Eating seafood or oily fish, even when contaminated with mercury, does not increase the risk of Alzheimer’s diseaseaccording to the results of a study published in the scientific journal Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). These foods rich in omega 3 would protect against cognitive decline.
Researchers at Rush Medical School in Chicago (USA) autopsied 544 brains and observed that mercury levels in 286 brains matched meals containing seafood eaten weekly, established by completed questionnaires 4, 5 years on average before their death.
The findings of the study revealed a strong correlation between the reduction of characteristic pathology Alzheimer’s and eating seafood at least once a week. On the other hand, it does not establish harmful effects of mercury on the brain.
“Eating oily fish can still be considered potentially positive against cognitive decline in at least part of the elderly population,” write Edeltraut Kroger and Robert Laforce, from Laval University in Quebec, Canada, about the study. “An approach that should no longer, thanks to this study, raise concerns about mercury contamination in fish and shellfish,” they add.
At high doses, mercury is associated with neurological disorders (including multiple sclerosis). The National Agency for Health, Environmental and Labor Safety (ANSES) thus recommends eating fish twice a week, to benefit from its nutritional properties, and to diversify the species of fish consumed.
For pregnant or breastfeeding women and for children under 30 months, ANSES recommends avoiding the most contaminated fish (predators) and limiting the consumption of North Atlantic fish to 150g/week for pregnant or breastfeeding women, and 60g per week for children under 30 months.
Read also:
Diabetes: mercury would increase the risk by 65%
4 good foods that are best eaten in moderation
Diabetes: mercury would increase the risk by 65%
