Browse: Home / pregnancy / The advice to avoid fish during pregnancy is a little fishy

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Better Body Chemistry School
  • Book a health conversation
  • Speaking query
  • The “Big” Spoons
Header image

BBC

Small things can make a big difference to your health

advertisement

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Free Resources
    • 31 days to Better Body Chemistry
    • Willpower Report
    • Weight loss e-course
    • Better Body Chemistry for Expecting Moms
    • The ups and downs of insulin resistance
    • Candy Floss Boards
    • Weight tracker
    • Sound bites
  • Library
  • Shop
  • Lucky dip
  • Buy me a coffee
  • Video gallery
  • Contact

The advice to avoid fish during pregnancy is a little fishy

Posted by Dr Sandy on in pregnancy | 788 Views | Leave a response
WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet
Pin
Share

Share Button

Click to listen to the audio…

The advice to avoid fish in pregnancy is a little “fishy”

fish taking out mercury

Women eating lots of fish during pregnancy, may pick up more mercury, but their kids are not at a higher risk of behavioural problems

You want to give your little one the very best start in life, AND.. you want your baby to be normal ! You don’t want to be part of the autism stats.

So………… when health gurus tell you to AVOID FISH, because the fish are FULL OF MERCURY, and MERCURY causes AUTISM – you AVOID FISH, it is the right thing to do.

But is it ?

Fish are full of fabulous nutrients

Few health gurus suggest avoiding fish as a health move for anyone who is NOT PREGNANT.

In fact…………the advice out their suggests

  • Toddlers should do it – Feed your toddler fish to wire in a life time of health
  • Teens should do it – Being slapped by a fish once a week makes you smarter
  • Scholars studying for exams should do it – Nibbling and sipping soda as you swot is causing brain rot
  • The overweight should do it – The side effects of obesity stopped by omega-3s
  • The forgetful should do it – Does Alzheimer’s begin with a shortage of omega-3 ?
  • The stiff and sore should do it –Lubricate those joints with a daub of fish oil to prevent osteoarthritis

Because….. fish are full of nutrients that are good for you.

Top of the list are the omega-3 fish oils, but the list includes selenium, iodine, vitamin E and protein.

So does it makes sense for the mom-to-be not to do it ?

After all, as a mom to be, you’re building a brand new human being and the last thing you want, is to be short of specific raw materials.

The problem………………mercury.

Mercury madness

mad as a hatter from alice in wonderlandExposure to excess mercury is not a recipe for better brain chemistry – hence the term, mad as a hatter.

But…..sniffing mercury fumes for years, while making fancy hats, is not quite the same as having fish for dinner.

So do fish dinners create “madness” ?

Researchers from the University of Rochester sort answers to this fishy dilemma. To explore the topic, the research team headed for the Republic of Seychelles, where fish dinners happen pretty much every day.

Nightly fish dinners

The average mom-to-be eats 12 fish dinners a week – so island Moms and their developing babes, are getting exposed to quite a bit of mercury through their fish dinners.

How much ?

In the 1980s, the research team enrolled 1784 moms-to-be into their study, to answer this question.  Each Mom provided the team with a hair sample, around the time of her delivery.

The hair sample was used to determine how much mercury was floating about in Mom during her pregnancy.  The more mercury in the hair sample, the more mercury the developing fetus would have been exposed to.

The mean prenatal methylmercury exposure for these Moms was 8.4 parts per million.

measuring mercury in hair samples from pregnant women

These levels are significantly higher than the average Mom living in the West.

Looking for fishy behaviours

Ten years later, when the babes were all grown up, the team tracked the kids down to see what had happened.

Each child’s temperament was assessed using two rating scales.

  • The Social Communication Questionaire was completed by the child’s care givers
  • The Social Responsiveness Scale was completed by the child’s teachers

NOTE : Scores in these tests are not enough to confirm a diagnosis of autism, but they do provide clues that things are amiss, because they’re measuring a child’s language skills, social communication skills and the assessments, will pick up on the presence of repetitive behaviours.

Nothing fishy about fishy dinners

At the age of 10

The team took the test scores and plotted these against the mercury levels the kids had experienced, during their development in the womb.

The results……………………

effect of prenatal mercury exposure on behaviour

Scatter plot of prenatal mercury levels with behavioural assessments.

Absolutely no correlation between autism-spectrum-like behaviours and prenatal exposure to mercury. Nothing. Nada.

Fishy dinners, containing mercury, were not creating fishy behaviours.

At the age of 20 something

The same group of kids, were tested again, using a battery of  different neurodevelopmental tests, at the age of 22.

The tests used included

  • Boston Naming Test,
  • Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB),
  • the Profile of Mood States,
  • Stroop Word-Color Test,
  • the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale,
  • the Test of Variables of Attention, and
  • the Finger Tapping test.

These tests confirmed,

there was ABSOLUTELY no association with prenatal mercury exposure and performance.

NOTE : Ironically, in some of the measures of attention, executive function and delayed recall, the kids exposed to more mercury, performed better.  GO FISH !

