Many people are worried about high mercury counts in fish, so they're swearing off seafood. The thing is, many types of fish are low in saturated fat, are an excellent source of lean protein, and are high in essential heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. I'm not saying that mercury is something to overlook, since this toxin can cause brain damage, and possibly cancer, but it doesn't mean you need to give up fish entirely.
It's safe to eat fish twice a week (up to 12 ounces), but you should choose two different types of fish to get a variety of nutrients. Good sources of low-mercury fish are shrimp, oysters, scallops, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, flounder, sole, halibut, and catfish. Young children, women trying to get pregnant, those already pregnant, and nursing moms are considered "high risk," since too much mercury can affect developing brains. So for those people, the EPA recommends limiting intake of seafood that's high in mercury such as swordfish, golden bass, golden snapper, and shark.
Trying to meet your fish "quota" doesn't need to be boring. Try poached salmon with curried yogurt sauce or halibut stir-fry for dinner tonight.
Woolrich
DAY Birger et Mikkelsen
La Redoute
I like this idea. I love seafood, but sometimes I just don't think about it when I'm grocery shopping. I'll need to try this twice/week thing to get me in the habit of eating it regularly.
Gosh, it was so much cheaper to love seafood in south Louisiana...
1The only kind of seafood I like is canned tuna. I probably have tuna salad like twice a week... Oh well.
2So is having two kinds in order to limit mercury or another reason?
3I don't like many types of fish, so I eat tuna and salmon alternately so I get enough omega-3s.
4I love my seafood. Shame shark is high in mercury, it's delicious marinated in orange.
But a tuna and salad sammich is something I have at least twice a week.
5People worried about mercury ingestion from fish can estimate exposure by
6entering their weight, fish choice and serving size into the new
mercury calculator at www.gotmercury.org. You can also download a mobile mercury
calculator for cell phone browsers at www.gotmercury.mobi. The calculator is based
on current U.S. EPA and FDA mercury guidelines, weak as they are. Learn more about
mercury-laden fish and how to protect yourself and your family at www.gotmercury.org
or www.diagnosismercury.org
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