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Vegetables must be included in the diet every day. Besides being cooked first, vegetables can also be enjoyed raw, such as being used as vegetables, salads, or karedok. Even though it's healthy, is it safe for pregnant women to eat raw vegetables? Come on, understand more about this in the following review.
Can pregnant women eat raw vegetables?
Vegetables contain fiber, vitamins and minerals that are essential for the health of the mother and support the growth of the fetus. That is why pregnant women should not lack vegetable intake during pregnancy.
There are many ways to prepare vegetables. You can enjoy it by sautéing, boiling it, making soup, or grilling it.
In addition to making the texture of vegetables softer, cooking vegetables can also change the content of certain compounds in them so that they are easier for the body to digest.
However, what about raw vegetables? Can pregnant women eat raw vegetables?
Several types of food in the form of vegetables, salads, fresh vegetables, or karedok, serve various mixed mixtures of vegetables that are not cooked beforehand, aka raw.
In addition to keeping the texture of vegetables crispy, leaving them raw can actually keep certain nutrients in vegetables from being damaged.
So, eating raw vegetables allows pregnant women to get more nutrients. It's just that, pregnant women still have to be careful.
According to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States (FDA), raw fruit and vegetables allow certain bacteria to survive and not disappear, especially if they are not thoroughly washed.
A 2014 study also reported that fetuses contaminated with bacteria are at risk of infection and death.
Although this study does not directly observe the impact of bacteria entering the body from raw vegetables, the effects that occur can be a warning that bacterial infections are very dangerous for pregnant women.
So that pregnant women can eat raw vegetables and fruit safely, there are several things that must be considered, including:
- Wash raw fruits and vegetables under running water, not soaking them in a container.
- Make sure that the outer skin of fruits, vegetables, and tubers is peeled and removed.
- Do not use cleaning products (soap) to wash vegetables. Simply scrub the surface of vegetables and fruit under running water.
- You can use a special brush to remove dirt that is still on the surface of the fruit and vegetables.
- Discard any pieces of vegetables and fruit that are damaged or rotting.
Before eating raw vegetables, it is better if pregnant women consult a doctor. The doctor will help you choose the right vegetables and fruits to support pregnancy.
Avoid eating these raw vegetables while pregnant
Although safe, the FDA warns that not all raw vegetables can be consumed by pregnant women. Especially, radishes, green beans, cauliflower, or sprouts (bean sprouts).
These types of vegetables are known to be contaminated with bacteria to the inside. Bacteria can infiltrate the seeds through open skin gaps before the plant grows.
If it has gotten into the seeds, of course eliminating bacteria by washing it won't work.
For this reason, besides being washed thoroughly, these types of vegetables need to be cooked until they are cooked so that the heat can kill bacteria.
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