Catch-22: Seafood rich in healthy oils, but mercury threat keeps consumers at bay
By Sally Squires/ The Lean Plate Club
Sunday, August 13, 2006
The conflicting health information about seafood can make you want to jump off the deep end. First, fish are touted for their health benefits. Then, they’re condemned for containing too much mercury, PCBs and other contaminants.
Some experts worry that there’s enough conflicting advice to make the public avoid fish altogether.
“It’s a shame that people are running away from seafood at a time when it gives so many benefits,” said William Lands, a retired National Institutes of Health researcher who has studied the healthy fats found in fish.
That could be a mistake. The benefits of eating seafood “are likely to be at least 100-fold greater than the estimates of harm, which may not exist at all,” according to Walter Willett at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy kind of fat, seafood is known to help protect the heart, brain and joints. Omega-3s, which are most plentiful in deep-ocean fish, could also help prevent, and possibly treat, some mood disorders, including depression.
That’s why the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, the American Heart Association, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend fish for at least two meals a week.
But concerns about mercury and other contaminants continue to muddy the waters. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency warn young children, women of childbearing age and those who are pregnant or nursing to completely avoid eating shark, swordfish and king mackerel and to limit albacore (“white”) tuna, all of which can be high in mercury.
Mercury isn’t the only concern. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - substances linked to health problems including neurological disorders and suspected of causing cancer - also accumulate in both wild and farm-raised marine life.
So what should consumers do?
Whether fish is farm-raised or wild, “it would be unfortunate if people cut their consumption,” said Harvard’s Willett. Neither the mercury concern nor the PCB contamination levels are “enough for people to reduce their fish intake.”
Older adults “should not be concerned about mercury at all,” notes Joshua Cohen, who studies mercury exposure at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Center of Risk Analysis.
“Even the higher-mercury-containing fish, if they are not eaten frequently, are not a big concern,” says physician Gina Solomon, senior scientist at the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that studies mercury in fish.
No matter what kind of seafood you choose, skip anything deep-fried.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Database, breaded, fried shrimp - as well as other similarly prepared seafood - has few or no omega-3 fatty acids. Depending on the oil used to prepare it, these foods could also come laden with unhealthy saturated and trans fats, both known to increase risk of heart disease. Nutritionally speaking, not a good catch.
Join Sally Squires, author of “Secrets of the Lean Plate Club” (St. Martin’s Press). online Tuesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. at www.leanplateclub.com, where you can also subscribe to the free, weekly e-mail neslatter.
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