Why You Can’t Eat Canned Tuna Every Day: Doctors Named The Reason We Rarely Think About

The American magazine Consumer Reports recently conducted a large-scale study on the mercury content of canned tuna. For the test, samples were purchased from various manufacturers; studied tuna of different varieties, caught all over the world. The results are evocative: all canned tuna contained mercury, with albacore tuna having the most neurotoxins.

And, more paradoxically, no other pattern was identified – the level of mercury in different samples was unpredictable. While some jars from the same batch contained microscopic amounts of the dangerous substance, others contained a lot.

Therefore, doctors recommend that pregnant and lactating women refuse to eat fresh and canned tuna – since it is impossible to calculate how much neurotoxin will enter the body with one serving of fish.

Why is there a lot of mercury in tuna? In general, it is important to understand that we absorb a certain amount of this substance every time we eat seafood and sea fish.

Mercury, as a natural mineral, is present in the water of seas and oceans, and anthropogenic pollution has further increased its levels over the past 100 years.

The bigger the fish, the more mercury it contains – it literally absorbs the neurotoxin from the water and gets it by eating smaller fish.

But it is for tuna that mercury becomes a particular problem: it accumulates in its tissues, since the tuna’s metabolism “cannot” eliminate this dangerous substance.

Why is mercury dangerous for humans? This neurotoxin can have negative health side effects, including impaired memory, loss of brain cells, impaired motor skills, and even extreme anxiety. If a large amount of mercury is ingested, symptoms can resemble food poisoning, with bonuses such as a tingling sensation throughout the body and muscle weakness. Not a particularly pleasant condiment!

What to do? Eat canned tuna no more than 1-2 times a week and consult a doctor at the slightest suspicion and change in well-being. Canned anchovies and sardines are guaranteed to be low in mercury, and when it comes to fresh seafood, squid, crabs, prawns, cod and salmon are relatively safe.