Sushi and Pregnancy

[Anonymous]

I'm CRAVING sushi. Although, I only plan on eating sushi with the cooked fish, I'm scarred about the all issues with seafood and pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

I ate sushi throughout my pregnancy - cooked and vegetarian. I ate fish almost every day. Once or twice I ate a piece of raw fish sushi......

[Anonymous]

I didn't find out I was pregnant with my first baby until almost 3 months in (because of a very irregular period). All I wanted to eat was sushi and did at least 3-4 times a week. I ate lots of uncooked stuff. Nothing bad happend. I'm not saying you should but I've got to wonder what all the pregnant women in Japan eat...

[Anonymous]

For my 1st pregnancy I craved raw Sushi all the time and I ate it ALL THE TIME! I had a healthy 9lb boy. However, this time around luckily I have not craved it. The recent stern tuna warning scared me a bit (I'm not easily scared by all of the various food warnings, but this one got me). So, if I start craving it a bit, then I will try to stay away from the high mercury ones when possible.

BTW, about Japan, they do not warn women against eating sushi, it is not something their doctors are concerned about. They certainly are doing something right that we're not b/c their infant mortality rate is much better than ours and so is their life expectancy and they also seem a bit smarter too, certainly their children's test scores as it stacks up against the rest of the world show that.

Also, a recent study came out toting the benefits of fish consumption for pregnant women. I know the study warned to avoid the high mercury fish, but I'm sure that was in part a CYA.

[Anonymous]

My dr even told me sushi was fine! The only thing I'd worry about is eating too much tuna. Sushi-grade tuna is much higher in mercury than canned tuna. I wouldn't eat more than 1-2 servings of tuna a week to play it safe. There is a lot of yummy non-tuna sushi out there to enjoy!

[Anonymous]

This question has come up before on this board, and when I dared to say that I didn't eat sushi among other things that pregnant women are advised not to eat for safety reasons, I was flamed - accused of being too uptight and someone who would be a "smothering" and "paranoid" mother. Something to that effect. You should ask your doctor, whose advice I assume you trust.

[Anonymous]

I thought about this too and am going to eat some sushi with cooked fish. The issues with cross contamination exist in any restaurant (or at other peoples' houses for that matter), unless you are literally watching, you don't know uncooked meat was on the same cutting board or transferred with the same spatula as what you're eating. I mean when people BBQ they keep using the same set of thongs for uncooked and cooked meat. Same for all the other food items like the grocery store cutting pasteurized and unpasteurized cheese with the same knives... you have no control over that.

So that's what I'm going with. I'm going to eat it at a nice restaurant though not a food court of course and where there's enough of a turnover that the fish is not hanging out for extended periods of time.

Regarding the other fish issues I think the issues you are referring to must be the mercury related warnings?
As long as you watch the mercury content and eat low mercury fish (and ideally watch where the fish comes from depending on where you live), I certainly support all the studies that show the benefits of eating fish. So in fact I try and eat fish regularly if possible.

If anything, I'm more concerned about the hot dog, deli meat listeria issues.

[Anonymous]

I am 25 weeks and have been eating sushi with cooked fish on a regular basis. So far, so good. I really think that even the raw fish is probably okay if you are at a reputable sushi place, but I have stayed away from the good stuff just out of an abundance of caution. I see no reason to avoid the cooked, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This question has come up before on this board, and when I dared to say that I didn't eat sushi among other things that pregnant women are advised not to eat for safety reasons, I was flamed - accused of being too uptight and someone who would be a "smothering" and "paranoid" mother. Something to that effect. You should ask your doctor, whose advice I assume you trust.

I'm with you. Seems like a small price to pay.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry for the PP who was flamed for expressing her views. If I've learned anything in this process it is that there's all sorts of advice and approaches out there and you have to do what works for you, with your doctor's consent of course. For me, my doctor specifically told me sushi was ok. He said go to a reputable place and not a food court/some cart on the mall. He said it was healthy and would provide some needed nutrients. He also said to not go crazy on the tuna and if I was dying for some tuna, to make sure it was a nice tuna steak at a place like Blacksalt- limited to once a week.

My doc tends to be a lttle less strict with stuff, but I like that. It's not for everyone though. I have not followed his advice yet as I've been too sick to enjoy it. Can't wait for this nausea to end. Then I will definitely make some reservations at Sushi-Ko.

[Anonymous]

I have been eating sushi (cooked and raw) on and off during my pregnancy. I might go twice a week or once a month depending on whether I feel like making the trip to a good establishment. I only go to places I know and trust. My logic has been that my odds of getting sick are the same now as they were before I was pregnant. Besides, I'm not eating massive quantities of high mercury fish. Plus, I feel that my Japanese lunch box lunches are healthier and better balanced than my philly cheesesteak or pizza lunches.

As a side note, I recently was invited to dinner with a group of Japanese people and sushi was served, of course. The pregnant Japanese woman and I partook of the sushi without anyone even discussing the "dangers" of sushi.

[Anonymous]

Geeze, don't people know that not all "nice" restaurants have clean kitchens? Right, the sushi bar is out in the open, but you don't know what kind of rodents come out after hours. Just food for thought. You take your chances with everything you do, but people DO get listeria.

[Anonymous]

Yes, after I wrote that I realized listeria and rats have nothing to do with each other. The gist of what I meant to say is that people get sick eating at "nice" restaurants too. Please forgive me, dear readers.