Pros and cons of eating fish: Mayo Clinic

• May 3, 2024

Fish fat, or fish Omega-3 fatty acids , they reduce the risk of heart disease , but there is concern that the contaminants present in fish may be greater than the health benefits, reveals a special edition of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

In this sense Mayo Clinic, requires that you eat one or two servings of fish a week, especially the Salmon or other fish with high content of Omega-3 fatty acids , you can reduce the risk of dying by 33% as a result of a heart attack .

Research links the consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids with less risk of presenting heart rate abnormal, which can lead to sudden cardiac death. Similarly, the evidence indicates that the omega 3 acids help to lower the level of triglycerides and to decrease the atheroma plaques that grow inside the blood vessels.

However, precise Mayo Clinic Heatlh Letter, fish and shellfish also contain methylmercury, a component of environmental pollution, the result of industrialization, which falls in the form of acid rain. Fish eat mercury when eating, so eating lots of fish can increase the risk of accumulating toxic amounts of mercury.

The study clarifies that when making a balance on the risks and advantages of the consumption of fish and shellfish, the age and phase of a person's life should be taken into account. In this regard, United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA for its acronym in English), recommends that young children and women pregnant or that breastfeed, avoid eating those fish with the highest rate of contamination by mercury, namely, tilefish, shark, swordfish and giant mackerel.

For other people, the FDA suggests eating fish twice the week that have the lowest levels of mercury, such as salmon, hake (saithe) or pollock. However, the latest research suggests that, in general, it may be helpful for adults to consume fish and shellfish more than once a week. In postmenopausal women and older men, the benefits cardiovascular of ingesting a variety of fish with the lowest levels of mercury far outweighs the risks.

For more information visit: www.mayoclinic.org/spanish
 

Video Medicine: Should You Avoid Farmed Fish? (May 2024).