Eating fish during pregnancy

Is this risky or beneficial?

We’ve all heard time and time again how important it is to include fish in our diets.  Fish is low in saturated fats, high in protein and other nutrients, but most importantly, fish is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega-3 fatty acids are an essential fatty acid that the body cannot manufacture on its own. For this reason, we must get our omega-3 fatty acids from food sources or supplements. The most plentiful source of omega-3 fatty acids is fish.

While eating fish is important for everyone, it is especially imperative during pregnancy. During pregnancy, the fetus can only get the essential fatty acid through the mother, which is why the mother’s consumption is so vital.  DHA, which is an omega-3 fatty acid, helps with brain and eye development.  Eating omega-3 sources while pregnant has been shown to decrease premature birth and increase the child’s IQ scores later in life.  So, while we encourage omega-3 fatty acid consumption through fish, one caveat is the mercury count found in certain fish.  Eating fish that is high in mercury can build up dangerous levels of the toxin in a mother’s body, increasing the risk of neurological damage to her unborn child.   So, is eating fish during pregnancy risky, or beneficial?

Almost every health professional you will ask will agree that eating fish during pregnancy is beneficial.  However, you must make sure that you are making the right choices when choosing the types and amounts of fish to consume.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have established guidelines pertaining to pregnant women and their fish consumption.

• They suggest not to avoid fish altogether before and during pregnancy or while nursing, but to avoid the types of fish with the highest mercury content.  The four fish that the FDA and EPA recommend that pregnant and nursing women avoid are:  Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, and Tilefish.
• It is safe to eat up to 12 ounces of fish a week, other than the previous mentioned.  This includes shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, Pollock and other white fish.
• Limit albacore tuna to 6 ounces a week, since it contains more mercury than canned light tuna.
• If you are eating fish caught by family or friends from a local body of water, check with the EPA to ensure that those waters the fish were taken from are safe.

Even though the guidelines are provided to make women feel more comfortable with their fish consumption, this has led some women to be too strict and avoid fish and seafood altogether.  While the guidelines were created to ensure that women cannot get too much mercury, it seems that they are too strict to provide maximum benefits to the babies.  A study by Dr. Emily Oken of the Harvard Medical School showed that the more fish women ate, the better outcomes their children had in IQ, fine-motor, and visual-motor skills.  Women who ate less than 12 ounces of fish a week had children whose IQ scores ranked in the lower ranges.
So, if a woman is eating 12 ounces of oiler, darker, fattier fish, she is likely getting enough omega-3 fatty acids and DHA.  Fish that contain the most omega-3 fatty acids with the least amount of mercury include:

• Anchovies, Atlantic herring and mackerel (not king mackerel), mussels, oysters, salmon, sardines, scallops, shrimp, trout.

However, if you are not a huge fan of fish or still weary of the guidelines, there are other sources of omega-3 fatty acids that can be found in the diet.  These foods include:

• Walnuts
• Grape seed oil
• Omega-3 fortified foods, such as eggs

Taking a DHA supplement, along with your prenatal vitamin is also an excellent choice for getting more of the essential fatty acid into your day.  It is important to continue to try and get 12 ounces of omega-3 fatty acids from food sources even though you may be taking a supplement, as food sources are absorbed better in the body.  In the end, it is deemed a risk to your baby if you do not consume enough fish during pregnancy.  It is definitely a benefit to consume fish in the recommended amounts during pregnancy for you and your child. So hopefully now, you can go out and enjoy that fish dinner that you have been so weary about eating!

Heather Neely, RD
CNY Healing Arts Center
Call me at 315.671.5755
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