孕婦吃金槍魚(yú)究竟安全嗎?

Should Pregnant Women Eat More Tuna?

孕婦吃金槍魚(yú)究竟安全嗎?

For years pregnant women have been warned about eating tuna because of concerns about mercury exposure. But a federal panel has reignited the debate about the benefits and risks of eating tuna and other seafood during pregnancy.

多年來(lái)，因?yàn)楣廴締?wèn)題，孕婦一直被警告不宜食用金槍魚(yú)。然而，聯(lián)邦政府的一個(gè)顧問(wèn)小組最近卻就妊娠期食用金槍魚(yú)等海產(chǎn)品的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和收益，重新挑起了爭(zhēng)論。

Experts agree that seafood is a rich source of important nutrients, and that most of us don’t eat enough of it. Fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, iodine, selenium and vitamin D. And numerous studies show that the nutrients in fish are particularly important for brain development in fetuses and nursing infants.

專(zhuān)家們一致認(rèn)為海產(chǎn)品是重要營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)的豐富來(lái)源，且我們大多數(shù)人的海產(chǎn)品攝入量都不足。魚(yú)肉中富含ω-3脂肪酸、B族維生素、碘、硒和維生素D。眾多研究表明，魚(yú)肉中的營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)對(duì)于胎兒和哺乳期嬰兒的大腦發(fā)育尤為重要。

As part of a sweeping review of nutrition recommendations, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recently reiterated the current seafood guidelines: Americans should eat a wide variety of seafood. The report also acknowledges the risk of mercury exposure from certain kinds of seafoods, and notes that women who are pregnant, nursing or may become pregnant should avoid certain kinds — tilefish, shark, swordfish and king mackerel — because of their high mercury content.

此次對(duì)營(yíng)養(yǎng)建議的全面復(fù)審由美國(guó)膳食指南咨詢(xún)委員會(huì)(Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee)負(fù)責(zé)。作為這項(xiàng)工作的一部分，該小組最近重申了當(dāng)前的指南：美國(guó)人應(yīng)食用多種多樣的海產(chǎn)品。其報(bào)告承認(rèn)某些種類(lèi)的海產(chǎn)品存在汞暴露風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，并指出孕婦、哺乳期或備孕女性應(yīng)避免食用某些汞含量偏高的魚(yú)類(lèi)：方頭魚(yú)、鯊魚(yú)、箭魚(yú)和王鯖。

The panel withheld a recommendation about tuna, second only to shrimp in popularity in the United States. Current guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency warn pregnant and nursing women to limit tuna consumption to six ounces per week.

但是，該小組并不贊同關(guān)于金槍魚(yú)，也就是美國(guó)僅次于蝦的第二受歡迎的海產(chǎn)品的建議。美國(guó)食品和藥品監(jiān)督管理局(Food and Drug Administration)和美國(guó)國(guó)家環(huán)境保護(hù)局(Environmental Protection Agency)的現(xiàn)行指南警告：孕婦和哺乳期婦女應(yīng)將金槍魚(yú)的攝入量限制在每周6盎司(約合170克)。

The advisory committee has recommended that these agencies “re-evaluate” their stance on tuna for pregnant women. In the report, the panel argues that albacore tuna is a “special case.” They noted that even when women ate double the recommended weekly amount of tuna, the benefits far outweighed the risks. “All evidence was in favor of net benefits for infant development and (cardiovascular disease) risk reduction,” the panel wrote.

咨詢(xún)委員會(huì)建議上述機(jī)構(gòu)“重新評(píng)估”他們?cè)谠袐D食用金槍魚(yú)問(wèn)題上的立場(chǎng)，并在報(bào)告中指出：長(zhǎng)鰭金槍魚(yú)應(yīng)作為一個(gè)“特例”。即使婦女食用每周建議量?jī)杀兜慕饦岕~(yú)，其凈收益也遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)大于風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。“所有的證據(jù)都支持它有益于嬰兒發(fā)育，并可降低(心血管疾病)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。”

The suggestion that pregnant women can eat more white albacore tuna — the type of tuna typically used in canned tuna — has upset advocacy groups that have called for increased warnings about mercury on tuna packaging.

顧問(wèn)小組表示孕婦適當(dāng)多吃些白長(zhǎng)鰭金槍魚(yú)(常用于制作金槍魚(yú)罐頭)也無(wú)妨，這令大聲疾呼應(yīng)對(duì)包裝金槍魚(yú)食品的汞污染提高警惕的宣傳組織十分不滿(mǎn)。

“Tuna is responsible for nearly seven times more mercury exposure than the four high-mercury fish that the Federal Food and Drug Administration advises pregnant women not to eat,” said Michael Bender, director of the mercury policy project, in a statement. “So why would the proposed 2015 dietary guidelines recommend that pregnant women eat more of it?”

