Answering Mushroom and Pregnancy Facts: Can You Eat Mushrooms?
Edible mushrooms taste great on pizza and pasta. They also make savory soups. Food is a woman’s best friend when pregnant. Those few mentioned already are hard to ignore when craving begins to tickle the tummy. However, eating foods with mushrooms can be a danger while pregnant. Why so?
Before you cave into your pizza and other food cravings, learn the mushroom varieties that may endanger your baby in the tummy. Today’s article is your sure guide to sort out the mushroom you can take while pregnant. Know as well the medicinal and recreational mushrooms that you have to STOP taking if you are pregnant.
NO to Raw Mushroom
You can give room for mushrooms in your pregnancy diet. However, make sure to cook them before eating. If you semi-cook white button mushrooms before making your omelet for breakfast, then now that you are pregnant, you must cook them well.
Why? Mushrooms grow from damp soil, and you do not want dirt to enter your digestive system. Remember that your baby in the tummy is feeding through you. So whatever you eat is what the baby eats.
Different Mushrooms to Avoid to Protect the Baby
Experts will generally advise avoiding drugs, caffeine, and recreational drugs entirely. There are also mushroom tea products with heavy diuretic effects, and they might flush out all the nutrients in the body. However, that happens, the growing baby in your tummy might encounter nutrition deficiency. So what are these medicinal mushrooms that you must stop taking ASAP?
Medicinal Mushrooms
There was a time when coffee and tea with mushroom extracts were a trend. These were products that were promoted as good antioxidants and even had cancer-preventive effects. However, there are mushroom varieties, like the medicinal ones, that are not safe while pregnant.
Here is the name of mushrooms used for medicinal purposes. Some are mixed into tea and coffee as an alternative to caffeine:
- Chaga
- Lion’s Mane
- Turkey’s tale
- Cordyceps
- Reishi
- Agaricus Blazei
Caffeine, in general, should be avoided while pregnant. And these products may still have a few amounts of coffee. Taking these drinks while pregnant may cause irritability and loss of nutrients.
Recreational Mushrooms
An important question can you take certain recreational or therapeutic drugs like psilocybin, a compound from magic mushrooms, to help you deal with depression and anxiety.
Studies regarding the correlation of mushroom pregnancy are still developing, but doctors would advise doing away with any type of recreational drugs while pregnant. Why?
Mushrooms used for recreational purposes boost ones’ mood, and if not used or managed well, a person may engage with too much activity that can harm the pregnancy. An example of this is magic mushroom.
Using this type of shroom causes one’s happy mood and awareness to increase. Extreme movement and physical activities may cause bleeding and miscarriage.
Poisonous Mushrooms
Lastly, of course, you should NEVER take poisonous mushrooms. But if you find mushrooms growing around your hood, in the backyard, or within forest parks, then do not risk eating them, pregnant or not.
How to Safely Take Mushrooms While Pregnant?
Now that you know which mushroom varieties are unsafe, here are some practical tips to safely eat edible mushrooms.
- Wash the mushrooms thoroughly before cooking
- Store the mushrooms for cooking in a dry, sealed container
- Do not store the fresh mushroom over three days
- Consume well-cooked mushrooms in your pizza, pasta, soups, etc.
- Do not abuse taking mushrooms for medicinal or recreational use
- Consult your physician or doctor before taking mushrooms for therapy
Should I Stop Taking Mushroom for Therapy While Pregnant?
It was mentioned a few times above that there are kinds of mushrooms for anxiety and depression relief. Through a recent study, treatment of depression sees the light by using the mushroom compound psilocybin.
You may be pregnant but suffering from depression, and you are one of those who takes microdoses of the compound to help alleviate your condition.
While you see effective results from therapeutic mushrooms, researching their effects and observing changes in your body is crucial. A doctor may prescribe you anti-depressants or drugs safe for your baby while caring for your mental health.
Conclusion
A classic poet reminds everyone, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” Moderation in giving in to any cravings while pregnant pays off. Pregnancy is indeed a challenging nine months, so avoiding harmful foods and drugs will be worth it once you see a healthy baby come out of you. We are not medical professionals. Please be sure to discuss any of your questions about consuming mushrooms with your doctor.
