mercury in tuna

[north666cat]

Would you recommend any supplement to help protect against mercury in tuna or help flush it out? I eat too much tuna not to think about that.

[discuslifter]

If you're really concerned you can get tests done to see what's going on. They're not expensive.

As far as things that help chelate out mercury, there are many:

1. 3g Chlorella
2. Kelp (high doses - 9g+)
3. N-acetyl cysteine (1200-3000mg)
4. The herb cilantro, eaten fresh and raw
5. Buffered vitamin C with bioflavanoids in high doses (as much as possible, but 10g + can usually be done)
6. MSM
7. High doses of iodine (although kelp will give you a lot)

Those would definitely help.

*Edit*

By the way, to help prevent heavy metals from even being taken up in the body, make sure the rest of your diet is very high in minerals. Taking a multi mineral would be a good idea. Eliminate phytic acid from the diet, which means not eating any non sprouted or soaked grains, nuts, seeds, or beans. Phytic acid binds with minerals in the digestive tract and prevents them from being absorbed, which gives heavy metals more an opportunity to be taken up into tissues.

[threenorns]

add the cilantro, kelp, and chlorella to those nasty-ass shakes of yours - could hardly make them taste worse

[strongweapon]

i always take a multi vit/mineral with every meal-----that being said--i have been eating 2-4 cans of tuna a day for 14 0r 15 years---and at leat a couple cans a week since birth before that

methinks people worry too much

[discuslifter]

Originally Posted by strongweapon

i always take a multi vit/mineral with every meal-----that being said--i have been eating 2-4 cans of tuna a day for 14 0r 15 years---and at leat a couple cans a week since birth before that

methinks people worry too much

Have you had your mercury levels tested?

[shortz]

How much tuna do you eat? I would not be worried about the levels if you are eating less than 3 cans per day. If you wanted to replace the tuna, I would reocmmend that you start eating a little more talapia. If I can remember correctly, I thought wild Salmon had the highest amount of mercury. If it's farmed, then it's lower.

[discuslifter]

Originally Posted by shortz

How much tuna do you eat? I would not be worried about the levels if you are eating less than 3 cans per day. If you wanted to replace the tuna, I would reocmmend that you start eating a little more talapia. If I can remember correctly, I thought wild Salmon had the highest amount of mercury. If it's farmed, then it's lower.

I'd have to check the data, but I believe in general, the larger the fish, the more mercury due to bioaccumulation. Tuna, swordfish, and shark are all high on the list, and they're all large predatory fish. Sardines are low on the food chain and also low in mercury (sardines are far superior to tuna). Where it comes from also matters, but to be honest, I don't know much about it. Farmed fish in general is a waste of money, though because it's not nutritious.

[threenorns]

fish is one of those things: the worse it tastes, the better it is for you. i really like tuna but sardines? damn! i can't choke those things down without gagging.

[discuslifter]

It's a good point that you might be wasting money on supplements for mercury if you don't have high mercury. However, it wouldn't be a total waste as the supps have other uses, but you can say that for almost any supp.

So what can you do on a budget that makes the most sense?

Here's my opinion:

1. Eat fresh cilantro every day. I buy it in a big bunch from Whole Foods, and even that's about $1.50. That could last you a whole week. It's a fresh vegetable, so it's not like you're wasting your money if you don't have high mercury.

2. Replace at least 1 can of tuna with sardines. This will help reduce any amount of mercury in the diet as well as give you a lot more nutrients. Sardines kick ass over tuna as far as omega-3s, calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients.

3. I don't know, but I've read about different types of tuna that have less mercury in them. Maybe dig around on the internet for it, because I don't remember since I never eat tuna anyway. This could also really help reduce the mercury load on the body.

4. Kelp and vitamin C are both pretty cheap, so I'd go for these first. They have many other benefits besides mercury, so certainly not a waste by any means.


While it's true that you hear of people that ate 500 cans of tuna a day for 80 years and never had mercury problems, you have to consider a few factors: a) they may have eaten a tuna with lower mercury; b) they may have had less overall mercury exposure besides diet than you; c) People have different detoxification abilities, so some can handle a mercury load while others fall apart; d) how healthy they were to begin with--someone with a compromised detox ability due to health problems will have more problems; e) they may have had other things in their diet to help eliminate mercury; f) you might have had a previous high exposure to it that increased the amount of mercury in your body to toxic levels even though now you may have eliminated it; g) just because your hair isn't falling out doesn't mean you don't have high mercury. Uhh, that list is long enough. As you can see, I wouldn't just not worry about it because someone said they ate a lot and didn't "have problems with it."

[threenorns]

in other words, discus, what you're saying is: "eat/train for your body, not someone else's"?