Eating Tuna Daily, bad for me?

n2thenight24

So someone in my real life just said to me that eating tuna daily is bad for me? I don't eat a ton of it, I have 1 foil package (2.5oz) of lean tuna daily for lunch. I like tuna, and I'm a picky eater, so it's one of the few things that are very low calorie, high in protein that I can eat day after day and still be happy. Is this bad for me? Am I poisoning myself? I really look forward to my lunch time tuna. I hate to have to find something else to switch it out with.

foxombie

I am no expert, but I HAVE heard that because tuna contains mercury, if you eat it too frequently you can create a high level of toxic mercury in your system. I think that there are other fish that have the same effect, such as swordfish.

Not being a doctor or a nutritionist, I would not be able to advise you on how much you should or shouldn't be eating, but I personally do make myself aware of how much tuna or swordfish I'm eating just to be on the safe side, and I err more towards other fish. I sometimes feed tuna to my pet skunks too and for them, I also make sure it's an occasional treat.

I think any diet benefits from having things switched up a little more with alternate sources of protein though. Even without the mercury issue, from my point of view I think it's better to have a variety of foods (though I know it can be difficult if you're not keen on various foods!)

Fozzi43

Google it..I'm sure you could find out how much is safe?

_ylime_

http://www.livestrong.com/article/458071-mercury-poisoning-with-albacore-tuna/

Machdude

The Environmental Protection Agency provides guidelines on how much canned tuna it is safe to eat. Roughly speaking, the guidelines recommend one 6 oz. can of light tuna a week for those weighing less than 110 pounds and two cans a week for the rest of us.

kitigonkukoo

I like the tuna creations, so I'm there with you. I did some research myself.

It kinda goes by your weight, but over all it's not a good idea to eat a ton of it... look it up.

Albacore is one you want to NOT eat if you do eat Tuna frequently... super high mercury content.

This is what is recommended for me (I'm 195 currently):

Light Tuna:
According to FDA health standards, you can safely eat 17.8 ounces of Light tuna tuna per week (assuming that every can of tuna has an average amount of mercury). That's almost 3 cans of tuna.


EDIT: second warning I found on albacore:

It's recommended that women of childbearing age and children under 5 not eat albacore tuna at all, because a significant portion of albacore tuna has very high mercury levels. People eating this tuna will exceed safe exposure levels by a wide margin.

PayneAS

A lot of people are concerned with mercury content from eating seafood. I don't eat a lot of seafood but my family does and the minimal research I've done states that since most of our fish comes from farms nowadays that it isn't the concern it might have once been.

glennstoudt

If this is a concern, try adding some selenium to your diet. Brazil nuts is a good source, just one or two will do. The selenium is believed to be a natural scrub-brush for metals which may or may not be contained in higher order ocean fish. And the nuts taste good too!

sannsk

And what about fresh tuna?

By the way: Is there an indication on the can in the USA of the mercury level in the tuna? I've never seen it here (europe).

n2thenight24

I did try googling, but got a lot of conflicting answers, which is why I asked!! I don't think the tuna I'm eating is albacore.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

n2thenight24

And nope, it says nothing about mercury on the package.

MeMyCatsandI

A lot of people are concerned with mercury content from eating seafood. I don't eat a lot of seafood but my family does and the minimal research I've done states that since most of our fish comes from farms nowadays that it isn't the concern it might have once been.

There is definitely a lot of fish "farmng" these days. But I believe it is mostly the smaller fish, such as bass, salmon, tilapia, etc. Tuna, swordfish, and the like are much too big to be grown on fish farms. A lot of people don't know, but most tuna fish are upwards of 6' long and 500lbs (depending on the species). And the reason they contain so much mercury is because they eat smaller fish. The smaller fish are safe for us to eat because each one contains only a small amount of mercury. But the large fish eat lots of the little fish and the mercury then builds up in their system, making them more dangerous for us to eat.

Either way, I'm in trouble. I eat about 6 cans of "chunk light" tuna every week. Eeks!

MeMyCatsandI

I did try googling, but got a lot of conflicting answers, which is why I asked!! I don't think the tuna I'm eating is albacore.

It will say albacore tuna right on the can. And albacore costs almost twice what chuck light costs.

AllonsYtotheTardis

I use this list as a guide:

http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongnutrition/a/fish_mercury.htm


I'm happy that some of my favorites are on the low-mercury list.

vanessa40

I eat it almost everyday.

MeMyCatsandI

If this is a concern, try adding some selenium to your diet. Brazil nuts is a good source, just one or two will do. The selenium is believed to be a natural scrub-brush for metals which may or may not be contained in higher order ocean fish. And the nuts taste good too!

Thanks for this tidbit. I better eat some selenium with my next can of tuna. :bigsmile:

Espressocycle

The big risk is from albacore. Choose "light" tuna and AVOID "white" or albacore, but either way, you might want to eat less if you plan on having children (and especially nursing). Try the little pouches of salmon too - they are low risk and yummy.

And fight against coal-burning power plants, which is where most of this mercury comes from!

AMHouse85

I believe it works out because tuna is a large fish and lives for quite a while they build up a higher mercury content than a small farm raised tillapia. I do know that they say it is different for men and women as mercury is very harmful to the reproductive organs and fetus development. When I was pregnant I was told to not eat more than 1 serving of fish a week.

Espressocycle

I know several guys who think that daily consumption of tuna is a goal they would like to achieve

you mean, like tuna tacos?

recee96

Great question! I eat starkist tuna pack every other day..so that's a great question to know.

mareeee1234

What about Salmon?

RobynLB

I looked this up a few years ago becuase I was eating tuna daily. The FDA recommendation at that time was not to eat more than 8oz per week! Like others have said, it's the mercury concern. Tuna has esspecially high levels of mercury.

n2thenight24

Unfortunately, reproduction is not a 'problem' for me. After trying for 5 years for another baby, and having 3 consecutive miscarriages, we have decided to forgo any fertility treatments. And without those, conception is not something that I need worry about. Unless some miracle occurs, in which case I won't even have Tuna in my home, just to be super safe!

kellyallday

I was wondering the same thing. I don't eat a bunch now, but have a whole case of tuna to go through. BUMP... to peruse later.

Greenrun99

I used to make tuna salad for lunch every week, 6 cans of tuna (depending what was on sale could be light tuna or albacore).. since reading about mercury and how much you should eat a week (1 can or so).. I decided to start eating chicken salad for lunch.. I may go back to tuna but I ate it for a good 2 months or so and just in case let it flush out of my system before anything.. (Also had lab work done completely unrelated to eating Tuna and they didn't say anything about mercury levels)..

Salmon is considered very low in mercury and you can eat that a few times a week if you want for the person that asked it.. there used to be a chart on here under someone's post about what mercury fish had and so forth and what was acceptable.

Squidologist

The thing about mercury is that 1. it bioaccumulates and 2. it does not degrade in your system.
Thus, tuna, being a higher order consumer, accumulates very high amounts of mercury in comparison to other organisms. This is especially true of being a marine organism. When you eat tuna, you're consuming all the mercury it did from all the lower order animals it consumed and they lower order animals they consumed etc. That's how mercury bioaccumulates.
Also, once in your body, it will never be removed as most other elements are removed. It has bioaccumulated in you and will remain until.. well, the end.
Why is this a problem? Mercury has been linked to many health problems. Most notably, mercury is linked to birth defects and deformities. If you are planning on having children some day, I would suggest discontinuing your habit of eating tuna on a regular basis, as your mercury toxin levels would be transferred to your child.

You mentioned that you are a picky eater, but I suggest trying out different fish. Essentially, the lower the order, as in the lower in the food chain, an organism is, the less mercury it has ingested, the less mercury it can transfer to your body upon consumption.

I hope this has helped a bit, or at least made sense. Good luck!

sannsk

The thing about mercury is that 1. it bioaccumulates and 2. it does not degrade in your system.
Thus, tuna, being a higher order consumer, accumulates very high amounts of mercury in comparison to other organisms. This is especially true of being a marine organism. When you eat tuna, you're consuming all the mercury it did from all the lower order animals it consumed and they lower order animals they consumed etc. That's how mercury bioaccumulates.
Also, once in your body, it will never be removed as most other elements are removed. It has bioaccumulated in you and will remain until.. well, the end.
Why is this a problem? Mercury has been linked to many health problems. Most notably, mercury is linked to birth defects and deformities. If you are planning on having children some day, I would suggest discontinuing your habit of eating tuna on a regular basis, as your mercury toxin levels would be transferred to your child.

You mentioned that you are a picky eater, but I suggest trying out different fish. Essentially, the lower the order, as in the lower in the food chain, an organism is, the less mercury it has ingested, the less mercury it can transfer to your body upon consumption.

I hope this has helped a bit, or at least made sense. Good luck!

So once you've eaten tuna, the mercury stays inside you for ever and ever ? :noway:

That is not a good thing, I don't eat chicken or red meat so it's basically impossible to achieve a decent amount of protein without tuna... Salmon yes, but that is a fat fat fish :laugh:

kitigonkukoo

No, it does EVENTUALLY leave your system, it just takes a very VERY long time.

This is talking about inorganic mercury (not elemental, as in- not from a metallic form of mercury), if you want to read the full thing, here it is: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=112&tid=24#bookmark04


From CDC:

Once inorganic mercury enters the body and gets into the bloodstream, it moves to many different tissues. Inorganic mercury leaves your body in the urine or feces over a period of several weeks or months. A small amount of the inorganic mercury can be changed in your body to metallic mercury and leave in the breath as a mercury vapor. Inorganic mercury accumulates mostly in the kidneys and does not enter the brain as easily as metallic mercury. Inorganic mercury compounds also do not move as easily from the blood of a pregnant woman to her developing child. In a nursing woman, some of the inorganic mercury in her body will pass into her breast milk.

Methylmercury is the form of mercury most easily absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract (about 95% absorbed). After you eat fish or other foods that are contaminated with methylmercury, the methylmercury enters your bloodstream easily and goes rapidly to other parts of your body. Only small amounts of methylmercury enter the bloodstream directly through the skin, but other forms of organic mercury (in particular dimethylmercury) can rapidly enter the body through the skin. Organic mercury compounds may evaporate slowly at room temperature and may enter your body easily if you breathe in the vapors. Once organic mercury is in the bloodstream, it moves easily to most tissues and readily enters the brain. Methylmercury that is in the blood of a pregnant woman will easily move into the blood of the developing child and then into the child's brain and other tissues. Like metallic mercury, methylmercury can be changed by your body to inorganic mercury. When this happens in the brain, the mercury can remain there for a long time. When methylmercury does leave your body after you have been exposed, it leaves slowly over a period of several months, mostly as inorganic mercury in the feces. As with inorganic mercury, some of the methylmercury in a nursing woman's body will pass into her breast milk.

How can mercury affect my health?

The nervous system is very sensitive to mercury. In poisoning incidents that occurred in other countries, some people who ate fish contaminated with large amounts of methylmercury or seed grains treated with methylmercury or other organic mercury compounds developed permanent damage to the brain and kidneys. Permanent damage to the brain has also been shown to occur from exposure to sufficiently high levels of metallic mercury. Whether exposure to inorganic mercury results in brain or nerve damage is not as certain, since it does not easily pass from the blood into the brain.

Metallic mercury vapors or organic mercury may affect many different areas of the brain and their associated functions, resulting in a variety of symptoms. These include personality changes (irritability, shyness, nervousness), tremors, changes in vision (constriction (or narrowing) of the visual field), deafness, muscle incoordination, loss of sensation, and difficulties with memory.

Different forms of mercury have different effects on the nervous system, because they do not all move through the body in the same way. When metallic mercury vapors are inhaled, they readily enter the bloodstream and are carried throughout the body and can move into the brain. Breathing in or swallowing large amounts of methylmercury also results in some of the mercury moving into the brain and affecting the nervous system. Inorganic mercury salts, such as mercuric chloride, do not enter the brain as readily as methylmercury or metallic mercury vapor.

The kidneys are also sensitive to the effects of mercury, because mercury accumulates in the kidneys and causes higher exposures to these tissues, and thus more damage. All forms of mercury can cause kidney damage if large enough amounts enter the body. If the damage caused by the mercury is not too great, the kidneys are likely to recover once the body clears itself of the contamination.

SideSteel

You'll see a few different recommendations as far as how many micrograms per kg is acceptable. I believe the FDA is .4 micrograms of mercury per kg bodyweight and I think they're on the high end. This would be the limit at which you could (in theory) consume mercury daily for the rest of your life.

I'd stay well under it, but I have no idea how much mercury is in 1 can on average.

tubway

If you're worried, try canned salmon or sardines. I don't notice that much of a difference when I make salmon salad as opposed to tuna salad. Sardines are a bit fishier tasting than canned tuna but they are a small fish so you don't have to worry about the mercury problem and I think they would do well as a replacement. Maybe not texture wise, I don't know, I haven't tried it.