

Hey,
One of my friend who had a perfect pregnancy and never had any m/s or anything was chidding me for having laksa last night.

I know I am not meant to eat raw stuff, under cooked and soft cheeses. But many people like this friend also has a 101 other items on their swear to avoid list.

So far shes told me not to touch the following:
High fat stuff i.e. coconut milk in the laksa and curry
shell fish - anything from prawns to mussels, something about I will get allergic reaction or may be baby might. I dunno I have never had any reaction so far
Big fishes - tuna salmon etc for mercury
Chai lattes - no chai, or more specifically no spices should be consumed. This include star annise cinamon etc etc of stuff in chinese five spice mix. This essentially then means most chinese food which are roasted should be avoided such as roast duck because the five spice is used in there.
Chilli - makes constipation worse.

From other sources of information:
No eggplants, no watercress, no saffron, no woodear (fungus), no bittermelon. All are linked someway by some type of culture to m/c.

For fruits, Chinese TCM says no lychees, mangos, longans, durians, papayas.

[key_gal]

by the way I am not avoiding all these Ihave listed completely. Just trying to compile a list. Some times its just too hard to avoid all of these when you are eating out.

[akkiandmalli]

OP to be honest i think your friend is a little OTT..
i want to know how do indian/sri lankans have babyies with this list of nonos?

High fat stuff i.e. coconut milk in the laksa and curry
shell fish - anything from prawns to mussels, something about I will get allergic reaction or may be baby might. I dunno I have never had any reaction so far
Big fishes - tuna salmon etc for mercury
Chai lattes - no chai, or more specifically no spices should be consumed. This include star annise cinamon etc etc of stuff in chinese five spice mix. This essentially then means most chinese food which are roasted should be avoided such as roast duck because the five spice is used in there.
Chilli - makes constipation worse.

my MIL was pumping curries with chilli, fish and spices into me a few weeks ago to make a strong baby!! as for the fruits i am still laughing pregnant sri lankan women eat buckets of mangos:)

i think as you eat in moderation and have a varied diet you will be fine..

[Tesseract]

Came in from recent topics. Your friends is an idiot, and one who should keep her opinions to herself. Eat what you want. Heaven help you if the baby is fussy and you're breastfeeding, she'll have you on a diet of steamed carrot and water!

There is no basis to anything she's saying.

[key_gal]

Yeah, I am not really following it and was little defensive when told to eat more small fish like anchovies cos i hate them. and the comment given back was its not for u its for the baby just swallow them whole.

and then more list came with root vegetables. apparently they pick up toxins from ground more than leafy vegetables because they are grown in the ground. so actually you need to limit carrot and potato etc.

also i know we cant eat pate which i though is because of bacterial concerns. seems like its the vit A in it. So its actually livers which we need to avoid.

[Ruffles]

Came in from recent topics. Your friends is an idiot, and one who should keep her opinions to herself. Eat what you want. Heaven help you if the baby is fussy and you're breastfeeding, she'll have you on a diet of steamed carrot and water!

There is no basis to anything she's saying.

THis +1

Just relax and enjoy your pregnancy. There are few obvious things not to eat for health related reasons and a few things you could eat more of (if you like them) for nutritional reasons. The rest is just old wives tales.

What does she think women in asian countries eat when they are pregnant? SPices are fine. And chilli can cause the opposite of constipation - she really has no idea!

Healthy diet, lots of fresh fruit and veges (but not preprepared salads) and everything in moderation. It's not that hard, even when other people try to make it so.

This post has been edited by Ruffles: 08/11/2012, 10:02 AM

[Gel_Bel]

Some of my friends in the past have gone totally crazy with the pregnancy diet. But to be honest, most of it is a load of crap. Women have been having babies since the dawn of time! It makes me angry to see how totally silly we must seem to other cultures who eat different foods to us. Curries, fresh vegetables etc., seem perfectly fine to me.

I say eat what you want in moderation and stay away from old/stale food. Tell your friend thanks for the advice, and then ignore her if you want.

[key_gal]

The word moderation i guess is different to all. I havent had laksa for abt 2 mths since begining of preganancy. So i thought yeah one time is not big deal plus shellfish is troublesome to cook so i eat it once may be fortnightly/weekly if i eat out. I dun cook it myself.

She also said she reduced shellfish intake to moderate consumption. So I asked her how many times she had it in her pregnancy. She said may be twice in the 9 months.

[zaacaa]

Sorry but your friend is a bit crazy!

The only thing I wouldn't eat in Laksa is the bean sprouts they put on top. Everything else on that list is perfectly fine. Mango and papaya are almost all I am surviving on at present.

[Gel_Bel]

The word moderation i guess is different to all. I havent had laksa for abt 2 mths since begining of preganancy. So i thought yeah one time is not big deal plus shellfish is troublesome to cook so i eat it once may be fortnightly/weekly if i eat out. I dun cook it myself.

She also said she reduced shellfish intake to moderate consumption. So I asked her how many times she had it in her pregnancy. She said may be twice in the 9 months.

I guess when I say moderation I mean don't eat a pot full of laksa in one go. Just have a bowl when you feel like it. Or don't sit down and eat 1kg of chocolate, just have a piece. Frequency of consumption in pregnancy depends, for me, on my cravings...I'm craving cucumber sandwiches, so I have them when I'm hungry...which is all the time.
zaacaa- totally agree!