What do pregnant women in Japan eat?

9 comments

1. Food

2. Also the (you’re not allowed) part is wrong. They recommend not eating raw foods due to possible food Bourne illness. But fish itself is actually very good for baby development. As it is full of Omega 3 fatty acids that help in brain development.

3. From my memory of my two pregnancies in Japan: raw fish, caffeine. I still drank coffee once a day, but many women avoid us all together (even green tea and all).

4. Pretty much anything. Even sushi isnt prohibited, I think it’s more about sushi being of more dubious condition than here. Generally preferred to consume foods with higher nutritional value than snacks that might fill you up before you eat what is good for you. I recommend to always be aware of getting enough iron. Also, if any supplement is recommended it is Folic Acid. You can get those at a drugstore. In general prenatal vitamins are not a thing. As for iron, they will do bloodwork several times to check that, and you might get a prescription for stronger iron pills than the ones you can buy OTC.

5. Are you pregnant and looking for advice, or just asking out of general curiosity?

6. Based on 1 recent pregnancy experience here, similar to the states it is not recommended to eat raw fish or meat. We were also told to be careful about uncooked eggs. Otherwise there are absolutely no issues eating any food you like, while obviously avoiding excess (caffeine, mercury with certain type of fish etc.).

7. One of my co-workers is about to have his 2nd kid. He mentioned to me that they aren’t eating raw fish unless they go to a high quality restaurant due to the fear of parasites in the fish. They don’t trust the fish in the supermarket. But, that’s just one Japanese family.

   I think the food guidelines here are similar to the US for pregnant women, but it’s more acceptable to eat raw fish.

8. I can’t speak to any US recommendations, but in Japan I was advised to limit consumption of maguro (tuna) because of the mercury content. I asked about sashimi (raw fish) and was told that if I wanted to be extra careful, anything raw could be avoided, but in general they don’t advise women to avoid sushi/sashimi because fish is highly nutritious and the types of fats in fish oil are extremely important for fetal development. Basically, if you wanted to be extra safe, just have them cooked.

   It’s also advisable to avoid overconsumption of liver. Although liver is highly nutritious, it’s also very high in vitamin A, which can be harmful to a fetus in excessive amounts.

   Other than those two things, I wasn’t told to avoid any specific foods.

9. You’d decide what to eat based on your initial weight and how fast you’re gaining weight which means a lot of vegetables in most cases. Other than that, you’d just follow common sense advice like avoiding caffeine.