CNN: Study: Fish good for pregnant women: Conflicts with advisory to limit due to mercury levels

[DeepModem Mom]

Study: Fish good for pregnant women
February 15, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Eating seafood during pregnancy could help your child's development, according to a new study in the British journal Lancet.

The finding conflicts with a U.S. government advisory that pregnant women limit the amount of seafood they eat to 12 ounces a week (two or three meals), because of mercury levels.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Bristol in Britain, and the University of Illinois-Chicago say that advice to limit seafood consumption could actually be detrimental to a child's health.

After analyzing data from almost 9,000 British mothers and their children over an eight-year period, they found pregnant women who ate less than 12 ounces of seafood a week did not protect their children from adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Rather, they increased their child's risk of poor verbal IQ development compared to mothers who ate more than 12 ounces a week.

The researchers said these children also had a greater risk of poor social development and poor motor control....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/15/seafood.pregnancy/index.html

[Eurobabe]

1. With a little mercury chaser?

These studies befuddle me, they always contradict one another. Who sponsored this "study" which big food company? :wtf:

[Canuckistanian]

8. "US government advisory" There's a clue right there.

They've done such a bang-up job "advising" us so far, right?

[depakid]

2. Non- CNN link with more acurate information

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2014677,00.html

"Jean Golding, one of the scientists at Bristol University who conducted the study, said setting limits on the amount of fish women should consume could be problematic. "It can be very confusing. the assumption is sometimes made that the less you eat the better. In the US particularly some women stopped eating fish altogether."

She said the only fish that women should avoid were swordfish, shark and fresh tuna, as these could contain greater quantities of pollutants. "These fish are at the top of the food chain, so they have been eating other fish and storing pollutants throughout their life."

<snip>

Professor Golding advised women who felt they did not like fish to take omega-3 supplements as an alternative.

The Food Standards Agency advises mothers to avoid shark, swordfish and marlin, and to limit consumption of fresh tuna.

-------------

My suggestion would be to also take a look at your own state and country's lists of contamination in fish. They vary from place to place, mercury being only one of several concerns.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Thanks, depakid! I understand there's mercury-free tuna available --

It's expensive, however.

[depakid]

7. Most fresh fish is expensive

which is a potential confounder- though this is a pretty big study.

Surprisingly, the LA Times has a good piece on this as well:

The results of the study were surprising, say the authors, and contradict American and British recommendations that pregnant women should limit seafood and fish consumption to avoid potentially high levels of mercury. The study relied on mothers' observations of their children's development and their reports of their food intake while pregnant.

Mercury is found in small concentrations in fish and seafood, but can accumulate in the body. High amounts of the metal can damage the human nervous system, particularly those in developing fetuses. On the other hand, seafood -- including fish -- is also a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, essential to brain development.

While experts believe further research is necessary to confirm these conclusions, the study's failure to find evidence of increased harm from eating fish is significant. Because seafood contain both nutrients and toxins, it remains a dilemma for regulatory authorities what kinds of recommendations should exist for pregnant women.

The study, led by Dr. Joseph Hibbeln of the United States' National Institutes of Health, tracked the eating habits of 11,875 pregnant women in Bristol, Britain.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-seafood-diet,1,2061995.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Thanks again! nt

[depakid]

14. You're more than welcome. The actual study in Lancet is online! Nice.

Thanks for alerting me to this.

As I suspected, it's probably not fish per se that provides the beneficial effects:

Introduction

Optimum fetal neurodevelopment is dependent on specific nutrients derived solely from dietary sources, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 essential fatty acid, of which seafood is a major source.1 Low seafood intake during pregnancy could lead to fetal deficiency in essential long-chain omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid, (EPA) resulting in adverse effects on neurodevelopment.2

DHA deficiency leads to reduced dendritic arborisation3 and impaired gene expression for regulation of neurogenesis, neurotransmission, and connectivity.4 In severe conditions of DHA deprivation, such as Zellweger disease and peroxisomal disorders, mental retardation is common, yet restoration of dietary DHA intake improves clinical outcomes and neuronal myelination.5–7

<snip>

As shown in table 1, low seafood consumption by mothers was more likely in homes with evidence of social disadvantage (high level of family adversity, crowding, low maternal education levels, not being a home owner, and being a single parent) and less than ideal lifestyles (smoker, low parenting scores, and not breastfeeding).

<snip>

We did not do a detailed analysis of fish oil supplements. They were consumed in pregnancy by only 205 (1·7%) women in the study. The outcomes of infants of mothers who took supplements, but did not eat seafood were close to those of mothers who did eat fish (data not shown).

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607602773/fulltext

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I reckon I'd still be very careful with seafood intake during pregnancy, as it seems likely that EPA/DHA supplements provide the same results.

(It's wise for all of us to be taking those anyway. Vegetarians can get the same nutrients from borage and flaxseed oils).

[Paulie]

12. Wait a second...

"The study relied on mothers' observations of their children's development and their reports of their food intake while pregnant."

