Seafood, Mercury, and the Brain

Though scientists have long warned against eating large quantities of fish known to contain high levels of mercury, a new study finds the brains of individuals with greater mercury exposure did not exhibit the kind of brain that is typically seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Study author Dr. Martha Clare Morris writes, “Everybody’s saying seafood has so many health benefits, but everybody’s afraid of the mercury… We saw absolutely no evidence that higher levels of mercury in the brain were associated with any of the neuropathologies associated with dementia.”
Journal of the American Medical Association, February 2016