Take heart and take it easy. You don’t have to go crazy to protect your baby from food hazards. In spite of anything you might have read and heard, very few substances found in food have been absolutely proven harmful to the unborn.

Still, its smart to reduce risk whenever you can-particularly when you’re reducing risk for two. And it’s not that difficult to do, especially these days. To feed yourself and your baby as safely as you can, use the following as a guide to help you decide what to drop into your shopping cart and what to pass up.

Choose your foods from the Pregnancy Diet. Because it steers away from processed foods, it steers you clear of many questionable and unsafe substances. It also supplies Green Leafies and Yellows, rich in protective betacarotene, as well as other fruits and vegetables rich in phytochemicals, which may counteract the effects of toxins in food.

Whenever possible, cook from scratch with fresh ingredients or use frozen or packaged organic ready-to-eat foods. You’ll avoid many questionable additives found in processed foods and your meals will be more nutritious too.

Go as natural as you can, when you can. Whenever you have a choice, choose foods that are free of artificial additives. Read labels to screen for foods that are either additive free or use natural additives.  Keep in mind that although some artificial additives are considered safe, others are of questionable safely, and many are used to enhance foods that aren’t very nutritious to start with.

Generally avoid foods preserved with nitrates and nitrites, including hot dogs, salami, bologna and smoked fish and meats. Look for those brands that do not include these preservatives.

Fish is a great source of lean protein, as well as baby brain-building omega-3 fatty acids, two good reasons to keep it on your pregnancy menu- or even to consider adding it. If you’ve never been a fish eater before. And in fact, research has shown brain benefits for babies whose moms eat lots of fish when they’re expecting. So go fish, by all means, but fish selectively, sticking to those varieties that are considered safe. According to the EPA and other experts, it’s smart to avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish and tuna steaks. These large fish can contain high levels of methyl-mercury a chemical that in large, accumulated doses can  possibly be harmful to a fetus’s developing nervous system. Don’t worry if you’ve already enjoyed a serving or two of swordfish-any risks would apply to regular consumption-just skip these fish from now  on. Also limit your consumption o canned tuna.

Article Posted By : sreevani  On May 17, 2013lView All Articles

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http://www.veethi.com/articles/pregnancy--chemicals-in-foods-article-2265.htm

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Pregnancy , Chemicals in foods