Maintaining a healthy pregnancy diet can be quite the balancing act and it seems it just got a little bit more difficult.
A recent study has revealed that women with high mercury blood levels during pregnancy are 40-70% more likely to have a child who exhibits signs and symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, women who eat fish at least twice a week are 60% less likely to have a child who exhibits signs and symptoms of ADHD. This is the heart of our newest diet dilemma, because fish are the primary source of mercury in our diet. We have to ask, how exactly do we ensure we eat enough fish, while also limiting our mercury intake?
There isn’t yet an answer to this question, which means many pregnant women and even their healthcare providers are in the dark. Avoiding ADHD, which affects approximately 12% of all children, is not a medical necessity. Despite this, ADHD is known to cause behavioural and learning difficulties, which means if we can protect our children from the effects of ADHD we’re going to try.
After this study was released with such conflicting results, it was suggested that those mothers with high mercury blood levels might have been exposed to mercury from another source. As a result, several new studies are now being conducted to not only determine how much fish we should eat during pregnancy, but also to find out if there are other environmental factors impacting your pregnancy.
For now, most healthcare providers have taken the stance that eating fish during pregnancy is safe, as long as you do not eat more than four medium-sized cans of tuna or two tuna steaks or their equivalent each week. They also recommend fish with low mercury levels, such as sardines and mackerel and strongly warn against any consumption of high-mercury fish including: shark, marlin and swordfish.
Your pregnancy diet is a balancing act in more ways than one and the best you can do is to try to strike that balance. Remember, perfection is not a requirement, so just relax and do the best you can. We have complete confidence in you and you should too!