In the 1960’s and earlier, doctors often advised women to not eat very much food when they were pregnant because babies who were too big were thought to be unhealthy. They approached it like getting a credit report online or insurance quotes online, where normally people think that if you pay too much then you are not getting a good deal. But paying “too much” for food when you are pregnant is a great deal: It helps your baby be born healthy and with lots of food and nutrients. Furthermore, once you are breastfeeding (as modern doctors advise) you will need to eat more food anyway since you are eating for two people and even though the baby might be say eight or nine pounds it will eat more than a hypothetical adult weighing the same weight since the baby is growing very fast, like a sprout.

Because of this, it is critical that you eat both enough food and also get the right types of food. So that you can deliver a healthy baby, I will tell you some foods to avoid when you are pregnant:

Alcohol

This is a very dangerous food for your baby since it can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, a collection of both mental and physical birth defects that babies can get from mothers who drink while they are carrying a baby. Luckily, only 30% of American women drank during their pregnancy so luckily now people know about the dangers of drinking while pregnant but it was not always this way. However, that number is still far too high. While one beer once or twice during your pregnancy will probably not hurt your baby (but still don’t do it) and some of that 30% probably drank only once or twice, many other mothers continue drinking and this causes their baby to have birth defects. Some defects might be minor so the mothers never find out that drinking caused them so they drink in subsequent pregnancies and those babies are born with severe mental and physical health problems. In fact, it is the number 1 cause of intellectual disability in the West. Also, some women drink alcohol before conception and keep drinking while they do not know that they are pregnant, so if you are planning on becoming pregnant then do not drink alcohol either.

Sugars

Gestational diabetes, a temporary form affecting pregnant women, is common in women with poly-cystic ovarian syndrome and can also happen to other women. It clears up after pregnancy but women who get it are more susceptible to getting type 2 diabetes later in life. Therefore, avoiding sugar is something that will help avoid gestational diabetes and will be good for your insulin receptors even if you are not pregnant. If you really have trouble not eating much sugar, you should try to replace it with sugar substitutes or slowly reduce your sugar intake in the run-up to your pregnancy.

This is a guest post by Murray Newlands. Murray is the CEO and Founder of Influence People, a California-based online marketing and blogger outreach firm.

What Foods Should You Avoid When You’re Pregnant?