How much tuna?

chaarlotte289

Hi!
Lately I have been loving fish... I mix them in salads and what not. I am not much of a "meat eater" and mostly get my protein from fish because I have a dairy allergy.
I eat low sodium chunk light tuna pouches by Starkish everyday which is 2.6oz. Is this too much? How much tuna can I safely eat?

Thanks!

lillypad13

Is there a particular concern you have about your fish intake? The only concern I have ever read is the mercury content and I think it was referring to fresh not canned because of water pollution. I guess it is also a problem with canned or tuna in pouches. This mercury is more of a threat in pregnant or lactating women and children.

SherryTeach

Where do you think the tuna in a can comes from? It all has mercery in it.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/tuna-mercury-calculator.htm

Aemely

I have been wondering this as well. Here's one source, which has very conservative limits:

http://www.edf.org/oceans/mercury-alert-canned-tuna-safe-eat
"CANNED WHITE, or albacore (0.32 parts per million of mercury). ... Adults, including pregnant women, can safely eat it up to three times a month (women, 6-ounce portions; men, 8-ounce portions).
CANNED LIGHT — the safer choice (0.12 parts per million of mercury). ... Older children and adults can safely eat it once a week. But look out for “gourmet” or “tonno” labels. They are made with bigger yellowfin tuna and can contain mercury levels comparable to canned white."

However, this source is a bit more liberal (and seems more realistic to me):

http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/tuna.asp
"Don't eat more than one can every...
140 lbs: White Albacore, 10 days / Chunk Light, 3 days
150+ lbs: White Albacore, 9 days / Chunk Light, 3 days"

And, lastly, the EPA recommends:

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/outreach/advice_index.cfm
"Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury. Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish."

FitOldMomma

My teen son frequently eats canned tuna and this was a concern to me too. So I did a bit of reading about it and the warnings mostly go out to pregnant women.

Anyway, here's a bit from Livestrong website about it:

To reduce the risk of ingesting too much methylmercury, BPA and sodium from canned tuna, limit the amount you eat. Because of negative effects of methylmercury on fetal development, the American Pregnancy Association suggests pregnant women, those trying to become pregnant and children should avoid Ahi and bigeye tuna, eat no more than 18 ounces of canned white albacore tuna or yellowfin tuna per month and limit canned chunk light or skipjack tuna consumption to 36 ounces monthly.
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