Can You Eat Miso Soup While Pregnant?

Can you eat miso soup while pregnant?

In this brief guide, we will discuss the following question, “can you eat miso soup while pregnant?”, and other queries related to this topic.

Can you eat miso soup while pregnant?

Yes, pregnant women can eat miso soup as long as they are consuming it in moderation. Miso soup is high in sodium and usually pregnant women develop edema and water retention especially in the second and third trimester due to physiological changes in their body.

Moreover, the pregnant woman who wants to prepare her miso soup should use the white miso instead of the red or yellow miso. Because the white miso is lower in sodium when compared to the other types.

Generally, pregnant women should not consume more than 2400 mg of sodium per day which is equivalent to 6 g of table salt or one teaspoon. Hence, the general population over consumes sodium, and no one sticks to the recommendations.

Furthermore, it is recommended to avoid buying already prepared miso soup because usually additives, preservatives, and food coloring are added to it. Also, some of the miso soup comes with dehydrated condiments and eggs, hence these products might not be well handled.

Therefore, to avoid the negative side effects of the store-bought miso soup, do your mixture at home to ensure the quality of your ingredients and then their safety. In addition, if you are worried about the safety of the miso soup during pregnancy, consider contacting your doctor.

Are the ingredients of the miso soup safe during pregnancy?

Many ingredients are added to the miso soup to make it a complete meal. Hence, you can not make miso soup without having miso paste. So, choose the white miso which is low in sodium compared to the red and yellow miso.

Second, seafood is one of the main ingredients in miso soup such as shrimp, clams, and prawns. As long as the seafood is well cooked the soup will be safe for consumption, so cut them into small pieces to ensure that they are well cooked.

However, some people have allergies to seafood. So if you already have a seafood allergy before getting pregnant avoid any miso soup that contains seafood or prepare your soup without adding shrimps or clams.

Furthermore, seaweeds are also added to the soup. Their consumption is extremely safe hence seaweeds should be well cooked. In addition, some miso soups come with eggs and generally, they are soft-boiled.

Therefore, if you are pregnant make sure the egg is hard-boiled or well fried and there is no runny yolk inside. Because eggs contain salmonella and if not well cooked you will get poisoned. Hence, salmonella will not affect your baby but the mother.

Getting poisoned by salmonella leads to vomiting, diarrhea, fever, muscle pain, stomach ache, and dehydration. When the mother gets sick and dehydrated the fetus will not get enough nutrients, so its development might be altered in the short term.

Additionally, tofu and soy products might be added to the miso soup. However, their consumption is extremely safe during pregnancy. But some pregnant women might have some health conditions like soy allergy and hypothyroidism that oblige them to avoid soy products.

Finally, noodles and vegetables added to the miso soup are safe for consumption. Although mirin and sake might be added to the soup, these products contain alcohol but the cooking process leads to alcohol evaporation and thus will not cause any harm to the mother and the baby.

What are the benefits of miso soup in pregnancy?

Miso soup is a good source of folic acid, B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K, manganese, zinc, copper, and riboflavin. Moreover, this soup is high in probiotics since it is made from miso which is a type of fermented soybeans with barley, rice, and rye.

So, probiotics are beneficial for the mother’s gut microbiota and help in reducing gastric, abdominal discomfort, bloating, and constipation. Additionally, miso soup is rich in high biological value protein due to the addition of soy, tofu, or seafood which increase satiety.

Moreover, proteins are high in iron and pregnant women need iron in order to increase their babies’ iron reserves. Full-term babies will be born with adequate iron stores that can be enough for their growth for o four to six months.

Furthermore, the addition of vegetables and noodles makes the miso soup a complete meal that contains proteins from the eggs and soy products and carbohydrates from the vegetables and the noodle. That’s what makes miso soup a very nutrient-dense meal.