How can this be controlled? What mother will say their child has developmental problems if they are mild? As a new father, my child is PERFECTION. You going to take my word for it? :)

[depakid]

13. Recall bias can be troublesome

in these sorts of studies. People may not remember what they ate- or the frequency.

As to the outcome measures, researchers used validated instruments that were both take home questionnaires and also included an assessment of a representative sub-population administered under controlled conditions by trained psychologists.

See the post above for the link to the study.

[davsand]

20. I know full well I didn't eat a lot of fish when I was pregnant.

The taste and smell of all fish except for fish sticks absolutely nauseated me when I was pregnant. One of the first indicators I had that I was pregnant, actually, was when tuna started to taste "wrong" to me...

As for EPA & DHA, those can be produced in our bodies if we consume enough ALA. ALA is present in flax seed oil, borage oil and soy oil. (However, there is some evidence that men should probably not take flax seed oil because it can lead to prostate problems. Eating flax seed, however, is not a problem. The theory on that seems to be that it becomes rancid too easily after it is pressed into oil, and that rancid oil can cause prostate problems in some men.)

I had an amazing conversation with a pretty well respected biochemist back around Christmas time when he told me that he does NOT recommend fish oil as a source of EPA & DHA because of both the contamination as well as the expense. (He also doesn't like Statins either--but that is a discussion for another day.) Fred's opinion was that EVERY adult should be consuming soy oil on a daily basis.

I have been doing a lot of reading lately on the subject of fish oil and on Omega Three supplementation, and it really DOES sound like it has some positive medical impact for most of us. I recall when I was nursing my daughter (so many years ago!) that they were talking back THEN about the fact that EPA and DHA were present in breast milk but not in formula. Ten years ago they knew it was essential to brain development in babies!!!

Regards!


Laura

[Pharaoh]

3. study sponsored by

the fishing industry I'd wager............

I honest to God have a real hard time believing my government or MSM anymore............

[seriousstan]

21. Perhaps your mother didn't eat enough fish when she was carrying you.

:shrug:

[The2ndWheel]

5. Just a shame that after

decades and decades of trying to make our lives better chemically, we can no longer do anything without suffering some type of consequence. We had to do it though, we just didn't want to pay for it.

[msongs]

6. CNN study - pregnant women bad for....fish nt

[rocktivity]

9. Candidate for this year's "You Call This NEWS?" award

Of course fish is good for you--it's the MERCURY that isn't, duh!

:crazy:
rocknation

[Ilsa]

10. If I were preggers again, I'd take omega complex supplements

instead of eating the fish. But thank goodness I don't have to worry about having any mroe kids. Two is plenty for us. (One woman with 8 kids said I had a micro-family. I told her it was a family where each child gets lots of attention from both parents.)

[Doondoo]

15. Just imagine if people would get serious about eliminating mercury.

The benefits would be wonderful.

[alarimer]

16. Do not lump all fish together- most do not have mercury

Fish is good for you. For everyone. I hate seeing people condemn all fish just because swordfish and tuna are known to have mercury in them. For those who know nothing about food chains and are ignorantly condemning all fish as "poisoned": fish at the top of the food chain will have more mercury in them than those at the bottom. So tuna, sharks, swordfish (because they all eat fish which eat other fish, etc) bioaccumulate the mercury in their tissues.

So stick with fish lower down the food chain: catfish, tilapia, red snapper, grouper, salmon, trout, mahi mahi and plenty of others are okay to eat. Now there are issues with overfishing and sustainable harvesting with some of those but that's another topic for another thread.

[Tin Man]

19. Correct... Larger and/or long-lived fishes accumulate highest levels

Mercury "rolls-up" into the highest brackets of the marine foodchain. Mercury levels in the flesh of any given fish correlate to how many other fish it has eaten, either directly or indirectly, during its life. Multitudes of little fish, eaten by scores of medium fish, in turn are eaten by one big fish. The deeper into this progression, the greater the level of accumulated mercury.

Avoid big and/or old fishes if mercury concerns you.

[alarimer]

23. precisely but the stories never mention this

Well the article did say to avoid "predatory" fish. I think they should have been more specific. Avoid eating tuna more than once a week but eat as much founder as you want, or some such. I have a similar problem with the way all health news is reported. It is usually misleading and/or unnecessarily alarmist.

[dubyaD40web]

17. Mary Cheney?

:-) (Bad joke)

[Up2Late]

18. Another very deceptive headline from CNN! It should say "British Fish good..."

"...After analyzing data from almost 9,000 British mothers and their children over an eight-year period...,"

This study was done on British Women, with food available in British Stores, regulated by British Laws!

I'm pretty sure MOST of the Mercury and other toxins that come from the Coal fired Power plants in the American Midwest and then settles into Northeastern Lakes, Streams and the Ocean off the East Coast of the North America, doesn't make it all the way to the areas were Great Britain and Western Europe get most of their fish.

[CabalPowered]

22. I participated in a mercury study with Greenpeace

Myself and my GF, who is in her 20's. She eats a lot more fish than I do, mostly sushi. She had twice the suggested limit of mercury while I had half the limit.

:scared: