Fish lovers may have a higher risk of skin cancer

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Fish is often called a superfood for its obvious nutritional benefits. This product provides the human body with important fatty acids and vitamins. However, a new study has shown that too much fish in the diet can have negative consequences. Scientists have linked a high consumption of fish products with an increased risk of melanoma and skin cancer.

As part of the study, experts followed 490,000 US adults for more than 15 years to determine how fish consumption affects their health. The participants reported how often they ate fish and in what portions, as well as what types of fish products made up their diet.

The results showed that people whose weekly fish consumption was about 300 grams per week had a 22% higher risk of developing malignant melanoma than those who ate much less seafood. In addition, the first category of people also had a 28% higher risk of precancerous skin conditions.

As for specific types of fish, the rate of melanoma was higher among people who ate more tuna and non-fried fish.< /p>

“We hypothesize that our findings may be related to the presence of pollutants in fish, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, arsenic, and mercury,” the study authors said. Some chemical pollutants are used as cooling materials. PCBs are commonly found in the environment and can cause cancer in humans.

Other experts believe that fish is an important health food and there is no need to stop eating it. According to The Conversation, when analyzing the data, scientists missed information such as exposure to ultraviolet radiation, melanoma risk factors (number of moles, hair color, history of severe burns and behavior in the sun). There was also no intervention to feed them a certain amount of fish. The paper notes that the results are observational rather than cause and effect, but they should not be ignored.

Fish, especially fatty fish such as tuna, may contain contaminants such as mercury and PCBs. And these substances can accumulate in the human body and eventually lead to skin cancer. Therefore, in particular, it is not recommended to abuse tuna.