More fish for pregnant ladies?

We have most probably been informed by the media like the link below that seafood contains mercury and what it might do to our neurological and behavioural functioning. Not to mention the dangers of fetuses and young children when they take in contaminated seafood.

http://www.consumerr...607_tuna_ov.htm


However, the recent clipping mentioned that there are more pros than cons with the seafood diet and people are not taking enough of it. Especially the pregnant ladies, after reading the above consumer report, and questions it if there really is a need to report negatively on seafood.

http://members.ift.o...perspective.pdf

So, are we taking enough seafood? Or should we reduce it's intake and take more supplements instead?

Dear Hongyun,

You omitted to mention the author's direct connection to the seafood arena, albeit an academic one.
'The well documented benefits of seafood..' - not proven by shrimp statistics I think (cholesterol).
Still wondering what 'cognitive endpoints' are.
Perhaps a forum poll of 'the articled target consumers' is called for.
Rgds / Charles.C

PS I was going to add to yr other thread an example of a (unique?) warning I once saw in a lift in Singapore concerning a fine for uncontrolled urin...n but didn't wish to derail the thread Simon-style. Not to mention the one for throwing things out of upper floor windows. Mind you, the seafood market was the cleanest I've seen in Asia.

To add a poll to an exisitng topic click "Add Reply" and at the top of the page you will see:

Poll Options Click here to manage this topic's poll

Dear Hongyun,

Well, shrimp is one of the typical 'not very recommended' items to eat in cases of 'elevated' cholesterol though I am definitely not competent to discuss the significance of the numbers.

Regarding the mercury issue, there is a detailed look in this link -
http://www.fao.org/d...2e09.htm#bm09.2
( this link also illustrates the substantial effort required to carry out MRAs)

I think your general question about the value of eating more or less seafood is interesting and deserved a bit more response. It is rather difficult to give answers to such a broad query, ie specific objectives could be to avoid being ill (or worse) from food poisoning in general, or to avoid salmonellosis, or to not suffer specific health problems as in yr link or … It also obviously depends on the consumer vulnerability as usual (eg pregnant ladies).

Either way, clearly understandable (to me anyway) quantitative data seems not so easy to find.

A rather negative overall view is given here -
http://www.fao.org/d...3e06.htm#bm06.1
however a more positive interpretation (though earlier) is here -
http://www.seafoodla...m... to eat.pdf
some of the discrepancy between the two links is possibly commented here -
http://www.findartic...v25/ai_10942749

A more recent (positive but without many explicit numbers) link is -
http://www.seafoodpl...tation_plan.pdf.

Maybe somebody else can find a better or clearer answer.

Rgds / Charles.C

Excellent referencing once again Charles. You certainly know how to scour the internet.

Simon

Thanks, Charles for adding more info on this topic.

Like many other things, there are pros and cons all over the net, less the statistics...

Dear Hongyun,

It's an interesting subject. I later found a very easy to use but also rather alarming self-test calculator for mercury in many varieties of consumed seafood at -

http://www.gotmercury.org/

Just try it and you will probably also be disturbed if you eat much fish but remember that the US EPA limit used is considerably more strict than the FAO value (by a factor of 7x assuming the 1st link of my previous post is still valid). The reasons for the large difference are unknown to me.

Rgds / Charles.C

We have most probably been informed by the media like the link below that seafood contains mercury and what it might do to our neurological and behavioural functioning. Not to mention the dangers of fetuses and young children when they take in contaminated seafood.

http://www.consumerr...607_tuna_ov.htm


However, the recent clipping mentioned that there are more pros than cons with the seafood diet and people are not taking enough of it. Especially the pregnant ladies, after reading the above consumer report, and questions it if there really is a need to report negatively on seafood.

http://members.ift.o...perspective.pdf

So, are we taking enough seafood? Or should we reduce it's intake and take more supplements instead?

We should be taking a trustworthy source of supplements. The thing about fish is that it is a good source of Omega 3 Fatty acids which is essential for the baby's brain development.

We also desperately need a good supplement ourselves of this vital source, but a correct supply is hard to find. Perhaps you could visit my site. My download called "a lazy mans way to riches" will tell you what you should be looking for as well as the link about nutrition. but enough about that.

A prominent cardiologist Dr Ross Walker has stated (and I knew this before as well) that dietary intake of cholesterol cannot influence our blood cholesterol, so it is absolutely safe to eat eggs etc. If you want to control cholesterol you need to do it by controlling diet and supplementing correctly.

We should be taking a trustworthy source of supplements. The thing about fish is that it is a good source of Omega 3 Fatty acids which is essential for the baby's brain development.

We also desperately need a good supplement ourselves of this vital source, but a correct supply is hard to find. Perhaps you could visit my site. My download called "a lazy mans way to riches" will tell you what you should be looking for as well as the link about nutrition. but enough about that.

A prominent cardiologist Dr Ross Walker has stated (and I knew this before as well) that dietary intake of cholesterol cannot influence our blood cholesterol, so it is absolutely safe to eat eggs etc. If you want to control cholesterol you need to do it by controlling diet and supplementing correctly.

Thanks Justin, will take a look.

Regards,
Simon