How much seafood is too much?

zacberm1

Hi all,

I love seafood and use it quite frequently in my diet. It such a great source of low calorie protein. I am afraid of mercury poisoning. Not sure if four times a week is too much. Thoughts??

Onaughmae

I eat a lot of seafood really. Fish, tuna, shrimp...several times a week. It hasnt caused me any trouble so far.

Acg67

Hi all,

I love seafood and use it quite frequently in my diet. It such a great source of low calorie protein. I am afraid of mercury poisoning. Not sure if four times a week is too much. Thoughts??

It would depend on what kind of seafood and how much you're eating of it each time as seafood is pretty broad

tpittsley77

http://fishcooking.about.com/od/howtochoosefreshfish/bb/mercury_fish.htm

Here is a list of fish high and low in mercury.

fit4lifeUcan2

I think it would depend on what kind of seafood your eating. Larger fish like Tuna are higher in mercury than most and then the shell fish are high in cholesterol. I eat mostly salmon, cod and flounder. I used to eat a lot of shrimp but then I had high cholesterol. Cut out all shell fish and my cholesterol is normal now. I was eating it at least 2x's a week. Don't eat shell fish much at all anymore. As long as your blood work is fine I wouldn't worry too much about it.

SeasideOasis

I eat seafood...all...the...time. I'm not a huge 'meat' fan. I have eaten some form of seafood (fish, crab, shrimp, raw, cooked...you get the idea) days on end without a problem. I also grew up in Southwest Florida and had something from the water literally every single day.

I'm pretty sure few people eat more seafood than I do and I have no Mercury problems....

sraffel

I've been pescatarian for over ten years, and therefore eat a lot of seafood. I limit myself to a few cans of tuna per month, and don't buy mahi mahi for home cooking (which effectively limits consumption to once a month, if that). Otherwise, most of the seafood I eat is low in mercury anyway. If you're worried about tuna consumption, canned salmon is a good low-mercury alternative.

The FDA has the mercury concentration of a bunch of different seafood listed, if you're interested in geeking out.

http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/product-specificinformation/seafood/foodbornepathogenscontaminants/methylmercury/ucm115644.htm

theCarlton

Edited to add: If you look up Seafood Watch in your App store on your phone, there's a free one that is regularly updated.

This website has a little printable thing to keep with you.
http://apps.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521

Also tells your which fish are overfished.

MsPudding

I love seafood.....unfortunately I've inherited some bad genes that makes me prone to gout and seafood is the #1 thing that sets gout off.

So for that reason only, I limit it to a couple of times a week - and I go for the sustainable stuff.

For people in the UK, if you don't have a good fish market near you'd i'd try Martin's seafood (it's the #1 result if you Google) as they have their own day boats down in Cornwall and will ship you fresh, seasonal fish and seafood the same day on ice.

zacberm1

Thanks for the info....I guess I don't need to be as concerned considering my four serving a week seems to be on the lower side. My favorite fish is salmon and most other white fish. I don't eat as much shellfish.