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IronWilson
11-11-08, 7:20 pm
I have been eating about 3 cans of tuna a day 5 days a week lately. A mercury exposure calculator i found said that I was getting about 420% of the EPA limit per week. I know these guidelines don't apply to everyone, but do you think that I am getting too much mercury from the canned tuna? High mercury levels would suck, I don't want to have future deformed children that I will have to keep in my attic.

TheDarkHalf
11-12-08, 10:45 am
I have been eating about 3 cans of tuna a day 5 days a week lately. A mercury exposure calculator i found said that I was getting about 420% of the EPA limit per week. I know these guidelines don't apply to everyone, but do you think that I am getting too much mercury from the canned tuna? High mercury levels would suck, I don't want to have future deformed children that I will have to keep in my attic.

In this day and age, everything is bad for you. My suggestion is to just say fuck it.

violator
11-12-08, 11:05 am
In this day and age, everything is bad for you. My suggestion is to just say fuck it.

yeah, between the hormones in meat & dairy, the pesticides in veggies & fruit, the mercury in tuna and salmonela in eggs....i think were all fucked....haha.....oh yeah, cant forget that bird flu chicken.....and the madd cow disease....haha....now wheres that DDT so i can put some dressing on my spinach.....

TheDarkHalf
11-12-08, 11:27 am
yeah, between the hormones in meat & dairy, the pesticides in veggies & fruit, the mercury in tuna and salmonela in eggs....i think were all fucked....haha.....oh yeah, cant forget that bird flu chicken.....and the madd cow disease....haha....now wheres that DDT so i can put some dressing on my spinach.....

lets not forget about SARS, AIDS, Cancer.....hell people can kill you too. Man we are fuckkked.

Aggression
11-12-08, 11:49 am
lets not forget about SARS, AIDS, Cancer.....hell people can kill you too. Man we are fuckkked.

Yup. I say fu*k it.

joelast
11-12-08, 11:53 am
its like every 3 months i hear about a new study or some shit about how tunas gunna kill you, For the past two years ive eaten shitloads of tuna and the only think that happens is my room smells like balls. So fuck that calculator

thatdude111
11-12-08, 1:29 pm
I eat at least 10 cans of tuna a week and I'm fine. it seems like everything is bad for you nowadays, they had a study featured on the front page of yahoo a few months ago saying that multivitamins are bad for you.

futilekyle
11-12-08, 4:57 pm
All I heard is that chunk light is better than albacore, thats what I stick too

IronWilson
11-13-08, 12:32 pm
Yeah, all I eat is chunk light too. I didn't think it would hurt me that much, I just thought it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo like you guys said it was. But tuna is so delicious i just can't help myself.

Iceiktitan
11-13-08, 5:51 pm
Avoiding Mercury in Fish - Topic Overview

What is mercury?
Mercury is a metal found naturally in the environment. Human activities, such as farming, burning coal, and using mercury in manufacturing, increase the mercury cycling through the air, water, and soil. In water, mercury changes its form and becomes methylmercury. Fish absorb this mercury. When you eat fish containing mercury, you absorb the mercury, and at high levels it can be harmful. Mercury will leave the body over time in the urine, feces, and breast milk.

Do you need to avoid the mercury found in fish?
For most people, the level of mercury absorbed by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern. Overall, fish and shellfish are healthy foods. They contain high-quality protein and other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and contain omega-3 fatty acids, a type of essential fatty acid. A balanced diet that includes fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and children's growth and development.

Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. However, some contain high levels. Eating large amounts of these fish and shellfish can result in high levels of mercury in the human body. In a fetus or young child, this can damage the brain and nerves (nervous system).

Because of the mercury found in fish, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advise the following people to avoid eating fish high in mercury and to eat limited amounts of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury:

Women who may become pregnant
Pregnant women
Nursing mothers
Young children
If you are concerned about your or your child's mercury level, talk to your health professional or local health department about testing.

How should you change your eating habits to reduce your exposure to mercury in fish?
The FDA and EPA recommend that women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children:1, 2

Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish, because these all contain high levels of mercury.
Eat up to 12oz a week (two average meals) of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna, has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6oz a week (one average meal) of albacore tuna.
Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6oz a week (one average meal) of fish caught from local waters, but don't eat any other fish during that week.

