Whats to eat?

• Smoked fish, including mussels, oysters and raw fish.
• Pre-prepared salad, including coleslaw (because of the mayonnaise).
• Pre-cooked meat products that do not require further cooking, such as pâté and  deli meats.
• Unpasteurised milk and products made from it.
• Soft-serve ice-cream.
• Soft cheeses, largely due the to surface moulds, though if they are well-cooked  and hot they are considered to be safe.

• Limit to one serve (150g) per fortnight  - billfish (swordfish, broadbill and marlin)  and shark (flake), with no other fish eaten  in that fortnight. 
• Limit to one serve (150g) per week  - orange roughy (deep sea perch) or  catfish, with no other fish eaten that week.
• Don't worry if you've had the odd meal  of fish with high levels of mercury. It's only  a potential problem if you eat that type of  fish regularly, as this can cause a build-up  of mercury in your blood.

Is a coffee or a cuppa safe?
Now, few would tell you that you have  to give up your one a day coffee or tea,  however, a word of caution is warranted  if you are a heavy drinker of caffeinated  drinks. Alertness is a good thing at  relevant times of the day. However, if you  are finding pregnancy or baby is keeping  you awake already, you may need to look at either timing or amount of caffeine-containing drinks.
     More importantly though, there has  been some research suggesting that  excessive intake of caffeine increases the  risks of miscarriage. Recommendations  put a safe level at two cups of coffee and  four cups of tea a day. 'Energy' drinks are  not recommended during pregnancy as  some can have very high levels of caffeine  and may contain ingredients not suitable  for pregnancy. Don't worry if you have  been over-indulging, the evidence is still  unclear and of course everyone and every  pregnancy is different.
      Tips to reduce your caffeine intake and  its effect:

• Opt for decaffeinated drinks (ideally, if  it is coffee, check it is steam-decaffeinated  to reduce any exposure to toxins)
•   Consider de-tannininsed teas. Green tea,  for example, has almost 30% more tannin that as a diuretic can leave you feeling very thirsty.
• Don't forget to account for other  caffeine-containing drinks such as hot chocolate, cola, and some soft drinks.
• Check with your health food shop for  herbal teas that are suitable during  pregnancy, or opt for the safer varieties  such as peppermint, lemon or chamomile.
• Ensure you drink plenty of water and  other healthy beverages.

What about the odd tipple?
There is now clear evidence that consuming alcohol during pregnancy can affect foetal development, as it's linked to low birthweight, miscarriage and other serious concerns. Most agencies have updated their recommendations to total avoidance of alcohol during pregnancy.


Reducing allergy in the family
In the past, avoiding allergy-causing foods was thought to be a good way to reduce the risk of your child being allergic. While research doesn't support that altering your diet while pregnant will reduce this risk, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence. The important thing to remember is that if anything is removed from the diet you should replace it with a healthy option. Each food group has specific nutrient properties, so it is important to ensure you maintain a balanced diet.


Salt
Latest estimates suggest that we are eating around 6g or more of salt a day  in Australia and around 9 grams in NZ (3g is about a teaspoon), and that ideally we should get this figure under 4g a day (1600 mg of sodium, salt being a combination of both sodium and chloride). Most of the salt we consume comes from processed foods (around 65-75%). Low-salt foods (foods with up to 120 mg of sodium per 100g of food) are standard recommendations for children and adults. Packaged foods with less than 120mg per 100g are a rarity, so monitoring your intake of both salt and processed foods during pregnancy is likely to be beneficial.


Sugars
Many natural foods contain simple carbohydrates/sugars and each simple sugar has an important function. For example, fruit sugar (fructose) aids recovery after exercise; breastmilk has a simple sugar called galactose, which with lactose is important for immunity; and blood sugar (glucose) fuels our brain. So to say that all sugars are bad is simply not true. What we do need to take care with is how much simple sugars represent of our daily diet (up to about 10% of calories can come from simple sugars). 

     The least-desirable simple sugar is added sugar, such as common table sugar (sucrose). Added sugars tend to provide calories (or kilojoules) without offering other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. Calories derived from these sugars are often referred to as "empty".  When you are pregnant quality nutrient dense foods is your best option.

• Limit your use of processed meats, for example salami which has one of the highest levels of trans fats. 
• Currently the levels of trans fats in fast foods and donuts is jiggling about. The increasing awareness of consumers has seen a drop in the levels of trans fats in many of the usual suspects, ideally check government watch dog sites for the latest as new reviews are released regularly.
• If you choose to eat margarine, opt for brands that note less then 1% trans fats on the label and are low in saturated fat.
• Limit the amount and regularity of takeaway food and deep-fried food.
• Reduce packaged foods.
• Limit or avoid cakes, biscuits, donuts etc.
• Reduce foods with "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" vegetable oil as an ingredient, biscuits are high on this list, so read ingredients labels.
• Opt for natural spreads made from original whole foods; for example, 100% almond paste, avocado, hummus, banana.