A large study in Spain suggests that when expecting mothers eat three sizeable servings of fish each week during pregnancy, it may lead to brain benefits for the child for years to come, Reuters reports.
"Seafood is known to be an important source of essential nutrients for brain development, but at the same time accumulates mercury from the environment, which is known to be neurotoxic," lead author Jordi Julvez, of the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, said in an email.
For the study, the researchers studied 2,000 mother-child pairs from the first trimester of the mother's pregnancy till the child was five years old. The researchers found that kids whose mothers ate fish while pregnant had improved brain function, as compared to children whose mothers ate the least fish while pregnant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 2014 guidelines encourage pregnant women to eat fish, but no more than 12 ounces per week.
However, researchers found that even when women ate 21 ounces of fish weekly during pregnancy, there were no side effects of any pollutants associated with the intake of fish.
The study team noted that more research could help give pregnant women clearer guidance on the consumption of fish during pregnancy.
The researchers analyzed data from the Spanish Childhood and Environment Project, a large population study that recruited women in their first trimester of pregnancy, in four provinces of Spain, between 2004 and 2008.
"I think that in general people should follow the current recommendations," Julvez said. "Nevertheless this study pointed out that maybe some of them, particularly the American ones, should be less stringent."
Julvez noted that there didn't appear to be any additional benefit when women ate more than 21 oz (about 595 g) of fish per week.
"I think what's interesting about this study compared to some data previously is that they better quantify the relationship between how much fish is consumed in a diet and then the benefits for the fetus and ultimately the child," said Dr. Ashley Roman, director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, , who was not involved in the study.
