Well, I am about to implement a gaining diet using Berardi’s massive eating principles. I have a couple meals with 2 cans of tuna each. 4 per day. Some friends think I should be concerned about mercury. Is it a real problem? Tuna is so cheap! Any insight would be awesome.
you could always go with canned chicken if youre concerned about it
This should help. It says i can eat 53 cans a week max.
Oh, and a little bit of avocado mixed in with a pouch of tuna is pretty tasty
Recall this lawsuit over a fellow that would eat 10 cans of tuna a week and did so for 2 years. He developed mercury poisoning from that amount.
“Food On Trial: Man Sues Tuna Company Over Mercury Poisoning”
Poliquin recommends against Tuna because of Mercury levels.
I believe his exact words are, “There is no such thing as healthy tuna. All tuna has toxic levels of mercury. The French word for tuna is ‘la poubelle de la mer,’ which means ‘the garbage can of the sea.’”
So, what I’ve gotten out of this thread is that millions upon millions of cans of tuna (plus prepared tuna from restaurants) consumed every year worldwide for decades and ONE person may have mercury poison maybe linked to tuna ingestion.
How many people died in the last decade eating ecoli laced spinach?
I like those odds. More tuna for me, thx.
eat up. you’re fine.
I dont know what mercury poison feels like. when you get it could you let us know?
I definitely wouldn’t be eating 4 cans of tuna a day!! Maximum is 2-3 cans per week and I stick with the pole caught tuna like American Tuna Company or from the Fishing Vessel St. Jude from tunatuna.com
I was talking with a doctor about pole caught tuna and we were discussing why it would contain less mercury. We came to the conclusion that the smaller (younger) tuna are usually pole caught so they most likely have less mercury than the older fish.
In any case, be conscious of how much you eat each week and don’t overdo it.
Makes sense about pole caught tuna. The issue is that mercury gets more concentrated as you move up the ocean food chain. Even little fish like sardines have some, but it’s in such low concentrations as to be insignificant. The somewhat bigger fish that eat lots of the little fish have higher concentrations of mercury, and the bigger fish that eat them have still more. It continues that way up the food chain to the biggest predator fish like tuna, shark, and swordfish. It also follows that the smaller, immature predator fish (i.e., pole caught) would have lower concentrations than the ones who have been around longer to feast on other fish.
That said, I wouldn’t worry too much about eating say, 4 cans of tuna a week, especially if it’s the chunk light kind. (Solid white albacore is higher in mercury, apparently.)
Eating 4 cans a day seems a bit risky, however. Why not eat fish from lower on the food chain? Sardines in olive oil, for example, or herring? Tasty and very high in Omega-3s.
Lotta broscience!
Cool stories, Dr. Bros!
[quote]BobParr wrote:
Why not eat fish from lower on the food chain? Sardines in olive oil, for example, or herring? Tasty and very high in Omega-3s.[/quote]
You’re right…sardines are excellent and don’t have traces of mercury in them! I get the canned sardines packed in water that are low sodium and toss them over a salad or make a sandwich with some mustard and they’re really good.
^ I have your book there are some really good recipies in it. Have you done anything else besides the book in your avatar?
^ I have your book there are some really good recipies in it. Have you done anything else besides the book in your avatar?
[quote]Phoenix44e wrote:
^ I have your book there are some really good recipies in it. Have you done anything else besides the book in your avatar?[/quote]
Thanks bud. I have a new ebook, “The 14 Day Get Lean Diet” that’s available on my website. You can read about it there. Glad you’re using Muscle Chow…it took me a long time to write it, and I’m really happy with the outcome.
CBC (Canadian broadcasting corporaration, think Canada’s PBS) did an investigation awhile back and found that Tuna contained excessive Mercury, even above permissible guidelines. I try to eat 2-5 cans a week MAX, and there are times I go without for months.
Also, Tuna is boring. If you’re really hard up, learn how to make your own protein bars. I used to make some all the time - whey gives me massive acne breakouts and I wanted portable bars that wouldn’t do that. All I could find were soy and whey, so I made my own using egg protein powder.
BTW - Muscle Chow is a pretty good book, it’s the only one in my kitchen (though I have to admit my mom taught me a lot of recipes before I moved out).
[quote]Samir wrote:
If you’re really hard up, learn how to make your own protein bars. I made my own using egg protein powder.
BTW - Muscle Chow is a pretty good book, it’s the only one in my kitchen (though I have to admit my mom taught me a lot of recipes before I moved out).
[/quote]
Thanks Samir! So don’t leave us hangin bud! What’s the protein bar recipe?