Pregnancy and eating fish: which types of fish are safe?

When you are pregnant you have to pay close attention to what you eat. An overview of which types of fish are and are not good to eat should not be missing. Tuna is on the safe side of the border on many overviews. However, a leading US research firm has changed its stance on tuna. The warning applies in particular to canned tuna. It is much better to eat other types of fish during pregnancy, such as salmon, shrimp, tilapia, coalfish, herring and flounder.

Pregnancy and eating fish

• Wide choice of fish
• Overview of safe and avoidable fish
• Lowest in mercury: you can eat these types of fish twice a week
• Lower in mercury: you can eat these types of fish six times a month
• High in mercury: eat these types of fish no more than three times a month
• Very high in mercury: never eat these types of fish during pregnancy
• Pregnancy and eating tuna

Wide choice of fish

There are hundreds of types of fish that can be eaten by humans. For pregnant women, it is important to include fish in their diet because it is high in protein and nutrients but low in saturated fat. It is recommended to eat fish two to three times when you are pregnant or breastfeeding because it has a positive effect on the development of the fetus. But how do you know which types of fish are safe and good to eat and which are dangerous?

The key to creating an overview of the right types of fish lies mainly in the level of mercury that the fish may contain. Mercury is a transition metal that fish ingest through the food they eat. They do not excrete this, so it continues to accumulate in their body. This mainly concerns methylmercury. By eating fish that contains mercury, we humans also get this in our bodies. About 95% of it is absorbed and enters the bloodstream. Too much mercury can lead to brain damage and nerve damage. In children, this can lead to speech and sleep problems and impairment of fine motor skills. It is therefore very important to avoid mercury-rich fish!

Overview of safe and avoidable fish

The US Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have drawn up a list that divides fish into four categories with corresponding recommended weekly amounts:

• Lowest in mercury (no more than nine servings per month)
• Lower in mercury (no more than six servings per month)
• High in mercury (no more than three servings per month)
• Very high in mercury (avoid at all costs!)

Lowest in mercury: you can eat these types of fish twice a week

• Anchovies
• Bone
• Butterfish
• Scallops / Scallops
• Baptismal clam
• Shrimps
• Harders
• Herring
• Hake
• Squid (calamari)
• Pollock
• Crab (depending on origin)
• Crawfish / crayfish
• North Atlantic mackerel
• Ocean perch
• Oysters
• Sardines
• Haddock
• Plaice
• Tilapia
• Tongue
• Whitefish
• Whiting
• salmon
• Catfish
• Freshwater trout

Lower in mercury: you can eat these types of fish six times a month

• Perch (freshwater, striped and black)
• Cod (depending on origin)
• Carp
• Halibut (from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans)
• Lobster
• Mahi Mahi / sea bream
• Snappers
• Sandfish
• Monkfish
• Sea trout

High in mercury: eat these types of fish no more than three times a month

• Chilean sea bass
• Bluefish
• Spanish mackerel
• Grouper

Very high in mercury: never eat these types of fish during pregnancy

• Yellowfin tuna
• Bigeye tuna
• Shark
• King mackerel
• Marlin
• Oreo
• Tilefish
• Swordfish

Pregnancy and eating tuna

There is quite a bit of disagreement among scientists about eating tuna during pregnancy. While one person names tuna in the list of fish species that contain little methylmercury, the other places it in the list of risky species because of the mercury level. Because there are so many different types of tuna, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between them. For example, albacore tuna is better to eat than yellowfin tuna ( yellowfin tuna ) and bigeye tuna, both of which should be avoided at all times by those who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

When you buy canned tuna in the store, you can read from the label which type of tuna it is from which origin. With fresh tuna it is a bit more difficult and if you order tuna in a restaurant – for example a sushi restaurant – it is even more difficult. For that reason, you could say that you would be wise to avoid tuna altogether during pregnancy. Since 2018, the Nutrition Center has recommended against eating tuna during pregnancy altogether.