why is not safe to eat fish while pregnant or is it a certain kind?

Answer 1

Too much tuna MAY contain mercury. Other fish however like salmon cod etc are very good and contain high protein and Omega 3 fatty acids. Fish is very good for pregnant women. Tuna should however be kept to a minimum

Answer 2

It isn't safe because like everyone else has said, the mercury levels are quite high. What hasn't been stated is that avoiding seafood altogether like some doctors recommend is just as damaging as avoiding it altogether. There are essential fatty acids in fish needed for early brain development in the fetus.

Ironically, the higher levels of mercury from eating the normally recommended amount of seafood (about 3 servings a week) during pregnancy will cause the same defects as not eating the seafood. Look it up on www.webmd.com they have a wealth of info on this subject.

One recommendation would obviously be to not eat the seafood and take a supplement for the fatty acids. This way, you get the essentials without the mercury.

Answer 3

It can be considered unsafe to eat fish while pregnant because fish absorb mercury from the water that they live in. Although mercury in these low levels aren't too dangerous to adults, they can be very damaging to the fetus. I think that most experts recommend avoiding all seafood while pregnant, but the levels of mercury are higher in animals that are higher up on the food chain (because the more organisms they eat, the more concentrated the mercury levels in their own bodies become). An example of a fish high on the food chain is tuna, but other commonly eaten fish are pretty high up, too. If you want more information about mercury and pregnancy specifically, you might want to either search on your own, or post this in the pregnancy section as this is the section for fish as pets, not food!

Answer 4

Mercury is a big part of the reasoning here, and it is specific kinds of fish. This link will take to to the current Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency's current guidelines: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishadvice/advice.html

In addition to those above, if you like to eat fish from inland waters, especially those you catch yourself, you should contact your state's fish/game bureau for advisories for pollutants (mercury, organics) that may be present in fishing areas you frequent.

Answer 5

Its considired bad to eat predatory fish like Tuna, Salmon, Shark, and Swordfish because these fish eat other fish and end up with toxic levels of Mercury and other pollutants in their flesh.