Eating Fish Is More Good Than Not Good

Big fish, little fish, more fish, less fish. What’s the best thing to put in your mouth? The answer, according to research conducted in part at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is big fish,  and more of it. The researchers reviewed previous studies published in MEDLINE, governmental reports, and meta-analyses, supplemented by hand reviews of references and direct investigator contacts, published through April 2006. They evaluated (1) intake of fish oil and cardiovascular risk, (2) effects of methylmercury and fish oil on early neurodevelopment, (3) risks of methylmercury for cardiovascular and neurologic outcomes in adults, and (4) health risks of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls in fish.
The bottom line?  The benefits of eating fish intake exceed the potential risks. For women of childbearing age, benefits of modest fish intake, excepting a few selected species, also outweigh risks.
Read more in JAMA.