Pregnant in Japan: No cold foods!

Back around the start of my second trimester, I was invited to have a one on one chat with one of the midwives about nutrition. I'm not sure if this was because I had missed the first maternity class (which covered that topic, among other things) or if it was because I had had high blood sugar.

Incidentally, I was much more worried about my blood sugar levels than my doctor, who wasn't too worried at all once she found out I had had a large meal and a glass of mango juice about 30 minutes before the blood test. It was pretty clear why my numbers were so high.

Regardless of the reason, however, I was a candidate for some individual dietary consulting, so I met up with one of the midwives to talk food. Of course, this was the day Russell was sick, and while my doctor speaks English, the midwives generally do not. I got a lot of Japanese practice - and was very proud of how much I was able to understand. I love the midwives at this hospital, by the way, they are very patient and good about communicating.

So what did I learn?

The first part of the consultation covered the same health points that I had been reading about online - get lots of iron (I didn't know the Japanese word for iron, but she wrote "Fe"and we were good to go), eat green leafy vegetables and fish, avoid caffeine and empty calories, etc. I did get a list of specifically Japanese foods that are considered excellent sources of nutrition during pregnancy - thinks like natto (fermented soy beans), chirimen (micro fish that are used more like a seasoning), tofu, etc. I later reported these to Russell and he immediately started incorporating them into the meals he was cooking. <3 p="">
Then she transitioned to a different nutrition topic - don't eat cold foods.

Western interpretation: what, like iced drinks? cold noodles (popular in summer)? ice cream?

No - the list included tomatoes, melon, eggplant - rather a large cross section of the fruits and vegetables that are in season at the moment at the grocery store.

Was this a question of eating these foods raw or cooked?

No - but these foods are "cold" foods and, while they are certainly healthy to eat, they supposedly cause your internal organs to contract, which, since my labor will be in the heat of summer, would make things more difficult for me. Instead, she recommended I try to eat more "hot" foods - foods like broccoli and roots (carrots, potatoes, burdock root, etc) which supposedly would make my labor easier.

At this point I was catching on to what she was talking about. I thanked her politely and we finished up our discussion.

So, what did she mean by "cold foods" and "hot foods"? This comes from Chinese medicine. I don't know much about it, so take what I report with a grain of salt, but I was talking with my boss about it and she said its just something so ingrained in Japan that everyone takes it for granted. A normal healthy person is suppose to eat a balance of hot and cold foods (think Yin and Yang) for an optimal diet. Hot and cold foods are categorized partly in accordance with the season in which they are harvested. Cold foods are generally those foods which are harvested around summertime and are suppose to have a cooling effect on the body that complements the heat of summer. Foods harvested in Fall and Winter are considered hot foods. They often come from underground and are suppose to warm your body in winter. Or something like that. Apparently, if you are due to give birth in summer, shifting the balance towards warm foods is recommended for an easier labor, and that's what the midwife was talking about.

While I am trying to be good about getting a range of healthy foods into my diet, I'm afraid I'm not worrying too much about limiting "cold" foods. If its in season at a good price at the grocery store, its gettin' et.

But I appreciate the thought.