Mercury- Is eating canned tuna frequently a bad thing?

Bre0223

I eat a lot of canned tuna fish because it's so awesome with protein(13g) and potassium(90mg). However, I've heard that canned tuna fish contains mercury and can be bad for you if you eat it frequently.

This week, so far, I've had tuna fish the last 3 days for lunch...

How much is too much??

Scarletblue

I've eatten it almost everyday for years so I hope it isn't a bad thing

Quiing

I have the same concern! Hope someone can help us out

mynameiscarrie

i'm pretty sure you'd have to eat mutiple cans per day in order to get mercury poisoning

gnat45

If you are concerned, you could switch eating smaller fish (like sardines). They have much less mercury. They are also more environmentally sound.

mynameiscarrie

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/tuna-mercury-calculator.html
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has created a handy tuna calculator to help determine how much tuna you can safely eat in a week, even calculating how much albacore tuna (which has more mercury) you can eat versus how much "chunk light tuna" is safe. For a 170 pound male, EWG's calculator says 5.3 ounces (almost a full can) of albacore and 15.5 ounces (about two and a half cans) of light tuna. For a 130 pound female, it's a different story: 4.1 ounces of albacore tuna per week and 11.9 ounces of light tuna (about two cans) is the recommended amount per week.

When it comes to women of childbearing age and children under 5, there's yet another wrinkle: because albacore tuna has more mercury per weight, it should be avoided altogether. To learn more about kid-safe fish, read our post on finding safer seafood for your family.

Acg67

Quantitative approach for incorporating methylmercury risks and omega-3 fatty acid benefits in developing species-specific fish consumption advice. Ginsberg GL, et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2009 Feb;117(2):267-75. Full text at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...HP-117-267.pdf

TipMcE

I think a couple of time a week is OK. The chunk light is better than the albacore because it had less mercury. I've also read that if you mix in some sardines (not so much that you taste it, if you don't like the taste) you get an awesome calcium hit too.

moprincess76

http://www.mercurypoisoningnews.com/elevated.html

Fishing4Stars

I think the FDA recommends eating no more than one can per week, especially if you are pregnant or might become pregnant. If you're looking for a viable alternative, high quality sardines taste much like tuna and are a good substitute and low in mercury because they are lower on the food chain. They're also much more environmentally friendly than tuna, which is a bonus. Just keep in mind that cheap sardines are very fishy - the more expensive packages are worth the extra couple of dollars.

xunsungxherox

i eat around 3 tins a week, i wont have it every day because of what people say about it however, its a great source of protein and im not dead yet!

ShannonMpls

This is one of few nutrition areas I'm pretty conservative about. This isn't for MY health but for the health of future children. I plan to have more babies, and that's why I'm concerned. I won't eat more than one can of tuna a week, and I almost never eat albacore. I ate even less when I was pregnant (and of course, that's the craving I had! weird).

Salmon is a good replacement - wild caught is low in mercury, but avoid farmed.

Quiing

Wow... seems like I'll be eating alot less tuna... and even less albacore...

MrDave

If you eat sustainable tuna the mercury levels will be lower. Wild Planet Foods for example sources their tuna from the North Pacific where there are smaller fish, therefore they have less mercury. All their tuna contains less than half the mercury compared to the national brands.

HMonsterX

Ah, this ol' chestnut has reared its head again!

Yup, cross another food off the list! Or, be sensible, eat it in moderation, and be happy and healthy

Bre0223

Thanks for all the posts!! I guess to be safe I'll be cutting back a but on my tuna intake. Sad though since it's so great with protein!

kel9680

personally I eat tuna all the time, and I also ate it a lot when I was pregnant, odd, but it was one of the only things that didn't make me sick, my son is 10 now and he is perfectly healthy!!

halarson24

Here is a short discussion about the risks and benefits of eating fish as well as a great reference card to keep with you re: mercury. Mostly this is a matter of quantity

http://hollylarsonrd.blogspot.com/2012/07/holy-mackerel-how-much-mercury-is-in-my.html

Hope this helps!

Holly

hottfarmchick724

i absolutely love tuna! ive been eating it for years! it actaully helped me out when i was younger to be more fit! its nice to hear tho that ive been buying the wrong tuna since ive been on my own! haha but someone once told me if i was going to eat it, to stick to white tuna. (the kind i buy is starkist albacore white tuna, or thats what it says on the can lol) any ideas?