Are canned vegetables, tuna and instant rice ok to eat?

They're fine to bulk on, but be careful with large tuna consumption.


I went way overboard eating a family pack of tuna, 5 days a week, for 6 months. I got the beginning levels of mercury poisoning. If I was superman, it's how I imagine kryptonite would feel.

Now I'm off seafood for 6 months.

This happened to me!

ETA: I was eating 2-4 cans of tuna a day, though.

Just don't mix them together because that doesn't make for a happy casserole. Otherwise, these are all fine.

ETA: I have also had elevated mercury that required medical treatment. Mine was from fresh raw tuna sushi every day.

Watch the tuna consumption and keep it reasonable.

Yes, definitely use egg noodles instead of rice when making tuna casserole!

I avoid canned foods where possible since the cans are lined with BPAs which mimics estrogen.

Buy a small rice cooker / steamer for $10. You can add frozen vegetables to cook with the rice and it's ready in 20 minutes.

If they fit your macros/caloric requirements in accordance with your fitness goals then yes. That's a very nice dish.

MERCURY....SODIUM.....come on guys lets be real here...both are NOTHING to be worried about. All sodium will do is make you hold water...the amount of mercury found in canned tuna has been scientifically debunked. In the year 2014 I'd be surprised if they even found "traces" of mercury.

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/outreach/advice_index.cfm#tuna

Canned light tuna is lower in mercury. Albacore tuna has higher levels of mercury. Levels of mercury are sufficiently high to warrant
Government advisories especially for pregnant and nursing women (obviously does not apply to you). You do have to eat a lot of canned tuna to exceed the guidelines. I would suspect you would die of culinary boredom well before mercury poisoning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l5D4oQdvWNk

Cliffs:

When Mercury binds with selenium, it becomes harmless
Tuna (and most other fish) have higher levels of selenium than Mercury, meaning the Mercury will bind to the Selenium, and be excreted from the body as a harmless compound

If this were true, than why would mercury be traveling up the food chain, with humans ending up with actual verified mercury poisoning after consuming large amounts of tuna?

I'll trust the FDA vs a YouTube video when it comes to this issue.

ETA: Lots to read on Medline regarding mercury levels correlating with fish consumption. Here is just one. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24555648

This isn't just some broscience youtube video. It's a CONTROLLED STUDY by top biomedical scientists at the Energy & Environmental Research Center which is FUNDED by the United States Government.

The broscience is strong in this thread

Can you link me to the controlled study they did?

yes canned fruits and tuna are okay . but the raw side of them things would be much better for you .& you should eat brown rice

I can't remember what life was like prior to microwave rice, nor do I wish to.

Definitely agree w/ cindiannmerce - .. I've been working with a nutritionist and personal trainer and they both said w/ Cindi said. NEVER EAT RICE - too many carbs; not even brown rice. Stick w/ fruits, protein, nuts. Then do NOT do cardio as you will "lose" muscle... look at marathon runners, they are bone thin. When my personal trainer told me that, I was shocked. But, it's the truth. He never did cardio and he is buffed. If you want to bulk up... you need to Weight Train. The end.

I didn't read all the answers, but Frozen veggies healthier than canned and often can be just as inexpensive. Often they have less salt and some of the Steamfresh bags are almost an entire meal on their own.

Definitely agree w/ cindiannmerce - .. I've been working with a nutritionist and personal trainer and they both said w/ Cindi said. NEVER EAT RICE - too many carbs; not even brown rice. Stick w/ fruits, protein, nuts. Then do NOT do cardio as you will "lose" muscle... look at marathon runners, they are bone thin. When my personal trainer told me that, I was shocked. But, it's the truth. He never did cardio and he is buffed. If you want to bulk up... you need to Weight Train. The end.

"...and he is buff..." <

---

The very definition of BRO-science...

Definitely agree w/ cindiannmerce - .. I've been working with a nutritionist and personal trainer and they both said w/ Cindi said. NEVER EAT RICE - too many carbs; not even brown rice. Stick w/ fruits, protein, nuts. Then do NOT do cardio as you will "lose" muscle... look at marathon runners, they are bone thin. When my personal trainer told me that, I was shocked. But, it's the truth. He never did cardio and he is buffed. If you want to bulk up... you need to Weight Train. The end.

sigh.

no and no.

rice is fine. carbs are not the devil.

you may do cardio if you so wish- but as this is a gaining area- and we are talking about gaining- cardio is counterproductive sometimes because it just means you need to eat more.

But you can do cardio if you like. just make sure you keep eating and keep lifting.

^^This. After all, if carbs are the devil, why is the nutritionist, trainer and both "carbs are evil" posters advising the OP to eat fruit?:huh:

I'd opt for frozen instead of canned vegetables or choose low-sodium or no-salt-added options if sodium is a concern at all.

Canned tuna is great, but as with any fish, you'll want to limit it to maybe three times per week and you can vary it with some canned salmon or even frozen fish fillets.

Instant rice is fine, although it will cost significantly more and have added ingredients, so if money is a concern, it's a good idea to make a big batch of rice when you have to time to eat throughout each week.

bump to read later

I eat instant brown rice, canned tuna, and frozen veggies(that I thaw and cook/boil) all the time.

I used to buy canned veggies, but after I found out they add extra sodium to help preserve I switched to frozen. I don't need the extra salt and I can usually find 16oz bags of frozen for $1 each.

wait, they add sodium to canned goods to preserve them….?

its all I ate growing up, my parents always had canned everything. I never really thought about it until I started logging and watching my diet. lol

Unless pickling, salt is not a requirement for home canning. It is simply a seasoning.