Is canned tuna healthy?

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  • KeriA
    KeriA Posts: 3,275 Member
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    My neice was a pescatarian and living in Africa for a year. She started losing her hair. It turned out that canned tuna was one thing she could find to eat there. It was mercury poisoning. She got tested at a Drs office and her mercury was high. So yes everyday is too much. I have heard from others that 3 times a week is OK. I try to only have it once a week max. My son is pescatarian and he too stays away from eating too much tuna and fish. We love wild Salmon but avoid it more than once a week too even though wild salmon is lower in mercury than farm. Hope this helps. She was not eating an obscene amount either. Probably a can a day. She is slim and about 5'3". Yes this is antedotal not a scientific study but I would be cautious.
  • sweetnessandlighter
    sweetnessandlighter Posts: 24 Member
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    A better and less contaminated option is to eat small fish from the other end of the food chain like sardines, capelin, anchovies and herring. Sardines, for instance, come in a variety of flavours, water or oil, contain calcium if you eat the bones and are as cheap. These small fish are also a much more environmentally friendly meal.

    they are less harmful, cos the mercury doesnt store in their fats as much as bigger fish...cos they have to eat a lot more. So it accumulates higher concentrations

    This is true. Sorry to be the one naysayer, but eating tuna daily means exposing yourself to high levels of mercury. You should limit yourself for your own safety to a couple of times a week. Here is a chart:

    http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/tuna.asp
  • ruffalicious
    ruffalicious Posts: 799 Member
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    i eat the light tuna in water.. 50 calories per serving.. its healthy according to health magazine
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
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    If you are worried about the mercury eat a lot of coriander or cilantro as its known in USA.
  • luckygirl007
    luckygirl007 Posts: 68 Member
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    Just had tuna for lunch. I whip out the food processor throw in some red, orange bell pepper, red onion, fresh ginger and a bunch of cilantro with two cans of tuna. Top it off with a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. Yum!
  • kryptonitekelly
    kryptonitekelly Posts: 335 Member
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    Just be careful really. Having 2 cans a day is a lot!

    Fish with high mercury:
    Shark, tuna (Albacore and yellowfin!) , Swordfish, Makeral, marlin and the orange roughy which I did my project on a few months back!!

    Fish with low mercury: Catfish, Salmon, white fish like pollock, haddock etc, Tilapia, trout.

    Shell fish can have a lot too...



    Btw...i study marine and freshwater biology..this stuff is interesting
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
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    Just had tuna for lunch. I whip out the food processor throw in some red, orange bell pepper, red onion, fresh ginger and a bunch of cilantro with two cans of tuna. Top it off with a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. Yum!

    Sounds yum! Do you just eat as is or spread it on bread?
  • Kristinemomof3
    Kristinemomof3 Posts: 636 Member
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    I usually just eat one pack a week, I like the Starkist Tuna Creations and got a bunch of free packages that last time Meijer had a sale with .50 coupons that I had. We have about 40 pkgs of Tuna in our cabinet, dh and I are the only ones that eat it.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Calculator on the following page tells what percentage of the EPA limit you get by eating different amounts of different fish every week.

    http://gotmercury.org/article.php?id=1034
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Spesh enviro tox...
    Just a tip: it is hard to take you seriously when you talk that way.
  • spngebobmyhero
    spngebobmyhero Posts: 823 Member
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    I love tuna in a can (although rare seared tuna is much better)! I love to mix a can of oil packed tuna with half an avocado! Yummy lunch! It is good for you, but twice a day might be extreme.

    If you need cheaper forms of protein, buy cheap cuts of meat! Chicken thighs are pretty close to the calorie count of breasts and are much cheaper. 80/20 ground beef can be cheap and just drain the fat if you are concerned about the fat content. Beans are also a good, extremely cheap form of protein (don't ever eat baked beans and then a fiber bar for lunch like I did once!!!). Sorry for the unsolicited advice, just wanted to provide alternatives.
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
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    i love tuna! My doctor told me when I was pregnant, I can only have 1 can a week, because of the mercury factor. So as long as you're not pregnant, I think you should be fine. I eat canned tuna at least 2-3 times a week, yum
  • capnwo85
    capnwo85 Posts: 1,103 Member
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    I've been eating tuna at least once a day for months, no mercury poisoning here. Two packages daily, not the cans.
  • Quiing
    Quiing Posts: 261 Member
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    Scramble tuna in your eggs in the morning. Delicioso :)
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    My ancestors ate tons of fish, yet somehow I managed to make it here alive. If you're worried about the mercury content in fish, then you might want to stop eating apples if you don't want to die from cyanide.
  • kryptonitekelly
    kryptonitekelly Posts: 335 Member
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    Spesh enviro tox...
    Just a tip: it is hard to take you seriously when you talk that way.

    chill out. wow i was writing quick hand ><

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