Can You Eat Surimi While Pregnant?
Surimi is a food made from fish protein. Among industrially processed foods, it can be considered a good quality food, especially when it doesn’t contain additives among its ingredients. However, many women wonder if they can eat surimi while pregnant. We’ll answer your questions in the following article.
Before we begin, it’s important to point out that, during pregnancy, it’s advisable to make certain dietary modifications to avoid alterations in the development of the fetus. This will also protect the mother’s health. As a general rule, all animal products that have not undergone a previous cooking method should not be included.
Benefits of surimi
As we have already mentioned, surimi is a source of fish protein. These nutrients have a high biological value and contain all the essential amino acids. What’s more, they have a good digestibility score. They help to cover the daily requirements, which are estimated to be at least 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of weight in sedentary people. This is according to a study published in the Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism.
Surimi also contains a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids. These elements help modulate inflammation in the internal environment and reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Their intake is especially positive during pregnancy, according to research published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Increasing the presence of omega-3s in the diet of pregnant women reduces the incidence of premature birth and brain health problems in the future baby. They’ll also experience a decrease in the risk of developing autoimmune diseases.
As if all this weren’t enough, surimi is usually free of artificial coloring, in most cases. The orange tone is usually obtained from a natural extract of paprika, although it’s best to confirm this by carefully reading the list of ingredients of the product.
So… Can you eat surimi while pregnant?
The truth is yes. There’s no reason to remove surimi from a pregnant woman’s diet. It’s a good source of protein, and it’s not made from raw fish. It’s an edible food that has no microbiological risk, so it can’t harm the fetus.
In addition, you should remember that the presence of fish in the diet of pregnant women is considered essential. This food has a significant amount of essential nutrients necessary to maintain a good state of health. In fact, many experts give it priority over land animal meat.
However, you should always look carefully at the surimi label before including it in your shopping basket. Not all of them are of the same quality. It’s best if fish is one of the main ingredients of the food. What’s more, it shouldn’t contain any additives other than paprika extract inside. Beta-carotene may also be acceptable as a pigment.
It should be noted that surimi doesn’t contain gluten inside. For this reason, it’s possible to include it in the diet of pregnant women who have developed celiac disease. It’s a foodstuff that’s generally easy to digest, like fish. It doesn’t usually produce intestinal problems.
It’s possible to eat surimi while pregnant
As you’ve seen, you can eat surimi while pregnant without putting at risk the health of the mother or the fetus. It’s a very nutritious food, despite being a processed food of industrial origin. It’s also considered safe, with no microbiological risk. Raw fish is not used as such for its preparation as there’s a cooking process that ensures the death of possible pathogens present in the edible of marine origin.
Finally, remember that if you have doubts about the foods that can be included in the diet during pregnancy, it’s best to consult with a specialist. They’ll be able to optimize your diet to ensure that the development of the fetus is optimal, thus avoiding health problems in the future.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
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- Canal Salut. La seguridad alimentaria durante el embarazo. Agencia Catalana de Salud Pública. Marzo 2021.
- Food Data Central. Imitation Crab Meat. U. S. Department of Agriculture. Julio 2021.
- Mayo Clinic. El embarazo y el pescado: ¿qué es seguro comer? Diciembre 2021.
- Middleton P, Gomersall JC, Gould JF, Shepherd E, Olsen SF, Makrides M. Adición de ácidos grasos omega-3 durante el embarazo. Base de datos Cochrane Syst Rev. 2018 Nov 15;11(11):CD003402. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003402.pub3. PMID: 30480773; PMCID: PMC6516961. Disponible en: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30480773/.
- Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social. Recomendaciones de consumo de pescado por presencia de mercurio.
- Richter M, Baerlocher K, Bauer JM, Elmadfa I, Heseker H, Leschik-Bonnet E, Stangl G, Volkert D, Stehle P; en nombre de la Sociedad Alemana de Nutrición (DGE). Valores de referencia revisados para la ingesta de proteínas. Ann Nutr Metab. 2019;74(3):242-250. doi: 10.1159/000499374. Epub 2019 Mar 22. PMID: 30904906; PMCID: PMC6492513. Disponible en: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30904906/
