One of the most important times when women should take care of their nutrition is during pregnancy. During this period, everything that the mother consumes directly affects the fetus inside the womb, so she must consume useful foods and be careful in eating them, one of these useful foods is mushrooms, which if eaten correctly and in the right amount It can help the health of mother and child.
Nutritional value of mushrooms
In addition to having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, mushrooms are low in fat and calories. Mushrooms are a rich source of B vitamins, selenium, minerals, and vitamin D, which are necessary to consume during pregnancy. Also, mushrooms have a positive effect on your metabolism and reduce blood cholesterol.
What mushrooms can be eaten during pregnancy?
There are different types of mushrooms that you should eat only a few of them during pregnancy, which we will introduce below.
Edible mushrooms
Mushrooms that are allowed to be eaten during pregnancy include:
- Shiitake
- Portobello
- Oyster
- Mitake
- Chestnut
- Crimini
- Agaricus bisporus
Consumption of shiitake mushrooms reduces the triglyceride level of pregnant women.
According to research, if pregnant women consume Agaricus bisporus before pregnancy until the 20th week of pregnancy, it will reduce their blood pressure and also reduce the risk of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.
Medicinal mushrooms
Safe medicinal mushrooms that you can eat include
- Chaga
- Turkey tail
- Lion’s mane
- Reishi
- Cordyceps
There is less research on medicinal mushrooms than culinary mushrooms, but these mushrooms can improve immune function and also lower blood cholesterol.
What mushrooms are prohibited for pregnant women?
Magic mushroom or psychedelic
Magic mushrooms can change the brain activity of pregnant women, which also affects the fetus. Consumption of this type of mushroom can cause birth defects in the fetus, which is due to the presence of a chemical substance called psilocybin. According to an animal test on the substance psilocin present in the magic mushroom, it was found that this substance crosses the placenta and blood-brain barrier and affects the fetus.
Wild Mushrooms
Consumption of these types of mushrooms in most cases causes poisoning, and this poisoning sometimes causes the hospitalization or death of those who eat it due to the toxicity of these mushrooms. So, according to these things, avoid eating wild mushrooms during pregnancy. Because these mushrooms often have poisons and psychoactive properties.
There are some points to follow when eating mushrooms
- Be sure to wash the mushrooms carefully before consuming them, because the mushrooms, because they were in the soil, can carry the microbes in the soil, which can cause poisoning if you don’t wash them properly.
- Mushrooms must be cooked completely at 60 degrees Celsius before consumption to destroy the bacteria, which can cause dermatitis or other infections if they are not cooked well.
- Be sure to buy mushrooms from reputable stores.
- When buying mushrooms, there should not be any kind of decay or stain on them and they should not be moldy.
Are we allowed to eat shiitake mushrooms during pregnancy?
Your answer is positive because the shiitake mushroom is one of the healthy and useful mushrooms for the body, but it must be washed well before consumption and finally cooked well.
Is there any reason not to eat mushrooms during pregnancy?
The only reason that can be said for not using mushrooms is that you are not careful in choosing them, that is, when you want to use a mushroom, you must be sure of the type of mushroom because many poisonous mushrooms are completely similar to edible mushrooms. They are not easily recognizable. You are allowed to eat mushrooms during pregnancy, but only mushrooms that are purchased from reputable stores or that you are sure of.
