{"id":243,"date":"2010-03-12T00:15:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/12\/fertility-diet-why-limiting-seafood-is-so-important\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T03:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T03:56:56","slug":"fertility-diet-why-limiting-seafood-is-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/12\/fertility-diet-why-limiting-seafood-is-so-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Fertility Diet: Why Limiting Seafood Is So Important!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

LIMIT SEAFOOD!
\nYou have probably heard by now that you need to avoid seafood, particularly certain types, due to its mercury levels. This is such a shame\u2014and where I get really mad about how we pollute this planet\u2014because fish is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, an important and healthy fat, protein, B vitamins and essential minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine and selenium.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re even thinking of having a baby, you will have to give up seafood that\u2019s high in mercury and limit the rest to one or two servings a week.<\/p>\n

In the water, mercury takes the form of methylmercury and that\u2019s the kind found in our seafood.\u00a0 Once in the human body, mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system\u2014not good for the health! But worse, once mercury (or methylmercury) gets into our bodies, it stays a while, accumulating in our blood. Our body naturally gets rid of it, but it can take time\u2014up to six months or more.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, if we get pregnant, methylmercury passes through our blood to the developing fetus , causing impaired neurological development. An article (no longer available) on the EPA\u2019s website states: \u201cMethylmercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother’s consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can adversely affect a baby’s growing brain and nervous system. Impacts on cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills have been seen in children exposed to methylmercury in the womb.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a July 2005 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in this article<\/a>, one in 17 (that\u2019s 6%) women of childbearing age have 5.8 micrograms per liter or more of mercury in their blood, which is a level that could pose risk to a developing fetus. According to this same article, some new science indicates that even levels as low as 3.4 micrograms per liter of a blood are a concern.<\/p>\n

OK \u2013 so don\u2019t panic! In line with the above statistics, most of us do not have those levels of mercury in our blood. However, if you are someone who eats a lot fish, shellfish or sushi on a regular basis, you might want to check with your doctor or naturopath to get your levels checked.<\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s time to eliminate fish and shellfish that\u2019s high in mercury \u2013 usually the bigger fish, which tend to eat the smaller, contaminated fish. According to the FDA, these include swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, and shark.<\/p>\n

For other seafood, choose options with the lowest levels of mercury in them and don\u2019t consume more than twice per week. For a guide on which seafood has the lowest mercury levels, see this FDA chart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do eat your fish\u2014it\u2019s so good for you\u2014but be sure to watch what you eat and limit!<\/p>\n

Handy Mercury Calculator<\/a>
\nList of Mercury Levels in Fish<\/a><\/p>\n

Excellent information on this topic can be found at this links:<\/p>\n

Includes list of high, med and low mercury levels in seafood: http:\/\/www.americanpregnancy.org\/pregnancyhealth\/fishmercury.htm<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.epa.gov\/hg\/effects.htm (link no longer valid)
\nhttp:\/\/www.nrdc.org\/health\/effects\/mercury\/effects.asp<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.doh.wa.gov\/ehp\/oehas\/fish\/fishfaq.htm#What_is_the_difference_between_mercury_and_methylmercury (link no longer valid)<\/p>\n

photo by: http:\/\/www.yachtandboat.com.au\/page\/cooking_seafood_safely.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LIMIT SEAFOOD! You have probably heard by now that you need to avoid seafood, particularly certain types, due to its mercury levels. This is such a shame\u2014and where I get really mad about how we pollute this planet\u2014because fish is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, an important and healthy fat, protein, B vitamins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,56,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mercury","category-methylmercury","category-seafood","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Chilli-Prawns-Seafood-Safety-w300.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Chilli-Prawns-Seafood-Safety-w300.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"baileycom","author_link":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/author\/baileycom\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":544,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}