Fish...yes, Fish

Ginamarie_39
Ginamarie_39 Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone ! So, I like eating fish/seafood but I hear some have more mercury than others. I generally like eating baked fish usually cod, or mahi mahi. Any suggestions of other fish with less mercury ? Is their a way possibly to get rid of it before cooking or detox from it? Just curious.

Replies

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I agree with the above. Here's some advice about which fish to choose: https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/walletcard.pdf

  • JohnPaulEightyOne
    JohnPaulEightyOne Posts: 127 Member
    Chunk Light tuna in a pouch, wild-caught Alaskan Salmon (sockeye is best), sardines, and mussels are your best bet. Stay away from farmed fish, ESPECIALLY tilapia.
  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
    You really don't have anything to worry about. The way mercury toxicity works is it binds to the selenium enzymes in your body and deactivates them. As long as there is not a greater abundance of mercury than there is selenium, you are fine. Most fish contains a decent amount of selenium if not more selenium than they do mercury, meaning your risk of toxicity is very low.

    My family and I eat nothing but various fish and shellfish every day for all of summer, and have for years. We have never had any issues, even with our diet consisting of large amounts of amberjack, tuna, barracuda, and other "high mercury" fish.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I do understand mercury concerns, but my general thought is that obesity is far more dangerous to me than whatever mercury I get from seafood is, and seafood helps me in my journey to get to a healthy weight. So I don't really try to worry too much about the mercury content of it. It's certainly better to lose weight with seafood (by hitting my calorie deficit) than eating something that doesn't have mercury concerns but would keep me from reaching my calorie goals.

    My mother has been a pescatarian for 40 years and eats seafood at a much higher level than most people and has never had any issues with it.

    If you are pregnant or breastfeeding you should follow the guidelines recommended for pregnant women, but other than that, you are good to enjoy your seafood as you see fit.
  • Ginamarie_39
    Ginamarie_39 Posts: 13 Member
    edited June 2019
    Thank you for the replies. I've recently made some major changes to my eating habits/lifestyle. To mike I realize how obesity is far more concerning than mercury is but nothing wrong with asking. I never was into seafood until recently. I am trying to make wise, healthier eating choices such as lean meats, poultry, whole grains, veggies, etc. Thank you from lemurcat2 for that site!😊
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    Consuming lots of fish is been correlated to improved health. I have been eating it 3-4x a week and most of it is raw. I do ahi tuna poke or tartare, and salmon poke (farmed raised since wild caught has a much higher risk of bacteria).

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