Eating Fish During Pregnancy May Reduce Anxiety

According to a new study published in the journal Plos One, expectant mothers who never eat seafood are more likely to have high levels of anxiety than those who do.

After surveying 9,500 women about their diet, researchers followed up with anxiety measurements taken during the 32^nd week of pregnancy. The results? Expectant mothers who never consume seafood are 53 percent more likely to have high levels of anxiety.

Researchers also discovered that vegetarians were 25 percent more likely to have anxiety than women with a diet high in meat and fish. And women who were more health-conscious in their diet had a 23 percent lower risk than others with unhealthy eating habits.

Anxiety can be detrimental to pregnancies. High levels of anxiety can have a negative effect on women's long-term health and also heighten the risk of their baby being born prematurely and at a low weight.

"In order to have a healthy pregnancy, women need to follow a healthy diet and not something special for pregnancy," senior author of the report Dr. Juliana Vaz said.

"It means a diet containing whole cereals, vegetables, salad, fruit, dairy foods, meat, poultry, pulses and including fish - three portions per week with at least one of oily fish, such as salmon, sardine or tuna," Vaz said.

The National Health Service guidelines recommend that pregnant women avoid certain times of fish like shark and swordfish and that they eat no more than four cans of tuna per week due to the high mercury levels that can affect babies' development.

"It is possible, but not proved, that this association with fish is due to the omega-3 fatty acid content of the fish," Dr. Pauline Emmett, co-author of the report, said.