Eating fish during pregnancy could be beneficial after all, say researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center who voyaged to the Seychelles to study the benefits of nutrients found in fish and the risk associated with mercury exposure. Over three decades, more than 1,500 mothers and their children were observed, with results indicating that eating fish in as many as 12 meals per week does not lead to defects in the developing fetus.

Mercury makes way into the world’s oceans both naturally and as a result of man-made constructs such as coal plants.

Compounds in fish such as polyunsaturated fatty acids could counteract the damage that mercury causes in the brain, according to the study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. “These findings show no overall association between prenatal exposure to mercury through fish consumption and neurodevelopmental outcomes,” says Edwin van Wijngaarden, associate professor at the University of Rochester Department of Public Health Sciences. (AFP)