A large study in Spain suggested that when mothers consume three sizeable servings of fish every week during pregnancy it could be beneficial for children’s brains for upcoming years.

For the study, researchers tracked about 2,000 mother-child pairs from the first trimester of pregnancy till the fifth birthday of the child and discovered improved brain function in the children whose mothers consumed the most fish while pregnant, in comparison to children of mothers who consumed the least.

In fact when women averaged 21 ounces or 600 grams of fish every week during pregnancy, there was no indication that mercury or other pollutants linked to fish had any negative effect to balance the apparent benefits.

In an email, lead author Jordi Julvez, of the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, said, “Seafood is known to be an important source of essential nutrients for brain development, but at the same time accumulates mercury from the environment, which is known to be neurotoxic”.

In a move to balance the likely dangers of such pollutants with the common health benefits of fish, the US Food and Drug Administration’s 2014 guidelines motivated pregnant women to intake fish, but not over 12 ounces a week.

Julvez and colleagues noted in the American Journal of Epidemiology that the European Food Safety Authority has lately issued a scientific opinion promoting 150 g to 600g of fish every week during pregnancy. However the research team mentioned that the effects of maternal fish intake during development weren’t understood well so far and requires further research to help provide clearer guidance to pregnant women.

The team analyzed data from the Spanish Childhood and Environment Project, a huge population research that included women participants in their first trimester of pregnancy, in four Spain provinces, in the period between 2004 and 2008.