Herring

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Fish in pregnancy³

  Eating herring and other oily fish in pregnancy may slightly help birthweight and how long pregnancy lasts.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol and heart risk⁴

  In overweight men, eating herring five days a week for six weeks raised good cholesterol compared with pork and chicken.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol levels in obese adults⁵

  In obese adults, eating herring for four weeks raised good cholesterol more than eating pork and chicken.

• Open question

  Blood fats after eating⁶

  Baked herring cleared blood fats faster than beef, but pickled herring's sugar raised insulin more.

• Benefit

  Blood fats and blood pressure⁸

  In people with high blood fats, herring changed blood fats only slightly, while mackerel lowered them more.

• Benefit

  Diabetes risk after meals⁹

  In overweight men, a beef meal raised a diabetes-risk marker more than baked herring did.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Exceeding intake limits⁷

  Eating Northern Baltic herring often may give people more PCDD/Fs and PCBs than recommended limits.

• Histamine in fish salad¹⁰

  In herring salad, added bacteria made up to 670 parts per million of histamine.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.