“金槍魚(yú)中的汞污染是美國(guó)食品和藥品監(jiān)督管理局建議孕婦不要食用的四種高汞魚(yú)類(lèi)的近七倍，”汞政策項(xiàng)目”(mercury policy project)的負(fù)責(zé)人邁克爾·本德?tīng)?Michael Bender)在一份聲明中稱(chēng)。“那么，又為何提出在2015年的膳食指南中建議孕婦多吃金槍魚(yú)?”

But Dr. Steve Abrams, a panel member involved in the seafood recommendations and medical director of the Neonatal Nutrition Program at Baylor College of Medicine, said that while women need to be aware of the types of fish they are eating, the evidence is strong that fish consumption by mothers is good for the brains of their babies.

但是，參與制定海產(chǎn)品膳食建議的顧問(wèn)小組成員、美國(guó)貝勒醫(yī)學(xué)院(Baylor College of Medicine)新生兒營(yíng)養(yǎng)項(xiàng)目(Neonatal Nutrition Program)主任史蒂夫·艾布拉姆斯(Steve Abrams)博士表示，雖然婦女需要對(duì)自己食用的幾種魚(yú)類(lèi)多加注意，但強(qiáng)有力的證據(jù)顯示母親食用魚(yú)肉對(duì)嬰兒的大腦有好處。

“The goal of the dietary guidelines is to give people a healthy way to eat and not to include or exclude certain foods,” said Dr. Abrams. “The benefit of having (omega-3 fatty acids) in your diet really exceeds the likely risk of contamination. The point is that you should have a variety of types of seafood and not limit yourself to one type, and variety includes canned tuna.”

“膳食指南的目的在于指導(dǎo)人們以健康的方式飲食，而不是將某些食物納入或排除出食譜，”艾布拉姆斯博士說(shuō)。“膳食中加入含(ω-3脂肪酸)的食物帶來(lái)的收益大大超過(guò)了可能的污染風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。問(wèn)題的關(guān)鍵是，你應(yīng)該食用包括金槍魚(yú)罐頭在內(nèi)的多種的海產(chǎn)品，而不是局限于某一特定種類(lèi)。”

Alice Lichtenstein, senior scientist and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University said the panel hasn’t suggested that pregnant women eat more tuna. “The issue of fish contamination is a moving target and you need very current data,” said Dr. Lichtenstein. “It may be that the issue is re-evaluated and there is no change.”

塔夫茨大學(xué)(Tufts University)心血管營(yíng)養(yǎng)實(shí)驗(yàn)室(Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory)主任、資深科學(xué)家艾麗斯·利希滕斯坦(Alice Lichtenstein)表示，該小組并未建議孕婦多吃金槍魚(yú)。“魚(yú)肉污染的情況無(wú)時(shí)無(wú)刻不在發(fā)生變化，需要研究即時(shí)的數(shù)據(jù)，”利希滕斯坦博士說(shuō)。“很可能，在重新評(píng)估過(guò)該問(wèn)題后，發(fā)現(xiàn)無(wú)需做出改變。”

Mercury levels in our oceans are on the rise due to an increase in industrial mercury emissions. Plants, plankton and tiny fish that have absorbed small amounts of mercury are eaten by larger fish. Over time, large fish sharks and swordfish accumulate high levels of mercury. As a result, health officials recommend fish like sardines, salmon, tilapia and trout that are lower on the food chain and have accumulated less mercury in their tissue.

工業(yè)汞排放的增加造成海洋中的汞含量持續(xù)上升。植物、浮游生物和小魚(yú)體內(nèi)都吸收了少量的汞，而它們又是大魚(yú)的口中餐。隨著時(shí)間的推移，鯊魚(yú)和箭魚(yú)等大型魚(yú)類(lèi)體內(nèi)就積累了高濃度的汞。因此，衛(wèi)生官員建議人們食用位于食物鏈較低位置，組織中積累汞含量較少的魚(yú)類(lèi)，如沙丁魚(yú)、鮭魚(yú)、羅非魚(yú)和鱒魚(yú)等。

The benefits of fish consumption on a developing fetus are clear. In a Harvard study of 135 mothers and infants, researchers tracked fish consumption during pregnancy and tested the mother’s hair to measure her mercury exposure. They found that for each weekly serving of fish the mother ate while pregnant, her baby’s score on visual recognition memory tests increased an average of four points. At the same time, a baby’s score dropped by 7.5 points for every one part per million increase in mercury found in the mother’s hair sample. The babies who scored highest on the memory tests were those whose mothers had consumed two or more servings of fish each week during their pregnancy, but were tested to have very low mercury levels.

