Originally published January 29 2006
New guidelines advise Americans to eat seafood two times a week
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In a recent statement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has recommended that all Americans eat seafood twice a week.
New guidelines recommend that all Americans -- especially pregnant and nursing women and children -- eat seafood twice a week, despite the current concern about pollution contamination.
The guidelines summarize scientific findings presented at a conference held in Washington, D.C, reiterating that seafood helps people live longer and healthier lives, and cuts the risk for heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, stroke, diabetes, and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The conference was sponsored by the governments of the United States, Norway, Canada, and Iceland, and assisted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, iodine, iron and choline, present in fish such as wild and farmed salmon, shrimp, pollock, cod, canned light tuna and catfish, are important in brain development and may lessen the effects of dyslexia, autism, hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder, researchers have found, and some studies have linked those nutrients with increased intelligence in infants and young children.
Regarding the concern about mercury contamination, the NOAA statement advises: "Women will not put their baby at risk if they avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, tuna steaks and whale meat until after they have delivered and stopped breast feeding."
For good measure, women planning to become pregnant should avoid these fish for six months beforehand.
The recommendations have a 10-fold safety margin built in for precaution, which some scientists think is scaring people away from seafood.
Evidence presented at the conference showed that selenium, another element present in ocean fish, neutralizes the effects of mercury acquired from foods.
"This very important, but little analyzed, point helps us understand how people from the Seychelles islands can eat fish 12 times per week and show no toxic signs," Lands said.
"Not eating seafood is more harmful than eating it," Lands concluded.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml