Can Pregnant Women Eat Mushrooms?

As you know, there are many foods you need to avoid during pregnancy. Are mushrooms one of them?

Unfortunately, the answer to that isn’t a straightforward “yes” or “no.” Keep reading to learn the nuances of eating mushrooms during your pregnancy.

Most of the mushrooms your local grocery store sells for culinary purposes are safe to eat while you’re pregnant, as long as you thoroughly cook them. In fact, it’s a good idea to add them to your pregnancy diet, as they offer many nutrients that will benefit you and your growing baby.

However, you want to avoid wild mushrooms and medicinal mushrooms, as well as magic mushrooms (shrooms), which are a hallucinogenic drug, not a food. We’ll explain why further below.

There are several types of mushrooms that people commonly consume:

Safe to eat: store-bought culinary mushrooms

The fresh mushrooms that grocery stores sell and the cooked mushrooms in restaurant dishes are culinary mushrooms. These include the following mushrooms: 1

• Button
• Chanterelle
• Enoki
• Maitake
• Morel
• Porcini
• Cremini
• Oyster
• Portobello
• Shiitake

All culinary mushrooms are safe to eat during your pregnancy when washed and fully cooked. There isn’t anything in them that will hurt you or your baby.

Exercise caution: medicinal mushrooms

Medicinal mushrooms are ones that people consume for their purported health benefits. Most aren’t particularly tasty. People often take them in supplement form (e.g., as capsules or powder).

Some people believe they can boost the immune system and treat infections, lung diseases, and cancer. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved using mushrooms as a medical treatment. 2

Some medicinal mushrooms double as culinary mushrooms, including shiitake, cordyceps, and lion’s mane mushrooms. Other medicinal mushrooms include: 3

• Reishi
• Chaga
• Turkey tail

Because there isn’t a lot of research on whether non-culinary medicinal mushrooms are safe to eat while pregnant, it’s best to talk to your doctor before consuming them (or products containing their extracts). That goes for any other herbal supplement or remedy you’re interested in taking during pregnancy.

Avoid: wild mushrooms and magic mushrooms

As mentioned, it isn’t a good idea to eat wild-harvested mushrooms when you’re pregnant. That also goes for psilocybin-containing mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or just shrooms, which some people use as a recreational drug.

Here’s why you should stay away from these:

• Magic mushrooms: These are associated with risks like panic attacks, hallucinations, nausea, and an increased heart rate. 4 5 There currently isn’t any research on how they may affect developing babies, but that means they aren’t known to be safe, so it’s best to avoid them for the duration of your pregnancy.
• Wild mushrooms: The primary concern when it comes to eating wild mushrooms is misidentification. Unless you’re an expert mycologist, eating mushrooms you forage in the wild carries a risk of poisoning.

The risks of wild mushrooms and magic mushrooms aren’t solely pregnancy-related—nobody wants to have a bad psychedelic trip or to accidentally eat something poisonous, regardless of whether they’re carrying a baby or not.

However, you especially want to avoid these risks during pregnancy, when you’re trying to give your baby the best possible start and your own body is already going through a lot.

To keep yourself and your little one healthy, always wash and cook your mushrooms thoroughly. 6 Raw or undercooked mushrooms can cause foodborne illnesses.

For instance, in 2022, a listeria outbreak was linked to enoki mushrooms. 7 In severe cases, listeria can lead to serious pregnancy complications like: 8

• Miscarriage
• Stillbirth
• Health issues in your newborn
• Infant death
• Low birth weight
• Premature labor

The good news is that this rarely happens, and you can kill listeria and other bacteria by thoroughly cooking your mushrooms. 9

That being said, be aware that the symptoms of listeria infections during pregnancy can show up as late as 2 months after eating contaminated food. If you think you ate undercooked mushrooms, let your doctor know sooner rather than later.

As mentioned, when consumed safely, mushrooms are a great addition to your diet in pregnancy. Beyond being delicious and an excellent meat substitute, they’re oft-overlooked nutritional powerhouses.

Mushrooms are low in calories and fats and are packed with nutrients, such as: 1

• B vitamins: Mushrooms contain many B vitamins, including B2, B3, B5, and folic acid. In particular, folic acid benefits your baby’s brain and spine development. 10
• Phosphorus and vitamin D: These help build your baby’s bones and teeth. 11 12
• Selenium: Eating foods with selenium may lower your child’s risk of high blood pressure in childhood. 13
• Copper: This mineral benefits your baby’s brain and immune system. 14
• Potassium: Another type of mineral, this helps make sure your blood pressure doesn’t get too high during pregnancy. 15

Culinary mushrooms are a great addition to your meals. Try scrambling them with eggs for a perfect pregnancy breakfast, or sautéeing them to make a very popular side dish for steak.

Just remember to buy fresh, clearly labeled mushrooms from reputable stores and wash and cook them thoroughly. Happy eating!