Is Eating Egg Safe During Pregnancy?

As anyone knows, pregnancy nutrition is generally focused on consuming only healthy foods, meaning eating foods from all groups of food and consuming the proper calorie number per day.

Eggs represent an amazing source of nutrients, turning them into some kind of a superfood. They have the required nutrients that take the shape of vitamins A and D, fats, protein and minerals, all of them being very important for future moms.

Is Eating Eggs Safe during Pregnancy?

If you need a short one, the answer is yes. However, you should make certain they are completely pasteurized and cooked.

Undercooked or raw eggs might carry organisms that cause diseases, such as Salmonella bacteria, which might lead to food poisoning. If you become ill with Salmonella, you will certainly experience diarrhea, high fever dehydration and vomiting. In severe situations, these particular signs might be really serious and lead to miscarriage or prenatal labor. Cooking and pasteurization destroy Salmonella bacteria.

If you want to get rid of the bacteria, your eggs have to be well cooked until their whites and yolks become firm. This will mean no poached, runny, soft-boiled or over-easy eggs.

If you are attempting to prepare eggs that are undercooked or various dishes which may contain raw eggs, like ice cream, hollandaise sauce, eggnog, Caesar salad, chocolate mousse, custard, and mayonnaise, you should make use of pasteurized eggs. You should also avoid sampling cake butter or cookie dough if the eggs that were used for their preparation aren`t pasteurized.

Generally speaking, pasteurized eggs are labeled accordingly. However, this will also depend on where you get them. On the other hand, eggs that aren`t pasteurized are most of the times labeled as “safe handling guidelines.”

Are Scrambled Eggs Safe during Pregnancy?

As already mentioned, eggs are great for nutrients, and they aren`t hard to prepare or expensive to get. While women who expect a baby have been advised until now to stay away from undercooked or raw eggs, new studies suggest that eggs which are cooked lightly are also safe to consume during pregnancy, if they they`re of Red Lion standard.

Benefits of Consuming Eggs while Pregnant

Here you have a few of the health benefits of consuming them when expecting.

Development of the Brain

Besides being full of minerals and vitamins, this type of food include omega-3 fatty acids and choline (we`ll mention this again immediately below), which develops the overall growth and health of the future baby`s brain. This will naturally prevent any possible neural tube defects.

High Levels of Proteins

Eggs are high in proteins, which are very important while pregnant. Each cell of the developing baby is designed from protein, so consuming this kind of food in limited amounts while pregnant is ideal for the baby.

Regulates the Level of Cholesterol

Women with normal levels of cholesterol could have 1 or 2 eggs each day in order to have a well balanced diet that doesn`t contain high amounts of saturated fats. If the levels of cholesterol are increased, you can always avoid egg yolk. – Click here!

Rich in Choline

You might not know this, but according to choline Info organization, choline promotes the development of the brain and early function of memory in a baby`s life. Eggs are rich sources of choline, so consuming 2 eggs could offer about half of the daily recommended choline amount, turning them into ideal food choices during pregnancy.

High Calorie Levels

Eggs have around 70 calories, which aid to meet a part of a pregnant woman`s daily requirement. They have to ideally eat consume around 200 – 300 calories each day in order to nourish their own body and the one of their baby.

How Many Eggs Can Pregnant Women Consume?

The yolk of an egg has around 1851 mg of cholesterol, according to the Incredible Egg Organization. An adult is able to consume almost 300 mg. While pregnant, consuming 2 eggs per day might place you over the amount of cholesterol recommended, and it won`t either take into consideration any of the other foods rich in cholesterol you might have taken during the day.

Consuming 1 or 2 eggs on most regular days during a week isn`t dangerous. Still, if you may experience high cholesterol or you`re overweight, consuming eggs each and every day might put you in risk for possible complications.

You have to limit the consumption of egg yolk up to 3 or 4 per week, according to the American National Institute of Health. Your best possible option is go for egg whites instead. Get in touch with your doctor about egg consumption during pregnancy.

How Should Eggs Be Stored?

Keep this in mind when storing eggs:

• Keep them into separate trays in your fridge.
• Keep them in the carton you bought them and store them in the fridge`s main body and not on the fridge`s door, so they can maintain a consistent temperature.

When following these measures of precaution, it`s recommended to consume 3 – 4 eggs a week while pregnant.

How to Prepare Them?

Some experts out there will recommend future moms to consume egg yolks in smoothies or simply crack it into the hand, let the egg`s white come through the fingers and then swallow its yolk down. Obviously, this will mean to consume it raw, but what about all that advice not to eat raw eggs due to risk of infection with Salmonella bacteria? The fact that the group B vitamins stay intact is a plus, but is it enough?

Anyway, you could add milk or water to your shake, but it`s also possible for you to make an “Egg-Shake” with just raw eggs. It might be best to boil your eggs for 1 minute if you eat large amounts, although this might interfere with protein digestion and group B vitamins.

Perhaps the secret when consuming eggs raw is to know their source. So if you have knowledge about the farm where they are from, you could eat them any way you want just fine. – Learn more!

How to Ensure that Eggs Are Properly Cooked?

Keep these guidelines in mind when eating eggs while expecting:

• Avoid using foul-smelling type of eggs.
• Cooked & boiled eggs need to be eaten within 2 hours.
• Be certain the egg you consume is cooked well.
• If you prefer fried eggs, then fry them on both sides.
• Avoid consuming products, such as mayonnaise or mousse, as raw eggs are their main ingredient and their quality cannot be guaranteed.
• Be certain the egg white isn`t watery, but rather gel-like and opaque.
• Be sure both the egg`s yolk and white turn solid at some point when you cook them.

Strawberry Egg Shake

• Boil six eggs for about a minute.
• Blend them with a frozen spinach or broccoli.
• While you blend them, add a big scoop of honey and some frozen strawberries until you have added four to five parts. Allow them to shake until it thickens to the consistency you want.

You can use just about any vegetables or fruits, so it becomes fun to experiment.