The truth about so-called ‘scary’ foods

updated 8:11 a.m. ET Sept. 18, 2009

Before she orders fish at a restaurant, Linda Becker grills the waiter like a detective. “This isn’t farmed salmon, is it?” she’ll ask. Once she ascertains that it’s not — she refuses to eat fish that she believes swim with antibiotics, pesticides, and feces — she practically asks for the salmon’s pedigree and personnel file. Then, Becker, a 53-year-old equestrian and mother of one from Frederick, Maryland, will make her menu choice. And in the end, it will probably be the organic chicken. Becker admits that she’s a little food phobic, but with good reason. As a breast cancer survivor, she’s trying to avoid exposure to environmental chemicals.

The rest of us may not have the same excuse for our picky eating. We’re all a little food nutty, and our phobias could be affecting our health.

Blame the headlines. Soy was a wonder food last year; this year it does bubkes for you and may even cause harm. A daily glass of wine protects your heart but ups your breast cancer risk. Some experts say they’re seeing more and more people blacklisting foods with bad reputations.

“People are nutritionally traumatized,” says Lisa Dorfman, RD, a dietitian and psychotherapist in Miami. “There are just so many red and orange food alerts that you can handle before you go numb. We’ve had it.”

The truth is, some people with special risks do need to be cautious about their intake of “scary” foods such as fish, coffee, eggs, wine, and soy. The rest of us are just depriving ourselves of their significant health benefits — from reducing the odds of cardiovascular disease and cancer to preventing blindness. Here’s how to get over it.

Fear factor: pollution
Fish — or cut bait?

The good: Scientists and environmentalists agree on this: “You shouldn’t give up fish,” says Tim Fitzgerald, a researcher with Environmental Defense, which has produced a suitable-for-refrigerator posting report on seafood (www.oceansalive.org) called “How Many Meals of This Fish Can I Safely Eat per Month?”

The consensus is that fish is the best source of animal protein you can get, and it is relatively low in fat. Many species pack heart-protective omega-3 fats, and those that don’t “are still better than eating a cheeseburger,” Fitzgerald says. In Harvard’s Nurses’ Health Study, which has been following more than 80,000 women for nearly 3 decades, those who ate two to four fish meals a week lowered their heart disease risk by 30 percent and stroke risk by 27 percent.

The bad: Much of the fish on American tables is contaminated with mercury, a neurotoxin that can cause brain damage, and, to a lesser extent, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), industrial pollutants linked to cancer. Children, women in their childbearing years, and those who are pregnant or nursing are considered high risk and need to restrict their intake of high-mercury fish because the heavy metal can interfere with youngsters’ brain development.

Studies have found that mercury exposure even before birth can lead to deficits in language, attention, motor skills, and memory in children. Likewise, PCB-laden fish pose a risk to the tiniest bodies: In studies, children who had been exposed in the womb had persistent deficits in both motor skills and short-term memory.

The bottom line: If you don’t fall into a high-risk category, eating fish twice a week is good for you. But don’t eat the same fish twice in one week, and restrict highly polluted species you love (such as swordfish) to an occasional meal.

“Having a variety means you’re not going to miss any of the important nutrients, but you’re not likely to get too much of something that’s bad,” says Walter Willett, MD, Fredrick John Stare professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and one of the leaders of the Nurses’ Health Study.

If you are at risk, the EPA recommends that you pass up the fish that top its “most contaminated” list: shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel. Get your two servings a week (up to 12 ounces) by eating low mercury seafood such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. (Albacore, or white tuna, has more mercury than light tuna, so limit yourself to 6 ounces a week.) For types of PCB-contaminated fish to avoid, check state advisories at http://epa.gov/waterscience/fish/states.htm.

Fear factor: cholesterol
Eggs — incredible, but edible?

The good: There’s substantial evidence that for most people, eggs are not only harmless but healthy. “Eggs have good-quality protein with the essential amino acids; choline, which might play a role in preventing memory loss; and lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that protect the eyes against cataracts and macular degeneration,” says Maria Luz Fernandez, PhD, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Connecticut.

In Dr. Fernandez’s study of 45 healthy men and women ages 60 and older, those who ate as many as three eggs a day didn’t raise their heart disease risk at all. After a month, 70 percent had little or no change in their cholesterol. About 30 percent saw an increase in cholesterol, but the good cholesterol (HDL) rose in proportion to the bad (LDL). And that’s good.

The bad: The signature happy-face meal of childhood — two eggs, sunny-side up, and a grin of bacon strips — is now just a memory that makes us nostalgic for the days when we could eat anything and our knees didn’t crackle like Rice Krispies. Today, the average American still eats eggs but fewer than five a week. The reason? Cholesterol. One egg yolk packs close to the daily cholesterol limit of 300 milligrams that the American Heart Association (AHA) says we should observe to avoid cardiovascular disease. You can safely have an egg a day as long as you watch your cholesterol intake from other foods (such as shrimp or pastries containing eggs). But the AHA suggests that people with heart disease or significant cardiovascular risk factors limit cholesterol to 200 milligrams a day. (One small egg has 157 milligrams; one medium, 187 milligrams.) You may be genetically predisposed to absorb more cholesterol from food.

The bottom line: Follow the AHA’s one-a-day guideline — unless you have diabetes. A Harvard study found that men and women with diabetes who ate an egg a day had 1 1⁄2 to 2 times the risk of developing heart disease as those who ate up to one per week. If you’re otherwise healthy, go ahead and order the omelet, which Dr. Fernandez’s research suggests might even help your heart. But just to make sure you’re staying healthy, schedule a cholesterol test in 2 or 3 months. If the results show you’re okay, go for it.

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