Yes, it's safe to eat honey during pregnancy. While it's not safe to give honey to babies under a year old, eating honey when you're pregnant won't harm you or your unborn child. That's because your grown-up stomach can handle the bacteria in honey that sometimes makes babies sick with a rare illness called botulism.
Thankfully, it turns out that if you're pregnant and honey is your cup of tea (or a necessary part of it), it's perfectly safe to indulge, as long as the honey is pasteurized.
In general, honey is a safe sweet treat for you during pregnancy. So if you want to swirl some honey in your tea, use it to sweeten your baked goods, or take a spoonful to soothe a sore throat, feel free. Honey can carry bacteria, but your body should have no problem processing it as long as you are a healthy adult.
Although it has many health benefits, the use of honey also needs to be in a certain dose. Recommendations from experts indicate that one tablespoon of honey contains about 8.6g of sugar. Therefore, every day pregnant women should only use up to 5 tablespoons of honey, equivalent to 180-200 calories.
If you're experiencing morning sickness, there's simply no better option to start the day with than this honey, lemon and ginger tea. Ginger is proven to help reduce the effects of nausea and morning sickness, and with the extra kick of honey and lemon, this tea might just be your taste buds' new best friend.
Pregnant women can take acetaminophen (Tylenol) for a sore throat with a limit of 3,000 mg in 24 hours. An antihistamine may help if the sore throat is due to postnasal drip because it can dry up those secretions. Sprays or lozenges that contain benzocaine, a local anesthetic, can help numb the throat.
Lemon consumption can help relieve nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and is generally a safe option. However, women planning to treat pregnancy effects with lemon should speak to their healthcare provider first. People can consume lemon in the forms of tea, water and lemon mixtures, and fresh lemon juice.
Raw honey comes straight from the hive and will likely contain more nutrients, but it is not pasteurized. Regular honey is pasteurized to removes particles and bacteria, but this may destroy antioxidants. It may also contain added sugar.
Raw or pasteurized? Raw honey will have a label that reads “raw honey.” If the label does not include the word “raw,” or does not come directly from a farmer or beekeeper who can confirm that it is raw, the manufacturer has probably pasteurized it.
Babies younger than 1 year old should not be given honey. That's because a type of bacteria (called Clostridium) that causes infant botulism can be found in honey. Infant botulism can cause muscle weakness, with signs like poor sucking, a weak cry, constipation, and decreased muscle tone (floppiness).
Plain pasteurized Greek yogurt is a smart choice for pregnant women. Since it is strained, most of the lactose (the form of carbohydrate in dairy) is removed, and the protein is concentrated. Greek yogurt does not raise your blood sugar level and is therefore gestational-diabetes-friendly.
The sweet nectar known as Manuka isn't anything like highly processed commercial honey, which is why you're not going to find it for just a few dollars on a grocery store shelf. That's like comparing a rock to a gem. This is honey in its raw, natural state and hasn't been pasteurized.
Nature's original sweetener! Australia produces some of the most potent Manuka on the world. Capilano raw & unpasteurized Manuka Honey is independently tested and certifies to contain a minimum 30 mg/kg of Methylglyoxal (MGO).
Expectorants like Mucinex, cough suppressants like Robitussin, vapor rubs like Vicks VapoRub, and cough drops are all considered safe during pregnancy.
The use of ginger (including eating and drinking ginger tea) is considered safe for pregnant women when in reasonable doses. Experts believe that consuming up to 1 gram (1,000 mg) of ginger per day is safe for pregnant women to help reduce nausea during pregnancy.
The answer is fortunately: yes, honey is safe for pregnant women and yes, mothers-to-be can eat honey during pregnancy as long as it's pasteurized honey. So if you're a honey lover, be sure that this natural sweetener doesn't fall under the list of foods to avoid during pregnancy.
Pasteurizing honey is a very different thing than pasteurizing milk or other dairy products, and it's done for very different reasons. Because of its low moisture content and high acidity, bacteria and other harmful organisms cannot live or reproduce in honey, so pasteurization is not done for that purpose.
Pure honey only means that it has not been cut with corn syrup, sugar or another ingredient to dilute it. Usually, pure honey has been heated for pasteurization and filtered at least once if not twice, which is what separates it from raw honey.
Soft, unpasteurized cheeses like feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, and goat — as well as ready-to-eat meats like hot dogs and deli meats — may contain Listeria, bacteria that cause mild flu-like symptoms in most adults but can be very dangerous for unborn babies.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that pregnant women limit their caffeine consumption to less than 200 mg (about two, six-ounce cups) per day.
But simple home remedies can help reduce heartburn during pregnancy. Drink a glass of warm milk with honey to get instant relief from heartburn. Heartburn symptoms are common during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Simple tips can help manage heartburn.