12 Jan It's Never Too Early to Learn About the Benefits of Fish

At the tender age of 4 months, young Benjamin is already learning about the benefits of consuming fish. Tagging along with his Mom to the grocery store has quickly become one of his favorite activities. He is being educated daily on the benefits of eating well. Where better to begin than at the grocery-specifically the seafood counter?

You see, Ben’s mom consumed lots and lots of Omega-3 fatty acids when he was in the womb. Research has suggests that increasing intake of dietary omega-3 fatty acids may have a number of health benefits. And babies whose diets include an abundance of essential fats seem to have an edge in terms of early development. Now new research shows that the same is true for infants born to mothers whose diets contain plenty of this essential fatty acid.

From the www.aboutseafood.com website:

Benefits for Baby

• Optimizes brain and eye development.
  DHA omega-3s make up a good part of the brain and retina. All of the DHA gathered by your growing baby must come from mom’s diet. And the richest whole food source of DHA is fish, especially oily fish like salmon, tuna, sardines.,
  Read “Oily Fish Makes Babies Brainier”
• May reduce pre term birth.
  Read “Eating Fish in Pregnancy Prevents Pre term Birth”

Benefits for Mom

• May help prevent and manage post-partum depression.
  Low levels of omega-3s are associated with low levels of the brain chemical, serotonin. And low levels of serotonin are linked to depression.
  Read “Eat Fish, Beat Post-Partum Blues”
• Helps manage optimal weight gain.
  Choose fish prepared healthfully – for example baked, broiled, grilled, microwaved or steamed.
• Protects heart health.
  Read “Eat Fish, Your Heart Will Love You”

Types of Fish to Focus On

For Women Who Are or May Become Pregnant, Breast feeding Women, and Young Children

• Eat a variety of 12 ounces, or 2-4 meals, cooked seafood each week. If you like, up to six ounces can be albacore tuna. Avoid Shark, King Mackerel, Tile fish, and Swordfish.
• All fish contain traces of mercury, but these fish – which most American’s already don’t eat – should be avoided as they tend to have higher levels.
  Read “What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish”

Blog-about-seafood is a fun blog written by Registered Dietitian Jennifer McGuire with the National Fisheries Institute. I encourage you to take a look at her mouth watering photos as she blogs about her life consuming seafood!

FYI, young Benjamin chose tilapia that evening for dinner for his parents. He knows his parents are trying to increase their fish consumption to twice a week for health purposes. He also knows that his mom has found a great recipe here for those tilapia fillets. They are definately in the rotation now and he knows he’ll be eating it soon enough!