Should a woman who is not planning a pregnancy be concerned?
Mercury accumulates in your bloodstream over time and slowly leaves the body through urine, feces, and breast milk. If you eat a lot of fish high in mercury, it may take up to a year for your mercury levels to drop after you stop eating the fish. If you decide to become pregnant or have an unplanned pregnancy, you may have high levels of mercury. While elevated levels of mercury usually do not cause significant health problems, they may affect a developing fetus. If you are of childbearing age, try to follow the guidelines above when eating fish.

Where can you get more information?
For specific information on:

The amount of mercury in commercial fish, see www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html.
The fish or shellfish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas, see www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/states.htm.
For general information on mercury in fish, see:

Your local health department or environmental agency.
The EPA fish Web site at www.epa.gov/ost/fish.
The EPA mercury Web site at www.epa.gov/mercury.
The FDA seafood Web site at www.cfsan.fda.gov/seafood1.html.

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/tc/avoiding-mercury-in-fish-topic-overview
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/tc/avoiding-mercury-in-fish-topic-overview?page=2

Omega-3 Supplements, Environmental Toxins and Fish

I wanted to start out the second part of the O3FA (Omega-3) postings by talking about environmental toxins and fish because I have to confess that I was always confused about the true facts about toxins and fish consumption. There is no doubt that high fish oil intake through the consumption of large amounts of fish may present a risk for increased environmental toxin exposure.

Let's begin by talking about mercury. Mercury may come from coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, and mining operations as well as other sources. Once airborne, the pollutants fall to the ground in rain or snow and get into the water supply and are converted by bacteria to methylmercury which is toxic to humans. Large and older fish have accumulated more mercury than younger small fish. Also, predatory fish near the top of the food chain tend to accumulate more mercury.

Mercury poisoning by fish consumption has resulted in in neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms including numbness in the mouth and extremities, ataxia, auditory impairments, and most importantly, severe neurologic damage to children born to mothers with toxic mercury exposure. Despite this information, the totality of the evidence supports that the benefits of fish oil exceeds the potential risks, including intake in women of childbearing age with the exception of a few. It needs to be clear that these recommendations only apply to fish oil intake through the consumption of fish.

With regard to fish oil intake though select fish oil supplements, testing has shown that the level of mercury and other environmental toxins is very low or negligible. This occurs for two reasons. First, oxidized mercury is only water soluble and insoluble in oil and thus would not be expected to represent a significant toxicity risk with the intake of fish oils. Second, selected fish oil supplements undergo extensive purification processes to remove toxins and with the prescription fish oil preparations undergoing even more rigorous regulatory processes.

PCBs, Organocholorine pesticides , the most common one being DDT, and dioxin has also found their way into the water supply and ultimately fish consumption has been associated with toxicities from these agents. Dioxin is the primary component of Agent Orange which was used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War and is considered a carcinogen. Manufacturers of selected fish oil supplements have implemented purifications and quality controls designed to reduce the risk of exposure to these toxins. Thus, O3FA supplements may be preferable to fish consumption as a therapeutic source of O3FA.

The caveat to all this is that the Nutriceutical industry is largely unregulated. Although the FDA designates O3FA supplements as "generally regarded as safe", they are not subject to premarket review and approval requirements like prescription medicines. Some fish oil manufacturers elect to pursue "USP-Verified" marks on their label which indicates compliance with standards set by the US Pharmacopeia (USP) which is a independent, not-for-profit, organization established in 1820 that has set the legally recognized standards for identity, strength, quality, packaging, purity, and labeling.

Many physicians are unaware of USP monographs. The USP is also involved with the verification of products through the voluntary Dietary Supplement Verification Program. The presence indicates that the USP has rigorously tested and verified the supplement. The O3FAs that I take and give to my patients are USP certified. Some manufacturers make the false claim the their O3FA is "pharmaceutical grade" when they have not gone through the rigorous processes and oversight required to receive approval as a prescription pharmaceutical so beware of this misleading statement.

