Can You Eat Tilapia During Pregnancy?

Tilapia is the typical name for almost a hundred types of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia are mainly freshwater fish living in shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes and less commonly discovered living in brackish water. Historically, they have been of major value in artisanal fishing in Africa, and they are of increasing importance in aquaculture and aquaponics.

Tilapia can end up being a bothersome invasive types in brand-new warm-water environments such as Australia, whether deliberately or inadvertently introduced, however generally not in temperate environments due to their failure to endure in cold water.

Can You Eat Tilapia During Pregnancy?

Tilapia is the 4th most consumed fish in the United States dating back to 2002. The appeal of tilapia happened due to its low price, simple preparation, and its mild taste. You might wisely fret about fish intake during pregnancy since of the risk of mercury contamination and possible impacts on your baby.

1. When picking oily fish, remember that they can include some environmental pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. So attempt not to have more than two parts a week.
2. Oily fish benefits you, so it’s still essential to include it in your meals. It consists of omega-3 fatty acids and other vitamins and nutrients that benefit you and your developing baby.
3. Other types of fish and shellfish may have similar levels of dioxins and PCBs to oily fish. These are sea bream, turbot, halibut, dogfish (similarly called huss or rock salmon), crab and sea bass. Restriction your parts of these fish to two parts a week.

Pregnant women do need to see their fish intake and limit intake of fish high in mercury. Thankfully, both salmon and tilapia fall under the category of fish with a low-mercury content. You can eat both fish while pregnant, within suggested quantities.

Almost all seafood contains some mercury, a pollutant released into the air as part of industrial waste that can infect the water. In the water, mercury changes into methylmercury, which collects in fish who feed in the waters.

Big fish that eat smaller sized fish and who live longer might have greater levels of methylmercury. While methylmercury does not impact many people, it might impact your baby’s developing brain.

So, if somebody asks you ‘Can I eat tilapia while pregnant‘ you can answer: ‘Yes.’

Suggested Limits

For fish that contain the lowest quantities of mercury, the United States Department of Health and Human Services recommends limiting your intake to two portions or 12 oz. each week. Fish low in mercury include not only salmon and tilapia however likewise canned light tuna, catfish and cod.

Other types of seafood in this classification include shrimp, crab, clams and oysters. Fish high in mercury, such as swordfish, include a mean of 0.87 parts per countless methylmercury, compared with 0.022 ppm for salmon and 0.013 pp for tilapia, the United States FDA reports.

Eating tilapia in specific can have favorable advantages in pregnancy, since it’s a fatty fish. Fatty fish consist of more fish oil, which consists of important omega-3 fatty acids docosohexaenoic acid, or DHA, and eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA.

The most typical omega-3 fat in the brain and eyes, DHA specifically plays an essential role in fetal brain development. Tilapia has a lower omega-3 fatty acid content than salmon and a higher quantity of hydrogenated fats.

Diet Tips

Farm-raised tilapia may not have the same omega-3 benefits as wild tilapia unless they’ve been fed a diet high in DHA. If possible, choose wild tilapia over farm-raised.

Farmed tilapia, the most extensively farmed fish has a less favorable fat composition than salmon, given that it contains bigger quantities of omega-6 fatty acid to omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-6 fatty acids might have inflammatory impacts compared to omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammation.