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Is it Safe to Eat Fish during Pregnancy?

At this time of year, we all have food on our minds.
One question that pregnant women and mothers of small children frequently ask is,"Is it Safe to Eat Fish?"

There are many health benefits of eating good quality fish. The fish oil supports brain function and steadies the emotions. Women who consume fish or fish oil regularly during pregnancy have a lower rate of postpartum depression. Fish oil is also good for treating joint inflammation and ADD.

The following link offers a handy tool for consumers. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program has created a printable business card sized list of safe fish, moderately safe fish and fish to avoid eating.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.com/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.asp

Here is an article on the benefits of eating fish:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/21/health/main554952.shtml

And if you're someone who doesn't like the taste of fish or fish oil, I can tell you that the flavored supplements in capsule form are easy to swallow and taste great. Strawberry is my favorite!

By KCdoula at 11/21/2007 - 10:43am | KCdoula's blog | add new comment | email this page

Fish oil for Neurological Disorders

My son takes fish oil for Verbal Apraxia (apraxia is a neurological motor planning disorder that often affects speech). Per Dr. Sears, he takes 1000 mg of fish oil a day, 500 mg with breakfast and 500 mg with dinner. He takes it in liquid form and allows me to simply squirt it right into his mouth, despite the fishy taste. He actually asks for his "vite-mins" several times a day. We have also started making fish at least once a week, but so far he only nibbles at it. According to Dr. Sears, all children (3 and up) should be getting 500 mg of fish oil a day, and any child with a neurological "quirk" should be getting twice that. (Infants should get their DHA's through breastmilk or formula.) My son went from only saying about 20 words at age 2 1/2 to saying so many words we have lost count in only a month since starting the fishing oil. He now tries new words often, which is something he rarely ever did before, and he says at least 2 new words a day. He speaks in long sentences now, and he has all but abandoned his complex language of made up signs, ASL signs, and noises in place of certain words. He still has Apraxia and is getting speech therapy for it, but he is making amazing progress which his speech therapis has noticed and commented on often. I highly recommend fish oil for any child with any kind of neurological disorder. Keep in mind that it is very important to buy quality brands when buying fish oil. We started Owen out with a generic brand at first and it helped a little, but once we started him on the brand that Dr. Sears recommended his language just took off like crazy.

By mamablogess at Wed, 11/21/2007 - 12:06pm | reply | email this page

Fish for Neurological Disorders

Thank you for sharing your experience. It sounds like your son is making fabulous progress!

My kids line up to eat the liquid fish oils. I started giving it to my older son when his teachers suggested ADD/gifted testing. I believe that many issues can be improved with dietary adjustments, such as fish oil. While medications may relieve or cover symptoms, they aren't addressing deficiencies.

By KCdoula at Thu, 11/29/2007 - 4:02pm | reply | email this page