Earlier today, a study was published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, that suggested mercury in fishmay be linked to increased blood pressure among a population in arctic Canada that eats mostly predator fish and marine mammals . It should be noted that in an interview with the publication, HealthDay, the lead researcher on the study, Dr. Eric Dewailly, a professor in the department of social and preventive medicine at Laval University in Quebec, said that the findings should not lead people to eat less fish.

“The small increase of blood pressure due to methylmercury will never outweigh the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids,” Dewailly told HealthDay. Dewailly’s full comments to HealthDay can be found online at U.S. News and World Report. The American Heart Association has long recommended Americans eat a variety of seafood at least twice a week to promote cardiovascular health. That guidance is supported by numerous large-scale studies on the topic of seafood and heart health. This new study does not in any way change that recommendation. The overwhelming majority of scientific research shows that Americans need to eat more seafood, not less, and that not eating enough seafood contributes to a staggering 84,000 deaths per year.