When I am asked if a particular brand of O3FA contains excessive vitamins or toxins to pose a health risk, I answer by saying that it depends on the operating and purification processes each company uses. The only way to know is if it is "USP-Verified". The only thing that one must know is that this labeling does not address the efficacy of a supplement. For efficacy information a label needs to state the amount of EPA and DHA within the O3FA and then the proper dose can be determined.

In my office, I show patients five of the most common brands and although they same 1000mg per tablet, if one looks on the back of the label, there is usually about 300mg of EPA and DHA. So when I tell patients to take 4000mg, they would need to take about 12 pills although the front says 1000mg. One would think they only need to take 4 pills. This is misleading. I generally encourage patients to take highly concentrated liquid which contains 3200mg per teaspoon if they are treating high Triglycerides or 2-3 500mg concentrated fish oil tablets if they are using fish oil for only Cardiovascular clinical benefits.. Please beware of this problem especially if the O3FAs are being used to treat Hypertriglyceridemia.

Source:http://blogs.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/2008/04/omega-3-supplements-environmental.html

Something to remember: As bodybuilders/powerlifters (or whatever catergory you fit into) we ingest more calories/ nutritents etc. than the normal lay person. So what applies to them doesn't necessarily apply to all.



I have been eating about 3 cans of tuna a day 5 days a week lately. A mercury exposure calculator i found said that I was getting about 420% of the EPA limit per week. I know these guidelines don't apply to everyone, but do you think that I am getting too much mercury from the canned tuna? High mercury levels would suck, I don't want to have future deformed children that I will have to keep in my attic.

k1usa
11-13-08, 5:58 pm
give me some mad cow....could make for a hellacious work out the next day....and Mercury...well...guess when your teeth and eys stert reflecting lite like a mirror..time to slow down...

g_mau18
10-31-09, 12:50 pm
Hey everyone...I just started replacing each of my gainer shakes with two tuna sandwiches. Most of the time I eat 4 tuna sandwiches a day! Everyone at work is like dude your crazy for eating all that tuna, dont you know about mercury? Whats the deal here? And can you guys suggest any alternative I can use for the same amount of protein and calories and ease of making?

Dr.Platypus
10-31-09, 2:49 pm
i think the 'Light Tuna" is more OK re: mercury. It's more expensive though, and still has mercury. I try to keep my tuna to one of those rally big cans a day/ every other day. Canned chicken is slightly higher in fat but it is a good substitute.

charlievanriper
10-31-09, 5:57 pm
i think the 'Light Tuna" is more OK re: mercury. It's more expensive though, and still has mercury. I try to keep my tuna to one of those rally big cans a day/ every other day. Canned chicken is slightly higher in fat but it is a good substitute.

DP you need to check out gotmercury.org it will explain things much better. light Tuna has more Mercury than reg ( Thier a smaller tuna which means more mercury in a smaller concentration), albecore has the highest mercury level.

charlievanriper
10-31-09, 6:01 pm
Hey everyone...I just started replacing each of my gainer shakes with two tuna sandwiches. Most of the time I eat 4 tuna sandwiches a day! Everyone at work is like dude your crazy for eating all that tuna, dont you know about mercury? Whats the deal here? And can you guys suggest any alternative I can use for the same amount of protein and calories and ease of making?

Men are less at risk with Mercury poisoning your fine ( I would kerep it limited to no more than 8oz daily, I alternate tuna with salmon and tilapia so I get that amount but only every 3 days). Dont let the guys you work with scare you all the facts you need are at gotmercury.org it lists the current mercury level of every seafood on the market that is taken from the ocean, its one of the largest mercury watchdogs out thier.

Dr.Platypus
10-31-09, 6:04 pm
DP you need to check out gotmercury.org it will explain things much better. light Tuna has more Mercury than reg ( Thier a smaller tuna which means more mercury in a smaller concentration), albecore has the highest mercury level.


thanks, I knew LT was better than albacore. This stuff's confusing.

charlievanriper
10-31-09, 6:08 pm
Ya no problem I was turned on to gotmerc a couple years ago man what a life saver ( although my fav fish used to be Halibut, then I learned its got one of the highest merc contents out thier, Orange Roughy is High too) Corporations really piss me off for fiucking up our food supply.
And for all the damage they do they usually get a 25000 fine which aint shit compared to the millions per day they save by dumping the shit into our oceans.

charlievanriper
10-31-09, 6:10 pm
Well after blasting my arms thier getting sore and tight I'm off to Ice them later.

JasonG
10-31-09, 10:32 pm
I'll have to look at that gotmercury site. I eat 2 packages of tuna at a time for 36grams of protein every freaking day right now. It's really my only whole food option right now while I'm deployed and at work. I work nights so I can get eggs IF I get a chance to go to the chow hall (which isn't very often) but they will only give you up to 4 eggs. So tuna is my best option right now as far as protein count goes. Kinda sucks, but hopefully I'm not fucking myself up because I'm not just going to not get my protein and drink my way to 300 grams a day!

Dr.Platypus
10-31-09, 10:36 pm
I'll have to look at that gotmercury site. I eat 2 packages of tuna at a time for 36grams of protein every freaking day right now. It's really my only whole food option right now while I'm deployed and at work. I work nights so I can get eggs IF I get a chance to go to the chow hall (which isn't very often) but they will only give you up to 4 eggs. So tuna is my best option right now as far as protein count goes. Kinda sucks, but hopefully I'm not fucking myself up because I'm not just going to not get my protein and drink my way to 300 grams a day!
Canned chicken doesn't taste TOObad and is comparable to tuna.

charlievanriper
10-31-09, 10:38 pm
I'll have to look at that gotmercury site. I eat 2 packages of tuna at a time for 36grams of protein every freaking day right now. It's really my only whole food option right now while I'm deployed and at work. I work nights so I can get eggs IF I get a chance to go to the chow hall (which isn't very often) but they will only give you up to 4 eggs. So tuna is my best option right now as far as protein count goes. Kinda sucks, but hopefully I'm not fucking myself up because I'm not just going to not get my protein and drink my way to 300 grams a day!

Jason Mercury's not a good thing for anyone but really it effects young children and women way more than men. As I said for 7 to 14 months the amount of tuna your eating is not going to pose a problem to you! Do a periodic cleanse to flush out the metals ect and you should be fine.

JasonG
10-31-09, 10:39 pm
Holy crap I'm getting about 590% of the recommended mercury in my weekly diet. I guess I better read up about what mercury can do to you yikes.

JasonG
10-31-09, 10:41 pm
Canned chicken doesn't taste TOObad and is comparable to tuna.

We get some canned chicken sometimes but its only 8 grams of protein per can so I usually pass on that.

JasonG
10-31-09, 10:43 pm
Jason Mercury's not a good thing for anyone but really it effects young children and women way more than men. As I said for 7 to 14 months the amount of tuna your eating is not going to pose a problem to you! Do a periodic cleanse to flush out the metals ect and you should be fine.

Ok thanks. Yeah I eat a ton of it for 4 -5 months at a time then have more choices once I get back to the states and can cook for myself. I just won't worry about it because I'm not gonna stop eating it anyway haha.

charlievanriper
10-31-09, 10:43 pm
Holy crap I'm getting about 590% of the recommended mercury in my weekly diet. I guess I better read up about what mercury can do to you yikes.

Pretty shocking huh lol.
And I get laughed at usually when I tell guys to cut back on tuna and pay more attention to thier health. I'm sorry I know its serious but I just have to laugh when guys actually listen to me and follow up on my advice lol. Ya by now even your DNA should glow lol

BigChrisF
11-01-09, 1:17 am
A lot of packaged tuna these days are farm raised. No mercury in the farm raised stuff. When you get canned tuna that is from the ocean, if you keep it under 2 lbs/week, you shouldn't see any problems.

charlievanriper
11-01-09, 1:55 am
A lot of packaged tuna these days are farm raised. No mercury in the farm raised stuff. When you get canned tuna that is from the ocean, if you keep it under 2 lbs/week, you shouldn't see any problems.

