Sauces give a meal an extra kick. Who won’t like to dip their fish fingers and French fries in sauces of their choice? During pregnancy, many mothers crave Chinese and Italian foods. And sauces are an inevitable part of it. Not all sauce safe during pregnancy. It is important to know about sauces to avoid during pregnancy.
What Makes Many Sauces Unsafe During Pregnancy?
Ready-made sauces contain a startling amount of fat, salt, and sugar. They are also high in calories. None of this is favorable during pregnancy. These two things in a sauce that can potentially impede the normal progression of pregnancy are sodium and sugar.
Another pertinent concern is pasturisation of the ingredients. Unpasturised dairy and eggs can lead to serious health complications during pregnancy. When you go through the list of sauces to avoid during pregnancy below, you will find many of them have a common ingredient- raw egg. If you can make sure pasteurized eggs are used to prepare these sauces you can have them in restricted quantity.
11 Sauces To Avoid During Pregnancy
We are not saying all sauces are unsafe during pregnancy. If you stick to the “moderation-rule” you can enjoy some sauces once in a while during pregnancy. However, if you have a habit of using sauce nearly every day, it is better to stop that practice during pregnancy.
Restaurants specialized in international cuisine are not rare in our country. We all like to experience unique tastes and food. Here are some of the sauces to avoid during pregnancy. Take a mental note of them and be careful when you go for eating in a restaurant next time.
1. Fresh garlic sauce
When you visit a Shawarma shop, they provide fresh garlic sauce with any dish you order. This is one of the sauces to avoid during pregnancy. This is because this sauce is prepared with raw egg whites.
You should stay away from ingesting raw eggs during pregnancy because of the increased risk of salmonella infection (salmonellosis). Extreme cases of salmonellosis during pregnancy can bring about serious consequences like miscarriage and stillbirth.
2. Hollandaise Sauce
This is a French sauce and one of the five mother sauces in French cooking. It is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice that is whisked well to a creamy consistency. It is served warm.
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This sauce should be avoided during pregnancy because of the presence of raw egg and increased risk of salmonellosis. This sauce rarely may also trigger uterine contraction.
3. Bearnaise sauce
Béarnaise sauce, which goes amazingly with steaks, is prepared using white wine vinegar, clarified butter, and egg yolks. It is then flavored with herbs. Even though the sauce is prepared by heating the ingredients, it is not cooked enough to bring down the risk of salmonellosis.
4. Mayonnaise
This sauce is made by slowly adding a thin stream of oil into raw egg yolks while continuously whisking the mixture. Once it is blended well, you will get white and creamy mayonnaise. It is better to avoid homemade mayonnaise during pregnancy as the raw egg increases the chances of contracting a foodborne illness.
Even though mayonnaise gives your sandwich and rolls a yummy twist, it is almost 100% fat. Mayonnaise is also calorie-dense. It is found that one tablespoon of mayonnaise contains 103 calories, 12 grams fat and 2 grams saturated fat. Unnecessary weight gain during pregnancy can create many issues during pregnancy.
5. Sriracha
It is quite natural to crave hot sauces during pregnancy. Sriracha is one of the most versatile hot sauces that go great with everything from noodles to pizza. Many people like to put it even on pancakes. It is prepared using sun-ripened chillis, vinegar, sugar, and salt. It also contains additives and preservatives.
However, due to more than one reason, this is one of the sauces to avoid during pregnancy. The first and foremost reason is the high level of sodium. One teaspoon of Sriracha sauce contains around 80 milligrams of sodium.
Increased sodium intake is not recommended during pregnancy as it could bring about electrolytic imbalance. It can also pave the way for fluid retention, which the expecting women are already prone to. It can also increase the chances of hypertension, which should be avoided during pregnancy.
Secondly, Sriracha sauce is extremely acidic. It can trigger acid reflux or acidity. Acidity brings about many issues like a sharp pain in the abdomen, digestive disorder. It can flare up acidity if the expecting woman is already prone to it.
Another reason is the sugar content, one teaspoon of Sriracha carries one gram of sugar. Therefore adding this sauce to everything you eat unknowingly increases your sugar intake as well.
