Mercury- Is eating canned tuna frequently a bad thing?

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Bre0223
Bre0223 Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
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??

Replies

  • Scarletblue
    Scarletblue Posts: 255
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    I've eatten it almost everyday for years so I hope it isn't a bad thing
  • Quiing
    Quiing Posts: 261 Member
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    I have the same concern! Hope someone can help us out :)
  • mynameiscarrie
    mynameiscarrie Posts: 963 Member
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    i'm pretty sure you'd have to eat mutiple cans per day in order to get mercury poisoning
  • gnat45
    gnat45 Posts: 833 Member
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    If you are concerned, you could switch eating smaller fish (like sardines). They have much less mercury. They are also more environmentally sound.
  • mynameiscarrie
    mynameiscarrie Posts: 963 Member
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    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
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    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
    TipMcE Posts: 158
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    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
    moprincess76 Posts: 37
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    http://www.mercurypoisoningnews.com/elevated.html
  • Fishing4Stars
    Fishing4Stars Posts: 46
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    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
    xunsungxherox Posts: 45
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    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
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    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
    Quiing Posts: 261 Member
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    Wow... seems like I'll be eating alot less tuna... and even less albacore...
  • MrDave
    MrDave Posts: 6
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    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
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    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
    Bre0223 Posts: 10
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    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
    kel9680 Posts: 173 Member
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    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
    halarson24 Posts: 23 Member
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    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
    hottfarmchick724 Posts: 20
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    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?

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