食用魚(yú)肉對(duì)發(fā)育中的胎兒的益處顯而易見(jiàn)。在哈佛大學(xué)(Harvard)的一項(xiàng)研究中，科學(xué)家們以135對(duì)母嬰為研究對(duì)象，跟蹤了母親在妊娠期食用魚(yú)肉的情況，并檢測(cè)了母親的頭發(fā)以測(cè)定其汞暴露程度。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，孕婦每食用一周份的魚(yú)肉，日后其孩子在視覺(jué)識(shí)別記憶測(cè)試中的得分平均將增加四分。同時(shí)，母親頭發(fā)樣本中的汞含量每增加一百萬(wàn)分之一(p.p.m.)，她孩子的上述得分就會(huì)降低7.5分。當(dāng)母親在妊娠期間每周至少食用兩份魚(yú)肉，頭發(fā)檢測(cè)出的汞濃度又非常低時(shí)，孩子在記憶測(cè)試中得分最高。

Health officials have long worried about balancing warnings about mercury against the obvious benefits of consuming more fish. Currently fewer than one in five Americans eats the recommended two servings a week of fish. About one-third eat one serving of seafood weekly and nearly half of us eats very little seafood or none at all.

長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)，衛(wèi)生官員在究竟是強(qiáng)調(diào)多吃魚(yú)好處多多還是警惕汞攝入量之間，舉棋不定。目前，只有不到五分之一的美國(guó)人遵照建議每周食用兩份魚(yú)肉。約三分之一的人每周食用一份海產(chǎn)品，近一半人僅食用很少或根本不食用海產(chǎn)品。

This fall Consumer Reports issued a lengthy paper on fish and mercury exposure, noting the special concerns about canned tuna due to its popularity. Six ounces of canned tuna contains 60 micrograms of mercury compared to just 4 micrograms of mercury in a six-ounce serving of salmon, according to Consumer Reports. (A six-ounce serving of swordfish contains 170 micrograms, the magazine said. )

去年秋天的時(shí)候，《消費(fèi)者報(bào)告》(Consumer Reports)發(fā)表了關(guān)于魚(yú)類(lèi)和汞暴露的長(zhǎng)篇文章，并對(duì)廣受歡迎的金槍魚(yú)罐頭表示了特別關(guān)注。《消費(fèi)者報(bào)告》稱(chēng)，6盎司金槍魚(yú)罐頭中含有60微克的汞，相比之下，一份6盎司的鮭魚(yú)中汞含量只有4微克。(該雜志還稱(chēng)，一份6盎司的箭魚(yú)中含有170微克的汞。)

For people who want to safely eat more seafood, the magazine recommended shrimp, scallops, sardines, salmon, oysters, squid and tilapia as the lowest-mercury seafood. Also low are haddock, pollock, flounder and sole, Atlantic croaker, crawfish, catfish, trout, Atlantic mackerel, crab and mullet. In addition to the usual warnings about high mercury fish, Consumer Reports added marlin and orange roughy to the list. They suggested limiting consumption of grouper, Chilean sea bass, bluefish, halibut, black cod, Spanish mackerel and fresh tuna.

雜志建議，如果想要放心地食用較大量的海產(chǎn)品，可選擇蝦、扇貝、沙丁魚(yú)、鮭魚(yú)、牡蠣、魷魚(yú)和羅非魚(yú)等汞含量最低的海產(chǎn)品。其他汞含量較低的品種有：黑線鱈、青鱈、比目魚(yú)和鰨、細(xì)須石首魚(yú)、小龍蝦、鯰魚(yú)、鱒魚(yú)、大西洋鯖魚(yú)、蟹和鯔魚(yú)。高汞魚(yú)類(lèi)的警告列表中，除了常見(jiàn)的那幾種之外，《消費(fèi)者報(bào)告》又補(bǔ)充了馬林魚(yú)和大西洋胸棘鯛。建議有限制地食用的魚(yú)類(lèi)有：石斑魚(yú)、智利海鱸魚(yú)、扁鲹、星鰈、銀鱈、馬鮫魚(yú)和新鮮金槍魚(yú)。