Spicy Tuna Rolls

Shrimp should be fine but you will want to stay away from tuna. I completely understand what you are going through. Giving up my tuna sushi fix was probably one of the hardest parts about pregnancy for me.

Of course you can and should. Cravings for certain foods is the body's response to its lacking in the nutrients found in said food.

I know there are concerns about food poisoning and such, but sometimes, we can be overly cautious as Westerners. Many, many mothers in many parts of the world eat many things we might deem as "gross," but their babies grew up just fine.

I'd be more concerned about abstaining from certain foods and thus the fetus will be underdeveloped, leading to premature birth or underweight babies.

Eat away!

Spicy Tuna Rolls, have raw Ahi in it. ie: raw tuna.
No.

Shrimp or "Ebi" sushi, is made with cooked shrimp.
That should be fine.

For "cooked" sushi options that are not raw:
California Roll
Unagi Nigiri sushi (this is Japanese Eel. Cooked/grilled with a sauce, very good. There is ocean eel or fresh water eel ).
Egg sushi "Tamago" sushi
Inari Sushi (this is just seasoned sushi rice in an "aburage" wrap which is made from soy bean or tofu curd. Very good. ).

If you want that "spiciness" that makes the "Spicy Tuna Rolls", just buy a bottle of Asian or Thai "Sweet Chili Sauce." From any Asian store/aisle. This is what they use to make that.

All the best,
Susan

I agree with DR P... cravings are your body's way of letting you know that you are deficient in something.

Sushi is a regional yes/no. Nearly nowhere in the midwest is it "okay" to eat sushi while pregnant... on the west coast, however with strong asian communities and fresh high quality sashimi... it tends to be a 50/50 answer. Personally I ate sashimi at least once a week while pregnant (soooooo craving those trace minerals and volatile oils that get lost in the cooking process). I was high risk, so I was under weekly care for over 6mo, and my office just had me keep an eye on the mercury & pollutant warnings.

Having spent about half my life in Japan, the OBs there have women moderate their raw fish consumption (lowering to 3-5x per week was pretty average). Statistically there's no significant increase in infection compared to American women who avoid sashimi. It's just trying to keep mercury and other tetragen levels lower than normal.

In the US, however, we have freshness issues. Don't buy it from grocery stores or mid range sushi places. Buy it from the best.

ALL THAT SAID... if you decide to avoid sushi... try one of these instead:

Not Exactly A Po'Boy: Sear, broil, or steam some shrimp. Chop it up into nickle and quarter sized pieces (or use bay shrimp whole). Coat with Sriracha (aka cocksauce) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce Put the shrimp on a baguette, in Onigiri, or eat with a fork standing over your sink ;)

Onigiri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onigiri

You cannot have any raw fish. It would be very dangerous to your baby if the fish you eat caused you to come down with a bacterial infection. I'd also be careful of eating cooked sushi from a sushi bar because they prepare the raw and cooked items on the same counter without washing their hands or even wiping down the counters between orders. Sushi is my FAVORITE food is the world, so trust me when I say that I know how hard it is to give up!!! But bacterial infections that could potentially lead to fetal demise or too much mercury that could lead to neurological problems later for the baby are not risks worth taking. Good luck, and just keep thinking about your first sushi meal after baby arrives!!!

Cracks me up that doctors say no to these kinds of things (which they are right too) but then they say you need to inject the very thing they don't want you to eat, into your blood stream. If I were pregnant, I would:
Say no to fish unless it is wild and NOT farm raised.
Say no to all vaccines.
Take Vitamin D3 and have my blood levels checked so I know how much to take.
Take Omega 3, high in DHA.
Say no to all artificial sweeteners. Yes to Stevia.
Eat as organic as possible and no genetically modified foods.
Get Dr. Robert Sears book, The Vaccine Book, and start doing my own research of what shots my baby will need and when they should get them. Too many, too soon, is not going to happen to my babies (again).
And have fun being pregnant. It is an amazing, miraculous happening.

Hi, I am too have a love for sushi and have been pregnant 2x's in the last 4 years. I did some research on the internet, and found that one of the biggest reasons for not eating sushi while pregnant is Mercury and getting worms from raw fish.
Just make sure that the sushi restaurant you go to uses previously frozen fish. Being frozen, kills the worms. As for mercury, if you only eat fish every so often, then i don't see the harm.
All this talk about sushi makes me hungry!!!
Enjoy!

If you dont have to, dont. Eat a california roll and stay away from fish. Some drs will tell you once in a while is ok, and im sure it is, but if its not neccesary, rid yourself of any extra mercury.

Nope, no sushi for you lol! I wouldn't even eat the stuff that had cooked elements because I was concerned about any cross contamination that might have occurred during the making of the roll.

But there is hope! I craved sushi like crazy too and actually made my own california rolls at home. They turned out pretty good to and satisfied my cravings. I found a recipe on-line for the sushi rice and used the fake crab you can easily find in all the grocery stores along with avocado, sesame seeds, the seaweed sheets (super easy to find as well). They really weren't very hard to make and it held me over till after the baby was born.

The one thing my dr. was really insistent upon when I was pregnant (other than the obvious things that everyone knows not to do) was no sushi. And he's not very conservative at all...very laid back and rational when it comes to things that some drs will freak out about. Anyway he didn't want me to have any sushi at all (unless I made it at home) because even the cooked sushi is usually prepared on the same surface as raw fish sushi.

With both of my babies, my husband brought sushi from our favorite place on night #2 at the hospital. And sushi was NEVER SO GOOD!!! :) Congrats on your baby.

You can have a shrimp roll and california roll and cooked/steamed sushi items but no spicy roll because it is raw and some of the fish are high in mercury which is not a good start to your pregnancy. Try crunchy rolls, lava roll, once again cooked sushi to sooth your sushi cravings. I went through the same thing.

You're best bet would be to discuss your question with your doctor and see what they think. It probably best to see what their perspective is. Give them a call and get their opinion as well. :)

Stick to the cooked stuff...I used to do a lot of shrimp tempura rolls when I was pregnant...skip the tuna for now...

Good luck!
-M

Stick with the cooked versions -- shrimp, eel, etc. Nothing raw. I eat sushi when pregnant but only the cooked variety or california rolls (currently prego with #3).

shrimp yes, tuna no. You can be pretty creative with the rolls as long as you keep it cooked. Smoked salmon is cooked, shrimp tempura, crab salad, lobster salad, or even just veggie. I am a huge sushi fan and pregnant too, so I feel your pain. Although not completely the same, the cooked stuff still satisfies that craving.

I think shrimp is technically okay (though they are part of the oceans natural filtration system, so why it is okay for any one to eat it is strange). No on spicy tuna, especially since I've heard that they use the oldest fish for spicy tuna because the flavoring masks any fishiness (I however gave in a few times to spicy tuna while pregnant, and all turned out fine)

I ate sushi during my pregnant months. But I only have the cooked one.