bacon and brie.
Jen says I get overly passionate and heated when talking about this, but I think a lot of the "DO NOT EAT" foods people get all freaked out about is 99% bullshit. Everything has been and will be randomly considered carcinogenic at some point. We like to say that if there is a .000000000002% chance it may be harmful and we haven't proven 100% that it isn't harmful, Americans err on the side of caution and scream that it's going to kill you.
This may be because if you're a doctor and you tell someone that eating tuna in moderation while pregnant is ok and then someone miscarries and wants to sue you saying that it's all your fault for allowing the tuna consumption, you're going to be in deep shit. Better tell the pregnant woman to eat nothing.
So this is what I learned about nitrates. DREADED BABY KILLING NITRATES.
Let us ignore that it has never been proven to be carcinogenic in the first place. Nitrates are a preservative to protect food from botulism. Which actually can kill you. So if you want to eat something that is nitrate free, then you have a higher chance of getting botulism and DYING. So it's actually recommended if you are going to eat a hot dog or some bacon, to make sure it has nitrates. The place you can get the highest exposure to nitrates is drinking water. So eating a hot dog is better than drinking tap water if you aren't sure about the water. Also. You would need to eat a crap ton of bacon and preserved meat for it to be an issue... and even if you did, Vitamin C will break it down for you.
So yea. If you're going to eat an entire pigs worth of bacon, have a glass of orange juice and the potentially dangerous nitrites become harmless.
Davel pointed out that in California, eating fresh citrus and not eating a wheelbarrow of deli meat is normal. So I guess if you live in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere and you eat 10 packs of bologne + 30 oscar meyer hot dogs + several packages of bacon every day and never eat a fresh fruit or vegetable, you should probably not do that.. ever. Being pregnant should be the last thing on your mind in avoiding that kind of diet - you're just going to kill yourself.
And during my research about nitrates, the other big no no was soft cheeses (and uncooked meat like smoked salmon and again, lunch meat) This is due to Listeria. Which yes, can be very dangerous. It's very rare, but it has a much more legitimate claim to saying it's dangerous for pregnant women than nitrates.
However. All you have to do is cook it. So if you want to eat lunch meat, cook it. You want to eat unpasteurized soft cheeses? Turn that stuff into fondue. Once you cook it, all the listeria dies and it's safe. Of course no fear mongering "if you breathe hard your baby will DIE" group is going to tell you that it's safe to eat soft cheese if you cook it. But it is.
Also. In the US most cheeses, even soft ones, are pasteurized. In Europe and many other countries, it is not, but in order to meet US standards of food safety, almost all cheese has to be pasteurized. Only soft UNpasteurized cheese is dangerous. So again, no group is going to tell you that plenty of cheese is ok, let's just label all cheese as evil and make you miserable during your 9 months of pregnancy. Unpasteurized cheese exists and it is popular and hip to eat - but it is always labeled. So if you have 2 bries and one says it's unpasteurized, be smart and don't buy that one.
So this is for Lydia.
You can eat as much damn bacon and as much soft cheese as you want when pregnant. I cannot save you from the alcohol that you will not be allowed to drink. But I have done all your research for you and you can rejoice... and have another bacon-cheese-roll to celebrate.
This may be because if you're a doctor and you tell someone that eating tuna in moderation while pregnant is ok and then someone miscarries and wants to sue you saying that it's all your fault for allowing the tuna consumption, you're going to be in deep shit. Better tell the pregnant woman to eat nothing.
So this is what I learned about nitrates. DREADED BABY KILLING NITRATES.
Let us ignore that it has never been proven to be carcinogenic in the first place. Nitrates are a preservative to protect food from botulism. Which actually can kill you. So if you want to eat something that is nitrate free, then you have a higher chance of getting botulism and DYING. So it's actually recommended if you are going to eat a hot dog or some bacon, to make sure it has nitrates. The place you can get the highest exposure to nitrates is drinking water. So eating a hot dog is better than drinking tap water if you aren't sure about the water. Also. You would need to eat a crap ton of bacon and preserved meat for it to be an issue... and even if you did, Vitamin C will break it down for you.
So yea. If you're going to eat an entire pigs worth of bacon, have a glass of orange juice and the potentially dangerous nitrites become harmless.
Davel pointed out that in California, eating fresh citrus and not eating a wheelbarrow of deli meat is normal. So I guess if you live in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere and you eat 10 packs of bologne + 30 oscar meyer hot dogs + several packages of bacon every day and never eat a fresh fruit or vegetable, you should probably not do that.. ever. Being pregnant should be the last thing on your mind in avoiding that kind of diet - you're just going to kill yourself.
And during my research about nitrates, the other big no no was soft cheeses (and uncooked meat like smoked salmon and again, lunch meat) This is due to Listeria. Which yes, can be very dangerous. It's very rare, but it has a much more legitimate claim to saying it's dangerous for pregnant women than nitrates.
However. All you have to do is cook it. So if you want to eat lunch meat, cook it. You want to eat unpasteurized soft cheeses? Turn that stuff into fondue. Once you cook it, all the listeria dies and it's safe. Of course no fear mongering "if you breathe hard your baby will DIE" group is going to tell you that it's safe to eat soft cheese if you cook it. But it is.
Also. In the US most cheeses, even soft ones, are pasteurized. In Europe and many other countries, it is not, but in order to meet US standards of food safety, almost all cheese has to be pasteurized. Only soft UNpasteurized cheese is dangerous. So again, no group is going to tell you that plenty of cheese is ok, let's just label all cheese as evil and make you miserable during your 9 months of pregnancy. Unpasteurized cheese exists and it is popular and hip to eat - but it is always labeled. So if you have 2 bries and one says it's unpasteurized, be smart and don't buy that one.
So this is for Lydia.
You can eat as much damn bacon and as much soft cheese as you want when pregnant. I cannot save you from the alcohol that you will not be allowed to drink. But I have done all your research for you and you can rejoice... and have another bacon-cheese-roll to celebrate.