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Eating Wrong type Of Fish Put Pregnant Women To Risk Of Mercury Exposure

There has been a great debate over what type of fish is ideal for consumption especially for pregnant women and the succeeding article will shed some light on the limitations as to the type of fish recommended for human consumption. There are some fishes that have high mercury level which if taken too much can disturb healthy functionalities of the central nervous systems.One of them is Canned Tuna fish to watch for.Read more from the article below.

 When you grill a piece of salmon or have a fish taco for lunch, you’re getting a good source of high-protein food that provides important nutrients. And if you’re a woman who is pregnant or nursing, that fish contains important fuel for your baby’s brain development.
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In fact, fish is seen as such a beneficial food that the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency recently came out with proposed new guidelines recommending that women of childbearing age and young children eat more of it. But if Americans follow those guidelines without careful attention to which species they are consuming, they could end up taking in too much mercury. (Learn how mercury gets into fish.)
Though the agencies say consumers should seek out fish that are low in mercury, almost all seafood contains the toxin in varying amounts, and getting too much of it can damage the brain and nervous system. That is especially true for fetuses, but children and adults who eat too much high-mercury seafood also can suffer harmful effects such as problems with fine motor coordination, speech, sleep, and walking, and prickly sensations. (Read “Sick From Sushi,” which details how one fish lover felt the effects of mercury.)
 Visit our mercury in seafood resources page to use the Got Mercury? calculator, developed by the Turtle Island Restoration Network. 
The latest federal proposal encourages women who are pregnant, breast-feeding, or trying to become pregnant to eat between 8 and 12 ounces of fish per week, and suggests a minimum weekly quota for young children, too. This marks the first time those agencies have set a firm minimum level for weekly fish consumption, including shellfish.
Consumer Reports’ food-safety experts analyzed the FDA’s own data that measures mercury levels in various types of seafood. From that we identified almost 20 seafood choices that can be eaten several times per week, even by pregnant women and young children, without worrying about mercury exposure.

However, Consumer Reports disagrees with the recommendations from the FDA and EPA on how much tuna women and children may eat. (We don’t think pregnant women should eat any.) We also believe the agencies do not do enough to guide consumers to the best low-mercury seafood choices. To make decisions easier for consumers, our chart below gives advice about good low-mercury choices.

To read more about those harmful species of fishes that could be potentially harmful to  humans and especially pregnant women, check  from the source below :
Source : Check Here
Photo Source : Melissa Doroquez

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