Pregnancy Dietary Practices Japanese Patients

[njinformaticsrn]

Hi everyone- I was hoping an OB specialist with expertise with Japanese patients could help me. Are there any dietary / nutritional customs, traditions, requirements, avoidances, etc during pregnancy and the postpartum period that are specific to Japanese women? My area does not have a large Japanese population and I wanted first-hand information rather than just relying on an internet search (you never know if the information you get is accurate). Many thanks for any help you can give!

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

What do you have so far?

[njinformaticsrn]

I have practically zero- avoid cold things like water and "cooling" foods like cucumber and seek out "warming" foods- but I don't know what falls into these categories. I'm also interested in how much preparation goes into some of the foods, and if there are cultural practices around who prepares them. What can be done in the hospital to encourage cultural practices?

[RedCell]

Konbanwa,

The bulk of the Japanese diet consists of udon or soba with a filler, karee raisu (Japanese take on curry) and of course sushi though it is served a little bit different over there. I don't know about the avoiding 'cool' foods and mizu (water). I saw many preggos consuming these items. Many meals or bento (lunch boxes) have cold pickles served with them (might be part of the reason why gastric cancer is such a problem over there). The most popular drink (that I saw at least) was cold or warm ocha...green tea. Those guys love this stuff and drink it with just about anything. Another popular food, or snack is something called tako yaki, which is fried dough with an octupus inside. That stuff is fantastic.

Of course you should include in your paper that McDonalds, Dennys, Burger King, and Subway have also all found their way into the traditional diet of pregnant and nonpregnant japanese throughout the mainland.