Fish sauce is not only a familiar spice in every daily meal, it is also an extremely important nutrient for both mother and baby to be healthy during pregnancy.
1. Why do pregnant women need to supplement vitamins and minerals?
Pregnancy is a wonderful journey for women. To prepare well for this journey, both mother and child need to be carefully cared for in terms of health. Accordingly, pregnant mothers need to supplement essential vitamins and minerals to protect themselves and their babies.
During pregnancy, a woman's body needs more nutrients than usual. Providing enough nutrients will help pregnant mothers improve their resistance and avoid getting sick throughout pregnancy.
Mothers need to be fully supplemented with nutrients during pregnancy for the baby to develop comprehensively
Mothers need to be fully supplemented with nutrients during pregnancy for the baby to develop comprehensively
In addition, the fetus in the womb also needs micronutrients to develop healthily and comprehensively. Supplementing the right and sufficient micronutrients helps avoid causing congenital diseases, low birth weight or premature birth...
Pregnant women can supplement these micronutrients by taking multi-micronutrient pills. Or pregnant women can increase micronutrients through foods and spices in daily cooking. This is the simplest way, the easiest way to absorb nutrients for pregnant women.
2. Traditional fish sauce - an important source of micronutrients that pregnant women need to know
Fish sauce is a familiar spice in many dishes. Although used daily, not everyone knows the true nutritional value that fish sauce brings. Accordingly, traditional fish sauce is a great source of nutrition if we know how to choose the right type and use it properly.
2.1 Why does traditional fish sauce contain many micronutrients?
On the market today, consumers can find 2 types of fish sauce. Fish sauce produced by traditional methods and fish sauce produced industrially.
Traditional fish sauce is fermented with only two main ingredients: fish and sea salt. The fish sauce is made without additives or preservatives. The protein content of fish sauce is natural, not increased by industrial methods. This natural protein content is obtained by the process of fermenting fresh anchovies. Therefore, traditional fish sauce contains many valuable nutrients. Pregnant mothers who use fermented fish sauce in the traditional way are using a truly clean, completely pure condiment.
Traditional fish sauce contains many micronutrients for pregnant mothers and children
Traditional fish sauce contains many micronutrients for pregnant mothers and children
Particularly for fish sauce produced industrially, the production ingredients will have additional food additives such as preservatives, flavoring agents, colorants, flavoring agents and use artificial protein.
Currently, the trend of eating "healthy", "clean food" is prioritized by modern pregnant mothers. Therefore, traditional fish sauce contains many nutrients and is a suitable and inevitable choice.
2.2 Important vitamins and minerals in traditional fish sauce
The process of making fish sauce is the process of hydrolyzing fish meat protein, thanks to enzymes located in the fish intestines. Salt is the only agent involved in this hydrolysis process. Thanks to the right salt ratio, fish meat is completely hydrolyzed, producing maximum protein. The result of this hydrolysis process will produce a rare amount of amino acids, which we commonly call protein.
This amount of amino acid protein is essential for the body and contains many micro-minerals that the body requires daily such as vitamin B12, Lysine, Iron, etc.
2.2.1 Vitamins B1, B2, PP and B12
Traditional fish sauce is the product of a natural fermentation process. The valuable result of this process is to increase the content of some vitamins. Of these, the most notable are vitamins B1, B2, PP and B12.
When pregnant or breastfeeding, the need for vitamin B1 also increases. Supplementing enough vitamin B1 will help pregnant mothers avoid leg swelling, especially in the last months of pregnancy.
For pregnant mothers, vitamin B2 helps reduce symptoms of fatigue, nausea, and loss of appetite caused by morning sickness. In particular, vitamin B2 also helps pregnant women absorb iron better. Thereby, preventing anemia due to iron deficiency and muscle cramps at night.
Particularly vitamin B12, this is a very important vitamin that pregnant mothers need to supplement fully. 100ml of fish sauce contains about 5 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B12. According to international standards, pregnant and lactating women need 2.2 mcg of vitamin B12 per day. Vitamin B12 helps prevent blood production disorders in the bone marrow and contributes to avoiding neural tube defects in the fetus right from the mother's womb in the first months of pregnancy.
2.2.2 Iron
Iron is a very necessary micronutrient for pregnant women. Almost all pregnant women are prescribed iron supplements by doctors (except in cases where the body has excess iron). Iron deficiency leads to anemia. This increases the risk of premature birth and increases the risk of other diseases for both mother and fetus. Therefore, pregnant women need to pay close attention to supplementing enough iron through oral or daily foods.