Some experts worry that there's sufficient conflicting advice out there for people to stop eating fish altogether.
William Lands, a retired National Institutes of Health researcher who has studied the healthy fats found in fish told the washingtonpost.com, "It's a shame that people are running away from seafood at a time when it gives so many benefits."
Walter Willett, professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health notes, the benefits of consuming fish "are likely to be at least 100-fold greater than the estimates of harm, which may not exist at all...the kinds of levels of contaminants that are being talked about are not a reason for people to reduce their fish intake."
Commonly known to contain omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy kind of fat, fish is known to protect the heart, the brain and the joints. These fatty acids have also been implicated in alleviating mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorder.
Additional omega-3 has been linked with a reduced occurrence of irregular heartbeats as well as stroke. This was reported in this month's Journal of American College of Cardiology.
The health advantages of eating seafood are clear enough that the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, the American Heart Association, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute all recommend the consumption of fish or seafood at least twice a weak.
