Eating oily fish and seafood regularly is good for you, despite the health risks from pollutants, say scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, USA. They said that the evidence of benefits has been lost in a sea of information about the risks.
You can read about this new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The researchers looked through a wide range of published studies and found that:
— The consumption of fish, or eating the equivalent omega-3-fatty acids from six ounces of mackerel or three ounces of salmon each week, reduces the number of heart disease deaths by 36%
— This amount of omega-3-fatty acid intake each week also lowers total mortality by 17%
— Levels of PCBs and dioxins found in fish are not different to those found in eggs, butter, pork, beef and chicken
— The levels of PCBs and dioxins found in fish and seafoods pose health risks which are tiny in comparison to the health benefits they offer
— Nursing mothers and pregnant mothers who consume omega-3-fatty acid rich seafoods are more likely to have babies and young children whose early brain development is excellent
The researchers blame the media for the disproportionate and ‘unsubstantiated’ publicity which claims eating fish poses a serious health risk. They added that their study, which looked at two decades of research, clearly showed that the health risk is there if you don’t eat fish.
Fish Intake, Contaminants, and Human Health
Evaluating the Risks and the Benefits
Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH; Eric B. Rimm, ScD
JAMA. 2006;296:1885-1899.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today