Raw fish during pregnancy?

Hi, I'm from the US and I'm very curious...

During pregnancy, do women in Japan continue to consume a lot of fish? More specifically, do they eat raw fish (i.e. sashimi)? It is a big no-no here in the States. Not only the consumption of raw/uncooked fish should be avoided, Doctors do not recommend having more than 2 servings of fish a week. Since Japanese has a lot of fish in their diet, I'm just wondering fish is something that Japanese women would avoid during pregnancy.

Thanks.

If an OB doc tells a pregnant woman not to eat sushi and sashimi, he'll be fired. Japanese women do continue eating all the fish she wants during pregnancy. And we have much lower infant motility/mobility rates than the US does.

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+28530

Reason why I asked is that my wife and I were in Japan a month ago... we came back and found out she was pregnant and already 6 weeks! This will be our first, so we anxiously read up on what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. Since we both love Japanese food, we consumed A LOT of fish, particularly raw fish. Just want to make sure everything will be okay... comforting to see that Japanese women do not avoid certain foods during pregnancy... otherwise we would be in trouble.

Health care rules change from time to time as new scientific facts are discovered and as the natural environment changes. I just updated myself by doing a very quich search on several websites.

So far, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare claims as of June, 2003, that in order to avoid mercury likely to be contained in seafood, those who are pregnant or assume to be pregnant should try to avoid eating swordfish, alfonsino, shark, certain whales and dolphins. Among them swordfish and alfonsino which are commonly served in Japanese restaurants should be eaten only up to 2 servings a week (60-80 grams per serving).

The Ministry claims however, that other than these, there is no data implying that other fish carry ill effects as far as mercury is concerned. The Ministry also claims that fish are generally good for the human's health and that this statement should not encourage any decrease on fish consumption. Sorry that I could only find links in Japanese language.
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/shingi/2003/06/s0603-3.html

Other than this, a suppliment seller encourages pregnant women to consume fish, since the DHA contained is supposed to help build a healthy brain for the infant.

Kikkoman, a top selling soy sauce company, claims on their website that Vitamin B6 contained on foods like blue-skinned fish is supposed to reduce morning sickness.

On the other hand, quite often people are encouraged not to eat raw food in order to avoid food poisoning. Especially during summer, dangerous bacteria such as O-157 increases, and people requiring extra care such as elderlies, infants and the pregnant should avoid not only raw poultry and fish but also raw vegetables.

Although in your case, if food poisoning had occured, your wife would have suffered it long ago while she was in Japan.

Communicating on the web, I have the impression that specialists in the U.S. and perhaps other countries worry about the mercury and other chemicals contained in a lot of seafood, while in Japan, specialists believe that the postive effects you get from seafood, such as nutrition, outdo the ill effects.

Of course you have to keep in mind that economy will collapse if the government tells you to stop eating fish in Japan, but as someone else has mentioned, people in Japan have been eating fish all their lives and they are still alive and kicking.

But I do think it would be slightly different if a person who wasn't brought up in a fish-consuming environment suddenly starts eating a lot of fish. Also, the chemicals contained in the sea can be slightly different depending on the region.

In any case, most people in Japan believe that what counts is a _balanced_ meal. Eating bits of everything, and avoiding lots of one thing, is what makes a healthy body, especially for a pregnant person and her baby.

Take care!

Hi Uco,

Thank you very much for your explanation. It is very detailed and I couldn't ask for more. I agree with you 100% on your perception of a balanced diet. Like you said, a person's body system is definitely adapting to the food and environment that he/she is living in.

Since you're asking because your wife is pregnant, you should know that the ministry advises that pregnant women AND children under 5 years old should limit their consumption of the kinds of fish Uco lists to no more than 2 -3 servings/week. This has nothing to do with cultural habits, but rather it has only been in the last few years that scientists realized what high levels of mercury these fish had, and it took the Japanese gonvernment longer to start issuing warnings than it did the U.S. government. Both governments continue to promote the health benefits of eating fish - just be careful of these particular fish if you are pregnant or have young children. And even at that you don't have to stop eating them, just don't eat too much of them.

I was told that the reason why North Americans are told not to eat raw fish is because of what everyone has listed plus the fact that many sushi restaurants in NA are not particularly qualified and familiar with handling raw fish as they are in Japan. Starting with how the fish is handled from the cannery to how it is preserved (kept cold) in the restaurant etc.

The biggest reason raw fish should avoided during pregnancy is the parasite. While it's rare, if you get them, the medication that kills them will also harms the baby. For this reason, all fish that are served raw in the US have to be frozen once by law.