Study suggests pregnant women shouldn't avoid eating fish
Study suggests pregnant women shouldn't avoid eating fish
Written by:
Hans Kruit, 1 October 2013
Pregnant women should eat more fish after all, research suggests.
They are usually advised to restrict consumption amid fears over mercury, which builds up in oily fish.
The metal can damage the brain of unborn children. This has led to mothers-to-be being advised by the Food Standards Agency to limit the amount of tuna, mackerel, sardines, salmon and trout they eat, and to avoid shark, swordfish and marlin altogether.
But a large-scale British study suggests that concerns over mercury levels in fish may be unfounded.
With fish credited as having numerous health benefits, the researchers said they hope that ‘many more women will now consider eating fish during pregnancy’ – although the FSA said that its advice remains unchanged.
The researchers compared mercury levels in blood samples from more than 4,000 pregnant women from the Bristol area with information about their diet and lifestyle.
Fish accounted for only 7 per cent of the mercury in the women’s bodies, and food and drink accounted for 17 per cent. Other sources of the toxic metal include air pollution, dental fillings and pesticides.
Overall, only 38 of the women – fewer than 1 per cent – had mercury levels higher than the maximum recommended by the US National Research Council. There is no official safe level in the UK. The study concluded that advice to pregnant women to limit seafood intake is unlikely to reduce their mercury levels substantially.
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