Thier is vary little if no Farm raised Tuna distributed in the United States as Canned Tuna. In Australia they do raise Southern Bluefin Tuna for the higher markets in nets, but this is not sold as canned tuna ( its sold as Tuna Steaks). Soon more will be farmed as the worlds supply diminishes, but its difficult to raise succsefully do to the natural migration patterns ( these fish naturally travel or migrate thousands of miles, its not going to be the easiest thing in the world to duplicate that for schools of pen bred Tuna). First most if not all canned tuna in the US is Starkist or Bumblbee, any Generic is either one of those with a different label. Both of these two Companies have stated all thier Tuna and Salmon products are wild Caught, even the ones from Asia.

BigChrisF
11-01-09, 4:58 am
Packaged does not necessarily mean canned. Also, Chicken of the Sea has it's fair market share.

Dr.Platypus
11-01-09, 8:40 am
We get some canned chicken sometimes but its only 8 grams of protein per can so I usually pass on that.

that's weird what I have is 9grams per serving, 5 servings per can

charlievanriper
11-01-09, 11:00 am
Packaged does not necessarily mean canned. Also, Chicken of the Sea has it's fair market share.

But the main product purchased by most bodybuilders is canned, and anyway all packaged premium Tuna product from all companies are free ocean caught. The reason I did not mention Chicken of the Sea is because until you mentioned it I have always thought they werte a division of Starkist, I just looked it up and they are a seperate company which means thier are 3 main Tuna Companies supplying the US market and all post notices on thier website that they do not use Farm raised Tuna, only free ocean caught.

C.Coronato
11-02-09, 1:25 pm
In college i basically lived on tuna. I ate 4 cans a day mon-fri September to May. Give or take some other alternatives, but that is what i predominately ate.

I gave me my nutrients and was VERY cheap. $ is a big factor to surviving college.

violator
11-03-09, 1:58 pm
Please stop eating tuna... overfishing is ruining the worlds oceans... i think bluefin tuna should be put on the endangered species list.... there are plenty of other protein sources out there to consider.... haha...there, ive said my piece, now i can sleep tonight...

braves561
11-30-09, 5:49 pm
I enjoy eating tuna somewhat. Mercury levels are bad I read, so how many cans of tuna would be ok to eat in a day?

strivin for more
11-30-09, 7:19 pm
bro, theres a lot of topics on this. try the search.

but theres a site that calculates the supposed "safe" level to eat. IMO, you could prolly do a tad more, but this is suppose to be official.

http://www.ewg.org/tunacalculator

Deathride
12-01-09, 5:12 pm
I don't know about you guys but i couldn't just eat tuna. Don't get me wrong, I love tuna and all tuna based food, but three cans a day?!?! Does it not get dull?

Hence why I eat eggs for breakfast, chicken for lunch, good cheap plentiful mince beef for evening meal and a can of tuna later on for a snack. Throw in a few protein shakes and nothing is overloaded, nothing is overdone and you've got all the protein a growing boy could ever need! BALANCE people, BALANCE.....

JasonG
12-01-09, 5:31 pm
It does get dull but I am deployed and don't get a chance to go to a chow hall and get a single meal in during my 12-14 hr shift 6 days a week. We stock our shelves at work with massive amounts of junk food, processed prepackaged lunch meat sandwiches, tuna packs, cereal and fruit. It's what's available right now so I rely on my best choice, tuna, and 3 shakes a day including my post workout shake. I get two meals besides this, before work and after work where I can have beef, fish or chicken. It sucks but I make it work.

Deathride
12-02-09, 5:57 am
Fair do's. You gotta make do with what you got......:-) Gotta get the protein somehow!

mr.bump
12-02-09, 1:35 pm
If tuna has mercury in it then whydont the put it on the tin?
Also seen as well they dont put it on the tin oes that ean you can suethe company if you et mercury poisoning ?

Beowulf
12-02-09, 2:36 pm
If tuna has mercury in it then whydont the put it on the tin?
Also seen as well they dont put it on the tin oes that ean you can suethe company if you et mercury poisoning ?

Lot of things go into the foods we buy in the supermarket that aren't on the label. You'd be surprised what the gov't regs are on things like insects, animal parts, etc.