How okay is it to wolf down a heaping pile of fries and cheeseburger when pregnant? Is it wrong for pregnant women to focus on “good” goods and avoid “bad” foods?
It’s tough to resist junk food when expecting. It’s hard to resist junk food when not pregnant.
It’s easy to love ultra-processed foods; who can resist some of these items?
Think pancakes drenched in syrup; Crumbl cookies; fast-food fare; baked goods; candy; and of course, let’s not forget the highly processed foods on supermarket shelves, including those that are fraudulently marketed as healthy.
Nobody is saying it’s wrong for an expectant woman to occasionally indulge in a large amount of chili cheese fries or a buttery grilled ham and cheese on white bread.
But what about caving into these urges on a regular basis to avoid developing an eating disorder while pregnant?
Is this approach logical and practical or is it just plain nuts?
I once worked in an office near a woman who one day announced a pregnancy.
It wasn’t long before I came to know that Hayli was committed to eating only healthful, clean foods during her pregnancy.
She’d bring in things like sliced cucumbers and carrots, fruit and various green salads and other minimally processed foods.
Her desk was across from mine and I’d clearly see that her diet was really healthful.
Certainly I didn’t know what she ate at home, but on the job, Hayli ate very nutritiously and avoided junk food, including the free candy that was available (the company was a coffee service that included candy for its clients).
I’d see her turn down offers of donuts and whatnot from the company drivers who’d come in with goodies.
According to some influencers, she had an eating disorder, or, was setting herself up for one.
But wouldn’t an eating disorder be that of mindless consumption of junk food while carrying a baby?
Hayli one day did tell me that she’d occasionally eat something like a brownie, “but not the whole pan.”
Some women believe pregnancy is the green light to forget about mindful eating and to just shovel down whatever your brain wants.
Women are warned not to drink alcohol or smoke while pregnant. Why would regular consumption of highly processed foods be any different?
It’s ridiculous to believe that making a serious effort to eat only good foods during pregnancy could lead to an eating disorder.
And if an expectant woman feels this way about herself, then she needs to explore how to successfully treat the underlying psychological condition that gives rise to this kind of thinking.
It’s Okay to Think of “Good” and “Bad” Foods when Pregnant
Eating mostly whole or minimally processed foods during pregnancy is important because the mother’s diet supplies the energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, essential fats and other nutrients needed for her baby.
What she eats, the baby eats.
A diet of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, seafood, fresh poultry and grass fed beef has been associated with lower risks of several pregnancy complications.
This includes preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and preterm birth (Gresham et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2019; Amiri et al., Public Health Nutrition, 2019).
Highly processed foods can displace more nutritious foods while providing substantial amounts of added sugars, refined carbohydrates, sodium and saturated fat.
Studies of pregnant women have found that greater consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with poorer overall diet quality and lower intake of fruits, vegetables, legumes and fresh animal protein (Akyakar et al., Current Nutrition Reports, 2024).
Again, an occasional indulgence is okay, but beware: Not being mindful can lead to that “occasional” turning into “frequent.”
A systematic review and meta-analysis involving more than 698,000 women found that diets high in ultra-processed foods were associated with increased risks of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia (Pagliai et al., Nutrients, 2022).
Though these findings don’t overwhelmingly point to cause-and-effect, they’re certainly something to reflect upon.
It just makes so much common sense, if you don’t want to pay attention to the research, that the fewer processed or junky foods you put into your body, the healthier your baby will be.
