Comments on: Getting Pregnant in Japan – Part Four: Do Japanese Mums need less Calcium?

By: kl

kl — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:39:12 +0000

Also different nutrients are absorbed differently, depending on the source. I’ve heard that calcium is not absorbed as easily from dairy products as from other sources. In general, japanese seem to do well even with different nutritional guidelines so if your wife eats a good variety of foods and traditional japanese, she’s most likely all good.

We do not know all about nutrition, so concentrating on specific amounts of specific stuff is most likely to get thrown off the good nutritional track.

Oh, and about vitamin d: that’s probably ok with the japanse fish-based nutrition, and simply stay 10 minutes in the sunlight daily during summer….that’s enough to load day’s intake and more.

By: minirab

minirab — Mon, 17 May 2010 05:04:34 +0000

Thank you for this useful information.
I want to ask if anyone is taking spirulina. I have been taking spirulina for couple of months, and I find it doing well to my body. Now I’m trying to get pregnant and starting to take pre-pregnancy pills too (Elevit)
I don’t know if it is safe to continue to take both spirulina and Elevit together.
Thanks in advance for any comments and advise.

By: Patch

Patch — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:47:38 +0000

Thanks RED,

I will try my best to keep healthy… I care only my & my baby health.
I won’t wrap my tummy for sure…that’s weird.
Anyway, I found that issue in a new mother book also.
(Hajimete no Ninshin to shyussan of Saitoushya company)

(^_^) Tc

By: Red

Red — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:11:59 +0000

Patch,
Actually I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into the whole weight gain issue and was thinking about writing a follow up article in this series about it – you’ve motivated me to get pen to paper. In short ignore what the Japanese books say and I will hopefully have some concrete evidence to arm you with for next time you speak with your hubby’s mother. I don’t know much about the OBI issue yet so if any other readers can comment that would be great.

By: Patch

Patch — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:06:50 +0000

I am pregnant also. And I’m Gaijin live in Japan.

I feel bad to be careful about my nutrition & weight. From Japanese Book said I have to control weight up only 8-10 Kgs until delivery.
While other countries allow up 12-15 Kgs.

And my HB’s mother wants me to use OBI wrap around my Tummy for controlling baby’s size!!

What I should do??

By: helloo..genetics..?

helloo..genetics..? — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:04:42 +0000

URM. whilst ur post is good in the sense u talk about which foods contain loads of calcium.. You seem to imply that japanese ppl and japanese babies are smaller sized than caucasians due to their diet. Like duh.. what abt genetics…????!!!

By: kharen natsuda

kharen natsuda — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:50:31 +0000

im a gaijin mom also during my pregnancy in my 3kids i eat nato only..no rice..during snack time.its best !4 pregnancy diet.

By: Stanley

Stanley — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:20:19 +0000

You might also want to check out this note from the US Embassy in Japan:

What About Having a Baby in Japan?

One resource you may wish to look into is “From Pregnancy to Childcare: How to Prepare for Childcare in Japan,” available as a video (Y3000; 30 minutes, available in Japanese, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese) or in text form (Y1500; English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese versions available, 50 pages including Japanese translation) from the AMDA International Medical Information Center.

See homepage3.nifty.com/amdack/english/E-contents/E-chira.html for more details, or call AMDA International Medical Information Center Tokyo at 03-5285-8086 or AMDA International Medical Information Center Kansai at 06-4395-0555.

By: masamunecyrus

masamunecyrus — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:12:54 +0000

I wouldn’t be too worried about most of those vitamins as we’re looking at less than several milligrams of difference in most of them. As mentioned above, a multi-vitamin sounds like a good idea, and Japan has more multi-vitamin gel drinks that I know what to do with.

I think you touched on a good point, though — the calcium difference, even percentage-wise, is troubling. I would agree that Japanese people as a whole do not get enough calcium, and it is very commonly said that there is no such thing as too much calcium. In the end, my opinion is that no one deserves to become bent at 90 degree angles like a significant portion of the Japanese elderly.

By: phauna

phauna — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:45:35 +0000

Just get your wife to take a pregnancy vitamin supplement, like Blackmores Breastfeeding and Pregnancy Multivitamin.