Food to avoid

Hi xox,

i know it's those kind of camembert and brie.....

Hi Valencia,

Wow, you're an expert in buying birds nest, i don't have any idea which one is good as there are different price range. I thought the higher it is the better.
Do you have any shop in particular that i can go to? I'm familiar with Sheng Wan and i know there are lots of shops there selling this.

Thanks.
 
Mama S,

I'm not an expert (blushing). Bird's nest is suitable for people who feel hot rather than cold (Chinese concept of hot and cold). If you feel cold or have a weak body, then bird's nest is not suitable. You may buy some ready bottled ones to see if they're suitable for you (any allergies etc) before buying dried bird's nest.

Sheung Wan is a good place for buying dried seafood and stuffs like that, since some shops do wholesale. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with shops there. I usually buy in shops in my neighbourhood but will be too far for you (Kowloon). The ones that come from Indonesia should be OK. Mine cost $1000 for 3 taels, about $333 per tael (10 thin pieces). It's very wet now, so you'll get less for 1 tael than on a sunny winter day. Usually there're 6-7 medium pieces in 1 tael. Some are drier than others, the drier the better. Buy those that need no picking (the feathers). The ones that cost between $360 to $500 per tael should be OK. Avoid buying those over $1000 per tael since they always look shiny and are made up of glue. Make sure you buy the real ones. When soaked in water, they expand to at least 3-4 times their original size and smell nice.
 
Mamas

I am a chinese and hence probably I can give you more info about "what not to eat in chinese' perspective".

My doctor told me not to eat -
coffee and tea (bcoz of caffeine)
any raw meat
soft cheese

My mom told me not to eat -
Fruit - avoid banana, papaya, watermelon - during early pregnancy. Orange and Apple, Grape are certainly GOOD. Mom said a limited amount of mango and pineapple is ok too; of course you should not eat too much to avoid hurting your stomach - it's true even you are NOT pregnant.
Meat - avoid mutton; All the rest are OK. More meat can help your bb grow faster. Of course, do not eat too much goose or duck or "dark meat" - same token, you should not eat too much even you are not preg.
Seafood - avoid Crab and Octupus. Some magazines says it can cause miscarriage. I actually eat shrimp, lobster, oyster (cooked), and all kind of fish.
Vege - avoid tofu and turnip in the 1st trimester (but can eat afterwards). There is a kind of chinese vege called "bitter melon" which is too cold and should be avoid (I guess you have not tasted it before). All others are fine. Should take more green-leave vege as far as you can e.g. broccoli

Hence, in conclusion, not much food to avoid even from chinese perspective. Actually, my mom told me to "eat anything as you can" to keep balance diet - as pregnant women usually feel sick of a lot of food due to morning sickness.

BTW, no need to take to much expensive food during preg - both my Dr and my mom's comments. I will not take any bird nest during my preg because most bird nest get polluted. For chinese soup (which is important for chinese) I just cook vege + bone soup. No chinese herb is needed.

It's very long msg. Hope it helps.
 
MamaS,

An MPhil is a research degree "Master of Philosophy", it required me to write a thesis.

I have never heard about oranges as being too cooling. The general things I've heard referred to were:

* Shrimp, prawns, & crab - too cooling & bad for baby's skin

* Snake - too hot & bad for baby's skin

* Lamb/mutton - too hot & superstition about "Yeung" causing epilepsy because the sound of "yeung" and the word for epilepsy in Chinese are homonyms.

Heard advice to avoid papaya (miscarriage danger) and also eat papaya (good for the baby)

Avoid durian - "too hot"

So, various people will tell you to do various things. Each woman will choose to observe some and not others and then pass on her advice in turn.

In my thesis, I write that it is (in one way) of making more sacred/special the time of pregnancy in Chinese folk practices/religion. It's part of an ever evolving "women's expressive culture".

I also think that practices of pregnancy prohibition and things that "must" be done are related to the prohibitions of "cho yuet" and "Toi gaau" (fetal education). They are all ways that women adjust to their new roles as mother (or are disciplined into their new roles as mothers).
 
My Dr. said no need to eat bird's nest due to pollution, bird's nest is not as good as 20 yrs ago. Also, avoid watermelon as there's an element inside affecting your uterus and causing miscarrage. No big fish from deep sea because it contains mercury which affects baby's braine. The only seafood you can eat is fish but small in size, better for those catching from the sea
 
Thanks Valencia, loupou and mao for your tips. Really appreciate it.

Virgobb, I love your long msg, it really helps, i strongly believe that food is important esp on the first trimester, i had a bad experience on that so this time i try to avoid everything that i read, truth or no truth, nothing to loose, there's a lot of food to eat. Hey, i've eaten bittergourd, it's the same as bittermelon, right? that's the first time i heard of that as cooling. Though i just ate maybe half of it, i put sesame oil in almost all of my vege to keep it hot. Hope it is okay that i ate that. That's the only no no from all the list here that i've eaten. Thanks again.
 
Hi, it is informative to learn about all these traditions. However, one thing is against what my doctor is telling me. It was mentioned a few times from previous posting that banana is to be avoid. But I am having a moderate constipation and the doctor asked me to eat "big" banana, the one which is a bit sour, and it works.
 
Hi Virgobb & Loupou,

Do you know if the foods we've discussed to avoid is good for the first trimester only? what does the chinese belief on this? is it safe now to eat cooling foods and fruits like watermelon, banana, etc.

Thanks....
 
yes bird's nest throughout pregnancy and also as i'm breastfeeding as well. i think that it did help with the baby's skin. but you only need about a tablespoon a day, i drink it with milk every morning.

with banana, my MIL said that it will cause muscle cramps both for me and the baby. i take all of the Chinese advice with a grain of salt.. but i had a banana one night and the cramps did happen... stopped having it, and i seldom had cramps anymore, might be coincidence, might be true... i stayed clear of it through the pregnancy months.

also heard that fruts like watermelon are ok the few weeks before you give birth, allegedly helps the baby 'slides' out. this is also said for 'fish stomach'. kind of funny i think...
 
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thanks kellyst,

Is the birdsnest you're taking the ready made one in a bottle, i don't think i have the time to cook and prepare it, so the bottle one is covnenient to take.

I guess banana and watermelon family are all cooling foods.
 
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