Food Myths

You may have heard that eating crab while pregnant will cause you to have an active child or that not satisfying your pregnancy cravings will give you a greedy child, is there any truth in this? MH sets out to debunk these myths and more.

- Christel Geralyn Gomes

A Singaporean woman, when pregnant, often finds herself receiving a plethora of suggestions from family, friends and extended relatives on what she should and should not eat to best take care of herself during pregnancy. Some of that advice, while steeped in a whole lot of goodwill, may seem…downright extraordinary! Been at the receiving end and wondering whether to believe your Aunt when she stops you from indulging in your favourite fruit claiming it’ll cause a miscarriage?

We check in with our experts, Bibi Chia, principal dietitian at Raffles Diabetes and Endocrine Centre and Jaclyn Reutens, dietitian at Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants on some of the more common ‘old wives tales’, and get you the down low on whether any of it is based in fact.

TOTAL MYTH. “There is no scientific proof to show the association between crab and an active child. Pregnant mums should eat a balanced diet with a variety of food. However, it is important to cook the food thoroughly to avoid food poisoning,” says Chia.

Reutens agrees, saying that a child’s activity level has no relation to any foods you consume during pregnancy. “The origin of this tale is simply that crabs are active crustaceans as seen by their scuttling movements and snapping pincers, so they are believed to impart that active movements to the growing foetus in Chinese folktales.”

According to Chia, this is a TOTAL MYTH. “There is no documented case of miscarriage from eating these foods. Remember, eating a healthy and well-balanced diet is the best way to obtain optimal nutrition during pregnancy!” she says.