Tuna - Good or Bad?

Lothaar

It's a great source of protein, and it tastes good, but does anybody know the lowdown on Tuna, with all this talk of high levels of mercury?

I recently discovered little tins of tuna steak (with the ring-pull lids, like sardines), which are delicious, high in protein and make a better nighttime snack than other stuff I'd be tempted to eat. They're also really filling, which stops me snacking on other things.

But then my gf tells me that I shouldn't be eating tuna all the time and spoils everything.

Anyone know what the dealy is with this?

t-ha

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=05-148-diet

flywheel

The FDA in the US did a study on Mercury in fish (with figures updated Jan 2006). In the US they seem to label canned tuna "albacore" steak or "chunk light". The "chunk light" (usually sourced from Skipjack tuna) has lower levels of mercury than the "albacore", although the species and age of the fish seems to be the main factor that dictate the levels of mercury...

Asked previously on here (but no reply) if anyone knew of EU info on mercury in fish or whether our steak / chunk labelling relates the same way to that in the US? Haven't seen "albacore" used on labels here, any cans I've read don't mention the species of fish it contains...

metrovelvet

Does anyone know anything about the tuna used in sushi?

joker77

Here's my 2 cents worth, not based on anything other than opinion!

I don't think it's healthy to be eating 2 or 3 tins of tuna every day. First of all, it's in a can so it's processed. If you want to eat fish, why not eat some fresh stuff, poached or baked? Ok I know, you can bring tuna into work in sandwiches etc so you'd need a replacement for that, I'm at a bit of a loss here.

I just don't think it's healthy to be eating the same thing all the time, you're getting a build-up of anything bad that's contained in the food. Variation is the key to a balanced diet. It's not that the tuna itself would be necessarily bad, but if you ate any processed food in that quantity, I'd say it wouldn't be good for you.

Lothaar

joker77 wrote:

First of all, it's in a can so it's processed. If you want to eat fish, why not eat some fresh stuff, poached or baked?

The one I was talking about is actually a tin of tuna slices, which I *think* is a lot better for you than the regular tinned stuff.
The thing about fresh fish is it's really expensive, whereas tins of tuna are cheap and tasty.

I suppose I'll cut back on it. Man... that sucks. I thought I had found the perfect snacking food. Damn you mercury.

Watchful

There are other tinned fish options out there if you fancied a change- like the little tins of mackrel you can get (mmmmm!) which are also a good source of omega oils. However watch out for the sauces that might be on them- they can be very high in salt and sugars.

hardtrainer

Tuna is all good.

There is some controversy about the levels of mercury in tuna, but that is just as much of a problem in many fish species and is just as valid a claim for fresh tuna steaks as for canned tuna.

As a general rule, tuna chunks/flakes are made from the leftover bits of fish, often from younger and smaller fish that aren't suitable for tuna steaks. The canned tuna steak, which is often called albacore in the US, comes from older, bigger fish and would in theory contain more mercury.

The amounts of mercury reported in tuna vary widely... 1) Going on the lower end of these and there is no need to worry at all, you can eat tuna until the cows come home and you're not risking anything near toxic levels of mercury, not even close.
2) Going on the upper levels of mercury, well thats a different story. Lets just say that you're not gonna want to go eating a couple of cans of tuna every day. In fact, if the really high levels are a true reflection of the reality of mercury load in tuna, then limiting tuna to a can a week and you'll still hit toxic levels in 10 years time (if you eat the full 52 cans a year).

It's hard to know really, I've tried getting sound information on this topic since I eat lots of tuna and from what I've seen so far I'm not too worried about it all just yet. I'll be keeping my eye on the data as it's realised but the problem with this, like so many things where there is a big industry with jobs at steak, is that you can't always be sure you're getting the whole story. My science background tells me to be more worried about poultry and soy than tuna, and I'm not even thinking about H5N1 either.

Tuna is a fantastic source of protein, which is what we're all looking for from it right? I guess at the end of the day just be sensible. Tuna shouldn't be your staple, nor should any one thing be. Variety is the spice of life as they say.