Research
Micronutrients & recovery
For women of childbearing age, consuming 2 seafood servings per week (limiting high-mercury species) provides neurodevelopmental benefits for the fetus that outweigh the risks of low-level methylmercury exposure.
If you are pregnant or planning to be, eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) of a variety of fish and shellfish per week. Avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish. This provides DHA for your baby's brain and eyes without exposing them to harmful levels of mercury.
LimitedQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Women of childbearing age and nursing mothers should consume 2 seafood servings/wk, limiting intake of selected species... DHA appears beneficial for, and low-level methylmercury may adversely affect, early neurodevelopment.
Why this rating
Based on meta-analyses of RCTs and prospective cohort studies, though results for cognitive testing are less consistent than for visual acuity.
Source
Fish Intake, Contaminants, and Human Health
Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · JAMA · 2006
DOI 10.1001/jama.296.15.1885
Meta-analysisCited 1,953×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- High-level mercury exposure (occupational/accidental) causes neurotoxicity, but low-level exposure from typical fish consumption has unclear or modestly decreased cardiovascular benefits in adults, without clear adverse effects.Moderate
- Consuming 1-2 servings of fish per week (providing ~250 mg/d EPA+DHA) reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) death by 36% and total mortality by 17% in adults, with benefits outweighing risks from contaminants.Weak
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