Pregnant Women should eat Seafood

IN THE NEWS:

It’s not a secret that eating seafood at least twice a week can lead to great health benefits. Lately however, a trend that has been concerning health professionals and fishermen alike is the lack of people eating seafood, primarily pregnant women. Having been alerted to the high levels of mercury in farmed seafood, these woman have opted to eliminate fish from their diets all together, leading to a potential risk of birth defects.

While mercury IS dangerous, not eating fish is more so. Omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found as high levels in most seafood are vital to the development of brain tissue. The problem facing the public is the fact that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that pregnant women eat at most 12 ounces, or approx. 2 servings of seafood a week. The results of a study done by the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition show that for optimal brain growth in babies, woman should consume at least 12 ounces (two servings) a week.

Obviously, eating organic and wild salmon would be the best alternative, and we’re happy to sell the finest quality fish around. With more and more public knowledge about the dangers of farmed salmon and it’s lack of quality spreading, it’s important to remember to continue to eat fish. If we were able to package all of the health benefits into a magic pill and sell it, we would become very famous and very healthy…but mother nature beat us to it, seafood.

Read NY Times article regarding the study

Read Reuters article on brain development and seafood in babies and children