The fear of mercury is still doing more bad than good in most pregnant:

• Thing is that, this claim is misinterpreted and misguided as well as misused by medical staff without much understanding or further look into the nutrients that these foods contain nor interact with.

• There are certain fish that should be avoided during pregnancy because of extremely high content of mercury: swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, shark and even tuna.

However, there are many other fish that are perfectly fine and safe to eat that also get the ban in the eyes of the national guidelines or medical advisors, wrongly. This is because they contain ‘’small amounts of mercury’’, such as salmon.

The study of ‘’Dietary selenium’s protective effects against methylmercury toxicity’’ from 2010, PMID: 20561558, proves wrong due to a small detail often overlooked: fish contains high amounts of selenium, a mineral that binds perfectly with mercury and prevents toxicity effects in the human body.

It has actually been observed that the consumption of more than 350 g fatty fish per week was linked to higher IQ during childhood and improved communication skills. Instead, children whose mothers limited or consumed no seafood, were suffering from motor skills impairment, poor social development, and poor communication skills.

It’s good to know that most fish that have grown to eat small types of fish will always have higher mercury content. Cold water fish are really recommended to consume while pregnant thanks to their high levels of omega 3, DHA. 🐟 Salmon, herring, sardines and fish roe, make the best sources of DHA and low in mercury, but high in selenium.

Something widely unknown is that iodine daily requirements increase by 50% during pregnancy ( PMID: 22742605)
– and a devastating majority of women fail to consume nearly enough. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association ‘’iodine deficiency remains the leading cause of preventable intellectual disability worldwide’’. PMID: 17042677

To avoid deficiencies especially during pregnancy, just add 350g non-farmed or antibiotic free salmon weekly to your menu, seaweed, sardines, scallops, cod or shrimps.