Avoid shark, tilefish, swordfish, marlin and king mackerel. According to the American Pregnancy Association, you can safely eat two 6-ounce portions of calamari each week. You'll get a generous dose of nutrition while keeping your mercury intake low. Other low-mercury choices include shrimp, crab, flounder, haddock, salmon, trout, scallops and whitefish.
Consume no more than 12 ounces of these low-mercury options each week. Many restaurant versions of calamari are deep-fried, which decreases their nutritional value. Deep-fried calamari can have 6 grams or more of total fat per 3-ounce serving. Much of this fat is unhealthy saturated fat, which increases your risk of heart disease and weight gain. Opt for steamed or sauteed calamari to make the food more nutritious. Pregnant women can achieve optimal amounts of these nutrients by oral consumption of seafood Hibbeln et al.
Worldwide, there has been increasing evidence that exposure to omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids PUFA from consumption of seafood is associated with numerous health benefits. A study by Brantsaeter et al. Their data consisted of over sixty seven thousand pregnant women from Norway.
DHA has been specifically recognized for its benefits during pregnancy and lactation. The European Consensus statement, as well as the World Health Organization guidelines, recommend intake of mg of DHA per day for all pregnant women. Hibbeln et al. Included in the review were more than a hundred thousand mother-offspring pairs, as well as more than twenty five thousand children.
The authors came up with these conclusions:. Prieto et al. SGA was defined as birth weight below the 10 th percentile of newborns for a specific gestational age.
They made a case-control study including over five hundred pairs of women from five hospitals in Spain. Intake of shellfish more than once a week was found to have a protective benefit against having an SGA infant.
Likewise, an average intake of seafood of at least 29 grams per day or 2 to 3 servings per week was associated with reduced risk of an SGA newborn, compared with an average intake of seafood less than 8 grams per day Prieto et al.
All these findings emphasize the importance of, and give evidence to, current recommendations of including fish and seafood as part of a balanced diet during pregnancy. In humans, exposure to mercury occurs mostly through consumption of seafood. A number of researches have demonstrated the association between exposure to methyl mercury in utero with fetal developmental neurotoxicity among pregnant women who consume seafood regularly, including freshwater and marine varieties, shellfish and marine mammals Sheehan et al.
Methyl mercury is considered a neurotoxin, and it is especially harmful to a developing fetal brain. Different types of seafood vary in their mercury content. Because seafood is also a source of the neuroprotective omega-3 PUFA, it is important to choose species that have low mercury content. Raw or partially cooked seafood products may contain pathogens, parasites or bacteria that may increase risk of contracting food-borne illnesses. Therefore, immunocompromised persons, pregnant women, very young children and older adults should never eat raw or undercooked fish or seafood.
Seafood is part of a healthy, balanced diet for pregnant women. Several guidelines have recommended the inclusion of fish and all other types of seafood, including squid, for this purpose. Calamari or squid on its own is a healthy, lean protein see the nutritional benefits later in this article , but eating it deep-fried, often with a heavy dipping sauce, adds calories and fat.
You can go ahead and eat fried calamari safely, but try to keep fatty, deep-fried foods to a moderate level during pregnancy. Note that if you do eat fried calamari it will almost always come with a dipping sauce. This is usually mayo-based, so has to be made with pasteurized eggs in order for it to be safe.
For more on this, read about mayonnaise safety in pregnancy. Squid can be a delicious part of your pregnancy diet if you get a little more adventurous with it, rather than just eating deep-fried calamari rings. Tips on other cooking methods during pregnancy are:.
Cuttlefish ink is often used instead of squid ink as it has a stronger taste. Both squid ink and cuttlefish ink are safe to eat during pregnancy.
0コメント