Benefits of eating fish outweigh risks
"Overall, for major health outcomes among adults, the benefits of eating fish greatly outweigh the risks," said Dariush Mozaffarian, lead author of the Harvard study. "Somehow this evidence has been lost on the public."
(SPM Wire)

One day we're told a type of food is good for us, the next day scientists tell us it's bad. We've seen it happen with eggs, coffee, juice - even milk.

Many studies have shown the nutritional benefits of eating fish. Fish is high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids which are good for our hearts and immune systems and for children's brains. But concerns have been raised in recent years about chemicals found in fish from environmental pollution, including mercury, PCBs and dioxins.

That has led to confusion among the public - do the risks of fish outweigh the benefits? Two new medical studies have tackled this question, concluding that putting one to two servings of fish on your table each week can benefit your health.

Proper fish consumption is now being definitively associated with reduced risk of cardiac death, lower total mortality, and improvements in child brain development. More importantly, the benefits outweigh risks from the contaminants that have been found in some types of fish.

A new report by the Harvard School of Public Health concludes that that the benefits of eating a modest amount of fish per week - about three ounces of farmed salmon or six ounces of mackerel - reduced the risk of death from coronary heart disease by 36 percent. It also demonstrated that intake of fish or fish oil reduces deaths from any causes by 17 percent.

For its part, the Institute of Medicine, which advises the government on health, is similarly advocating Americans to eat more fish, concluding that fish aids the heart for all of us, as well as brain and eye development in babies and children.

The Harvard researchers concluded that these health benefits are greater for oily fish (like salmon, bluefish), which are higher in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, than lean fish (such as haddock, cod).

For infants and young children, the authors even found that they could obtain these benefit from pregnant or nursing mothers who consumed fish.

To obtain the benefits of fish for children but minimize the potential risk of mercury, the investigators recommend that women of childbearing age, nursing mothers and young children eat up to two servings per week of a variety of fish. Recommended fish include salmon, light tuna, shrimp, mackerel, and up to 6 oz. per week of albacore tuna.

They should, however, avoid four species of fish - golden bass (also known as tilefish), king mackerel, shark and swordfish - larger, predatory fish that have higher levels of mercury.

This advisory is only for women of childbearing age, nursing mothers and young children, not the general population. Importantly, for these women, it is as important for their health and for the brain development of their infants that they eat a variety of other fish as it is to avoid the four fish species higher in mercury.

The researchers conclude that the benefits of eating one to two servings of fish a week greatly outweigh the risks among adults and, except for a few species of fish, women of child-bearing age.

"It is striking how much greater both the amount of the evidence and the size of the health effect are for health benefits, compared with health risks. Seafood is likely the single most important food one can consume for good health," said Mozaffarian.