6. Barbecue sauce
Grilling is a smart tactic for making healthy food. Barbecues are safe during pregnancy as long as the meat, fish, or vegetables used are well cooked.
However, everything is not the same when it comes to barbecue sauce. No one can imagine a barbecue without barbecue sauce. True. But it is one of the sauces to avoid during pregnancy due to its high calorie and sugar content.
According to sources, 2 tablespoons of standard barbecue sauce carries 58 calories and 11 grams of sugar. Even though you can have it occasionally in a restricted amount (just to curb your craving), it is a big no for the frequent intake of this sauce during pregnancy.
7. Horseradish sauce
Horseradish sauce adds a spicy kick to anything it is added into. However, it is most commonly served with meat or fish. It is one of the components of a shrimp cocktail sauce.
However, it is not at all recommended during pregnancy as it is loaded with fat, and the majority of it is saturated fat. Just one tablespoon of horseradish sauce contains 2 grams of saturated fat
Saturated fats fall into the category of “bad” fats. According to studies, it not only affects the healthy progression of the pregnancy but also can have a long term effect on the fetus.
8. Soy sauce
In contrary to most of the other sauces on this list of sauce to avoid during pregnancy, soy sauce is low in calories and fat and sugar content.
The issue with soy sauce, which is an important ingredient of East Asian cuisine, is its high sodium content. One tablespoon of this condiment contains 600 milligrams of sodium.
You can easily go overboard while using this sauce while cooking. Therefore frequent usage of this sauce can trigger pregnancy hypertension, water retention, electrolytic imbalance, and issues associated with it.
9. Tartar sauce
It is a mayonnaise-based sauce. Rough consistency and taste of tartar sauce makes it an excellent accompaniment to seafood. However, when it comes to pregnancy, it is a “Big No” sauce. It is extremely high in sodium and potassium. According to sources, two tablespoons of this sauce carries 200 mg of sodium.
The cream of tartar has extremely high potassium content as well. Foods high in sodium and potassium should be avoided during pregnancy as they can potentially cause many dangerous issues.
Some brands of tartar sauce comprise high fructose corn syrup as well. This is another reason to avoid this sauce during pregnancy.
10. Chili pepper sauce
You may have heard that it is good to consume hot and spicy sauces. They have a very low amount of calories after all. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are safe to eat during pregnancy.
Hot sauces can cause acidity. As pregnant women already suffer from the same, it can add on to your discomfort. The subsequent hyperacidity causes acid reflux, causing a burning sensation in your food pipe. It can also cause inflammation in the stomach lining.
So while hot sauces do have some benefits, it is best to reduce your intake of them during pregnancy. And if you already have a pre-existing stomach sensitivity or any kind of related allergies, you should abstain from chili pepper sauces, and other hot sauces, completely.
11. Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce (pronounced as WOO-STUH-SHER) is famous for both its tangy flavor and its complicated name. It is a brown sauce with quite a memorable smell.
It is made with many varied ingredients such as vinegar, molasses, anchovies, onion, tamarind, garlic, and more.
The reason it is not wise to consume this sauce during pregnancy is mainly due to its high sugar content. Worcestershire sauce is full of sugar, which may mean that having it makes you go above the recommended limit for daily sugar intake during pregnancy.
This can, in turn, lead to many chronic health issues, as well as obesity. Such a rapid weight gain during pregnancy can also lead to gestational diabetes. All of this can prove dangerous for you and your baby.
So, it is best to completely avoid the original version of this sauce. If you want to try it during pregnancy, you should probably try some substitute instead. If you are insistent on consuming it, make sure to only take it in very small amounts so that you do not exceed the daily limit of sugar intake.
Conclusion
From all this, we can conclude that most sauces are unhealthy and it is best to avoid them during pregnancy. They are high in fat, sodium, and sugar. The 11 sauces mentioned above are particularly unsafe when you are carrying your little one.
Remember! The safety of you and your baby is more important than the fleeting satisfaction you receive from these sauces.