No More Tuna...

Trout from our recent fly-fishing trip. It's low mercury; who knew!

ABC News published this article today linking prenatal mercury exposure to ADHD.  Here's an explanation of the study:

"A new study highlights the difficulty pregnant women face while eating for two, finding that more mercury exposure leads to a higher incidence of ADHD symptoms, while more fish consumption -- the main source of mercury exposure -- leads to a decreased risk."

So should we eat fish or avoid it?

"Researchers...also learned that pregnant women who ate more than two 6-ounce servings of fish a week were less likely to have children with these [ADHD] symptoms. This is actually more than the Federal Food and Drug Administration recommends, which is only 12 ounces of fish a week." 

The take-away is to eat more low mercury fish while avoiding high mercury fish. Not surprising:

"Fish high in mercury include shark, swordfish and fresh tuna, Korrick said. Fish with lower mercury levels, which are also rich in healthy fats, include salmon, rainbow trout and herring. A third group, which has different health benefits but still is low in mercury, includes cod, shrimp and haddock." 

Here's the question that I kept wondering: do lox on my bagel count?  Many online sources warn about listeriosis associated with smoked fish and deli meat.  I guess I'll aim to get that weekly fish quota through salmon fillets (which could not sound more barf-tastic right now)...