Fishy advice

So the standard advice to cut fish from the menu during pregnancy…… is a bit fishy.

The mercury risk, while present on paper, does not exist, in big fish eaters, so it is highly unlikely it exists in small fish eaters i.e. someone eating fish 2-3 times a week.

So if you’re a pregnant Mom, looking to give your little one the best start possible, don’t be afraid to add fish to the menu.

The nutritional benefits of that fishy dinner, out way the risks of mercury.

Plus…. it is important to realize, there are other fish to fry, when it comes to mercury exposure.

Fish probably only contributes 7 % to blood mercury levels.

Share Button
Autism Spectrum Disorder Phenotypes and Prenatal Exposure to Methylmercury. Epidemiology (2013) 24(5):651-659. Edwin van Wijngaarden, Philip W. Davidson, Tristram H. Smith, Katie Evans, Kelley Yost, Tanzy Love, Sally W. Thurston, Gene E. Watson, Grazyna Zareba, Christine M. Burns, Conrad F. Shamlaye, Gary J. Myers.

 

 Methyl mercury exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes in the Seychelles Child Development Study Main Cohort at age 22 and 24 years. Neurotoxicol Teratol. (2017) 59: 35–42.  Edwin van Wijngaarden, Sally W. Thurston, Gary J. Myers, Donald Harrington1 Deborah A. Cory-Slechta, JJ Strain, Gene E. Watson, Grazyna Zareba, Tanzy Love, Juliette Henderson, Conrad F. Shamlaye, and Philip W. Davidson. 

Further reading

baby with improved hand eye co-ordination

Before birth exposure to fish oil scores game, set and match

Supplementing with fish oil in the second half of pregnancy helps create a highly co-ordinated chatter box two year old. This is an advantage, I promise.

Gut bacteria tormenting mercury

Want to keep mercury levels down ? Hire some help

Bacteria are chemical wizards – in fact one of their superpowers is that, as a collective, they can eat ANYTHING. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G includes mercury

breast milk creating a mathematical whizz

A nation’s diet, trumps it’s economy, when it comes to education

The quality of a nation’s breast milk, impacts how smart the nation is. The more omega-3, the smarter the nation, the more omega-6, the dumber the nation.

If you are an expectant Mom or know someone that is – invite them to participate, so they can create Better Body Chemistry during their pregnancy and raise a HAPPY HEALTHY little one.

Expecting ?
* indicates required

Close

WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet
Pin
Share
Posted in pregnancy | Tagged autism, behaviour problems, fish, iodine, mercury, pregnancy, selenium
 

better body chemistry for expectant moms

Gives you the inside scoop….

Tips and strategies, based on the latest science, to help you give your baby the best start possible. Learn more...

Click to enrol in our free e-course.

Connect with facebook Make sure you give the app permission on the next page

Connect with us

facebook you tube pinterest 40 google plus 40 Linkedin
  • Popular
  • Featured
  • Recent
  • asprosin the sugar plum fairy

    Why sugar levels are high despite NOT eating

    20810 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    19980 views / Posted
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    19225 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16761 views / Posted
  • carbonated water bubbles fill you up

    Fizzing up the water flattens your appetite

    15610 views / Posted
  • sun extracting cholesterol

    Make sure you have your “annual” check-up in the summer time

    / Dr Sandy
  • sending your kid to bootcamp won't stop childhood obesity

    Moving more won’t stop your kid from getting fat

    / Dr Sandy
  • cholesterol at the scene of the accident

    Bone cells are stiffening up your arteries not cholesterol

    / Dr Sandy
  • brain size the problem in ADHD

    Are kids with ADHD just acting according to their brain age

    / Dr Sandy
  • plastering the blood vessel with calcium

    Calcium supplements are building bones and breaking hearts

    / Dr Sandy
  • Starting muscle fires might be the secret to curing insulin resistance

    / Dr Sandy
  • nose feeling blocked

    A simple “cure” for chronic sinusitis

    / Dr Sandy
  • triglyceride sweeping up sugar

    Dietary fat and carbs DO MIX in a “good” way

    / Dr Sandy
  • what would batman eat

    Batman can rescue your child from poor food choices

    / Dr Sandy
  • grape shooting fat at a man eating grapes on the couch

    The inconvenient truth about eating more fruit to be healthy

    / Dr Sandy

RSS Recent posts

Dr Sandy Dr Sandy Evans, PhD

Located in Johannesburg, South Africa

Disclaimer : The stories and articles are provided as a service. Dr Sandy's opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.
 

Book an appointment

Calendar icon
 

Connect with Dr Sandy

facebook 40
you tube 40
pinterest 40
linkedin 40
 

Categories

Featured posts

  • asprosin the sugar plum fairy

    Why sugar levels are high despite NOT eating

    20810 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    19980 views / Posted
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    19225 views / Posted
 

©2011-2022 Spoonful of Science

Menu

  • Meet Dr Sandy
  • Disclosure/disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Comment policy
  • Contact
WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet