# Edamame and pregnancy



## MangoMommy (Oct 20, 2008)

Are there any concerns about eating edamame and pregnancy? Any estogen concerns? Can I eat too much LOL? Just I'm craving it...but I'm not sure if it's totally ok for a developing baby, KWIM?

TIA!


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## madeofstardust (Mar 20, 2008)

i hope not, i ate a tonnnn of it when i was 3-5 months along!


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

My concern would be that soy can aggravate a thyroid condition, even if you don't already have one, and prevents absorption of the medication, if you do already have it. It's something that needs to be avoided with hypothyroidism which is (although not common) something that starts a lot of times during pregnancy. I don't know if there have been any studies on it's effects and the baby's thyroid, but I wouldn't risk it.

Then again, I AM severely hypo, so I can't eat it at all anyway.


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## pantufla (Jun 7, 2007)

Interesting. My biggest concern would be that soy is a highly allergenic food, but then I already have one kid who is sensitive to it.


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## MangoMommy (Oct 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pantufla* 
Interesting. My biggest concern would be that soy is a highly allergenic food, but then I already have one kid who is sensitive to it.


I didn't think about that, I forgot about avoiding highly allergenic foods during pregnancy! (this is my 1st pregnancy in almost 7 yrs!) I need to read up on all that stuff again!

Thanks guys!


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## Cherry Alive (Mar 11, 2007)

I've been eating soy somewhat regularly. I'd be more concerned, except my midwives didn't seem too bothered when they went over it in my 2-day nutrition profile. Of all of the soy products, I think edamame would be safest, bc it is not processed.

It seems like unless you eat it very excessively, it's *not* going to hurt the baby-but that's true of pretty much any food.


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## nuwavemomma (Jul 20, 2006)

I ate a lot of soy while pregnant with DS, who turned out to have a peanut allergy. I do connect the two.

In the last year though I've also switched over to a Traditional Foods diet after lifelong vegetarianism, and that was in part after reading a lot on soy.

It's true in a sense that edamame would be "better" than conventionally grown soy products, since you're avoiding the hexane exposure, but I still won't touch unfermented soy now. It's a good cover crop, but that's about it. And it's really really hard on your body to digest.


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## superflippy (Jul 27, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amydidit* 
My concern would be that soy can aggravate a thyroid condition

Wow, I had no idea! I just started taking medicine for low thyroid, and I do occasionally snack on edamame. Guess I'd better stop.


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## bodhitree (May 12, 2008)

You know, edamame _is_ a traditional food in Japan. Don't Japanese women eat it when they're pregnant? I probably wouldn't eat it every day, because of the concerns others have already brought up, but personally I would feel completely comfortable eating it in moderation.


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## joybird (Feb 2, 2006)

As far as I know, soy is not eaten in Japan unless it is fermented. They don't add soy to everything under the sun like we do here. It is used as a condiment, not as a staple food.


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## avivaelona (Jun 24, 2005)

They do eat edamame though. However, not in large amounts. I wouldn't worry about eating some occasionally, as a whole food you aren't exposing the fetus to large amounts of the soy protein at once.

I have to admit though I drink soy milk in pregnancy...it solves a variety of eating problems for me and so I feel like its the lesser of two evils, but I do avoid eating much soy in any other form as a result.


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## catemom (Jan 9, 2007)

I think that since it is a whole food, edamame is probably fine. If it makes you feel any better, I had a very healthy vegan pregnancy with a healthy beautiful son (who is all boy!) as a result. I ate Clif bars constantly in my first tri since I was starving most of the time and they were convenient to keep in my purse. Just try to eat something healthy besides the edamame and I'm sure the baby will be fine!


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## lilgreen (Dec 5, 2003)

My prenatal dietician told me that 30g of soy protein/day is the general cut off.


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## Ianthe (Dec 19, 2006)

It's a bean! It's not processed, it's green, it's high in protein. I really don't think that Edamame is something to be concerned about.. esp if its not for every meal, every day


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## ainh (Jul 27, 2006)

Everything in moderation...that's my motto. Okay. Not everything. But I do think it's better to eat a variety of foods, even if one of them in excess can cause "issues". Heck, everything is bad in large enough quantities, right?


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *superflippy* 
Wow, I had no idea! I just started taking medicine for low thyroid, and I do occasionally snack on edamame. Guess I'd better stop.

Yeah, sadly it's not something that's told to most people. Just something you find out on your own. I know anytime I eat anything that has soy in it at all I feel horrible for the next few days, like my thyroid symptoms have come back 10-fold.

Here's a good article about it: http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/soydangers.htm

It mentions that 30mg is known to have a negative impact. Personal experience has shown me though that it can have a bad impact much sooner. So I stay away 100%.


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## nukedwifey (Sep 22, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bodhitree* 
You know, edamame _is_ a traditional food in Japan. Don't Japanese women eat it when they're pregnant? I probably wouldn't eat it every day, because of the concerns others have already brought up, but personally I would feel completely comfortable eating it in moderation.

My dad lived in Japan and said that the misconception is that they eat soy as a whole meal or eat a ton of it. They do not. It's a small, SMALL, side to a meal. Like a couple of bites.


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