Not Advised in Pregnancy

Listeria, Raw Foods, and What to Skip

Not a nutrient question but a contamination one: pregnancy raises the risk from certain foodborne pathogens, especially Listeria, enough to change what is safe to eat.

Food SafetyCDC/FDA/ACOG food-safety guidance for pregnancy

Alcohol, Excess Caffeine, and High-Risk Herbs

The short, well-evidenced list of things to keep out of a pregnancy, where the guidance is unusually clear.

Safety / Avoid ListMix of substances; alcohol carries federal warning labels

Essential, and the One to Watch the Ceiling On

A nutrient pregnancy genuinely needs, and the clearest example of a vitamin where too much, in the wrong form, causes serious birth defects.

Fat-Soluble VitaminEssential nutrient with an RDA and a strict tolerable upper limit; synthetic retinoids are prescription teratogens

The Preeclampsia Hypothesis That Failed

A compelling theory, that antioxidants prevent preeclampsia, that large trials tested thoroughly and found not only useless but, at high doses, possibly harmful.

Antioxidant VitaminsEssential vitamins at normal intake; high-dose antioxidant use for preeclampsia not supported