Brouhaha brewing over what pregnant women eat

Many have seen someone throw a cold stare in the direction of a pregnant woman ordering a second glass of wine or, heaven forbid, smoking a cigarette. But with the list of potentially dangerous foods growing by the day, an expectant mother shouldn’t be surprised if a stranger pipes up as she buys a box of macaroni and cheese.

“Your doctor said you could eat that?” Tut-tut.

Every month that passes brings new studies saying this food is good for you and that food is bad. Pregnant women experience this information overload in exponential terms. And many around them feel they have the right to weigh in when lunchtime arrives.

Research over the past few years has added common foods and beverages to the list of items that pregnant women should avoid. Studies have linked maternal consumption of both diet and regular soda with preterm delivery and preeclampsia in mothers, higher body mass indexes in infants, and overweight and asthmatic children.

Other studies have found that a fetus may be exposed to arsenic when the mother eats rice, potentially affecting fetal growth. And in July, a widely publicized report found high levels of phthalates, chemicals that in large amounts can impede testosterone production in male fetuses, in macaroni and cheese mixes.

Although none of these foods currently appear on the American Pregnancy Association’s Foods to Avoid list, Brad Imler, the organization’s president, advises women to exclude them anyway. It’s the better-safe-than-sorry school, though some would call it pregnancy paranoia. Unless a woman is constantly monitoring the latest in scientific journals, staying informed of potential dangers is almost impossible. Even then, only experts can tell you which studies and headlines are valid and which are hyperbolic.

“It’s really hard to keep up,” says Elisabetta Politi, a dietitian at Duke Health. “We’re bombarded with so many studies, and many are observational, so we don’t know if the food is causing an increased risk or [just] associated with it. But it’s the time in life where women are willing to make changes and err on the safe side.”

Such thinking, though, can lead to unnecessary dietary changes, not to mention anxiety, warns economist Emily Oster. In her 2013 book, Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong-And What You Really Need to Know, Oster provides a guide on how to get through a pregnancy healthfully, safely, and without missing out unnecessarily.

For example, don’t worry about causing fetal alcohol syndrome from a little bit of wine, but do worry about listeria exposure through unwashed vegetables and deli turkey. Oh, and don’t smoke. Ever.