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Medical Video: Can I eat chinese food items during pregnancy?
MSG, also known as mecin, is a flavor-enhancing substance derived from the amino acid glutamate, to provide a typical salty savory food. So far, eating MSG foods during pregnancy is not known to pose a serious risk to the baby in the womb, but you may still want to avoid eating MSG during pregnancy if you have a negative reaction to the cooking ingredients.
The risk of eating MSG during pregnancy
When you are pregnant you must be aware that what you eat can affect your health and your baby. However, you can safely eat MSG while pregnant. MSG usually does not cause toxic effects in the body and does not affect the health of the fetus. As a food flavoring agent, MSG is categorized as GRAS or "generally recognized as safe," by the Food and Drug Administration.
However, some adults may have certain sensitivity reactions to MSG that can cause side effects such as palpitations, sweating, reddened faces, headaches (even migraines), nausea, chest pain, weakness, and numbness or tingling in the face and neck. But calm, until now there is no evidence of a definite link between consumption of MSG and the symptoms above. Therefore, if you usually can eat MSG without problems, eating MSG during pregnancy is not likely to trigger symptoms of an excessive MSG reaction.
MSG may be added to your diet during pregnancy. Just keep in mind the dosage and also the salt content in your food. MSG often appears in fast food, processed meat, and canned soups and vegetables. It is recommended that everyone, including pregnant women, limit their sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day. Increased salt consumption in a pregnant diet can lead to water retention and high blood pressure.
If eating MSG before pregnancy causes unpleasant side effects, you may want to continue to avoid it during pregnancy. MSG is also naturally found in many other healthy foods, including soy, tomato and cheese extracts.
