There has been a lot of debate regarding mercury in fish. I have done an extensive amount of research on this subject and here are some important facts I would like to share with you, so you don’t have to afraid to eat fish!
First when you hear the word mercury and fish in the same sentence, remember it’s Methyl mercury, not the shiny stuff in thermometers (what scientists call "elemental" mercury). When mercury is deposited into water (usually by natural sources like underwater volcanoes), certain bacteria convert it into methyl mercury. Then it enters the food chain in fish. Larger fish usually contain more methyl mercury than smaller fish, because the substance "accumulates" as big fish eat their smaller prey.
Myth: The health risk from mercury outweighs the health benefits of eating fish.
The TRUTH: The opposite is true. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish can decrease the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney disorders, Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, uterine cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, type-2 diabetes, low birth-weight, post-partum depression, and pre-term delivery. The bad news? Partially because of the health scares surrounding mercury, Americans' intake of Omega-3 acids is 3 to 6 times lower than the levels recommended by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.
Myth: You can get mercury poisoning from the amount of fish you might consume in a given week or month.
The TRUTH: Even if it were possible for Americans to eat enough fish to jeopardize their health from mercury intake, it would take decades for these speculative health effects to accumulate. In an official 2004 joint advisory, the EPA and Food and Drug Administration concede: "One week's consumption of fish does not change the level of methyl mercury in the body much at all."
Myth: The amount of mercury in our environment (and in the fish we eat) is dangerously increasing.
The TRUTH: There's considerable evidence that the amount of mercury in fish has remained the same (or even decreased) during the past 100 years. One team of researchers from Duke University and the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum compared 21 specimens of Atlantic Ocean blue hake preserved during the 1880s with 66 similar fish caught in the 1970s. They found no change at all in the concentration of mercury. In another study, Princeton scientists compared samples of yellowfin tuna from 1971 with samples caught in 1998. They expected to find a mercury increase of between 9 and 26 percent, but they found a small decline instead.
Myth: Mercury in fish presents a serious health risk to Americans.
The TRUTH: The best science suggests that the tiny amounts of mercury in fish aren't harmful at all. A recent twelve-year study conducted in the Seychelles Islands (in the Indian Ocean) found no negative health effects from dietary exposure to mercury through heavy fish consumption. On average, people in the Seychelles Islands eat between 12 and 14 fish meals every week, and the mercury levels measured from the island natives are approximately ten times higher than those measured in the United States.
Yet none of the studied Seychelles natives suffered any ill effects from mercury in fish, and they received the significant health benefits of fish consumption. In November 2005, The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published new research from Harvard University that put the risk from fish-borne mercury in its proper context. Dr. Joshua Cohen, the study's lead author, summed up the issue for MedScape Medical News: "We're talking about a very subtle effect of mercury … changes that would be too small to measure in individuals."
So now you know, don't be afriad to eat FISH! Support a local fisherman -Let the Cows Live ...EAT MORE FISH...
The Bermuda Gourmet Goddess
p.s I do eat meat
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