Do you worry about mercury in the fish you eat?

Sarah676

Sarah676

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I currently eat salmon maybe once a week, and tuna once or twice a week on top of that. I've heard that salmon and tuna have some of the highest mercury levels of all fish, but I'm not sure how much I should be worrying about that. Is it something you guys worry about? Do you restrict how much fish you eat because you're worried about mercury?
 
Of course not. Another subject which health freaks love to rant about. Everything is poisonous nowadays but damn I've been eating fish, in quite large quantities, all my life and yet somehow miraculously I'm breathing.
 
While I don't eat meat, I do prepare seafood dishes for my family. To be honest I'm not worried about Mercury poisoning as I'd suspect someone would have to eat fish at least 3-4 times a week for there to be the slightest of risks. Everything in moderation is my motto.
 
I've not heard about salmon and tuna being at the top of the mercury list. In fact, in all three pregnancies (where high mercury content fish is a big no-no) salmon and tuna were the two most touted to be considered "safe." I think the fish that tend to have high mercury content are the bottom feeders and meat eating fish. Things like shark and swordfish have always registered on my high mercury list.
All that said, I don't eat enough fish to worry about it. We maybe eat fish four times a month, and off the coast in America, I'm going to guess almost all of it is farm raised.
 
I used to eat lots of canned tuna during my college days. Then I learned about the high content of mercury in fish and the risks associated, and my consumption of canned tuna decreased significantly.
 
I love tuna and salmon, and I eat each of them at least once a week. Until now, I haven't turned into a walking thermometer, so I see no reason to avoid it. If you ate tuna or salmon every day of your life, in huge quantities, there may be a risk of mercury poisoning, but in sensible amounts, it's fine. You can stress out too much about food, if you're not careful.
 
I figure there are people living in coastal towns that eat seafood far more often than I do, and they are doing fine. It's hard to separate the hype from the facts, since there are so many publications out there that want to grab your attention with some paranoia laced articles that exaggerate everything. If anything I would probably benefit from a higher intake of seafood in my diets, as opposed to all the red meat I eat.

If seafood were more affordable, I certainly would be buying a lot more of it and eating it more often. As it stands I only treat myself to it on occasion.
 
I guess I am worried about it in theory, but I don't reflect that in my daily life. I don't eat tons of fish, so it's rarely a concern for me, though I'm not saying that it shouldn't be. I'm also not very educated on the extent to which fish can be filled with mercury and which kinds of fish are more at risk for this. I think I've heard they're having this problem with tuna.
 
It is not something I worry about now. However, when you are pregnant you are supposed to avoid eating fish that could be likely to contain mercury, so when I have been pregnant I thought about it a lot. I wasn't aware that salmon was on the list, but I know that tuna, shark and swordfish are. Apparantly, tinned tuna is fine though, it is only the fresh fish steaks.
 
I'm not worried because up until recently I didn't even know this was a thing, and I've been eating fish all my life without worry so I don't see why I would start now. If I got sick from it once maybe I would worry a lot more, but if it was going to affect me it would have done so by now so I guess I'm safe.
 
I don't eat a great deal of fish but i do eat swordfish when i visit Malta as it is a delicacy there and delicious. There are many sources that do warn about potentially toxic levels of mercury in swordfish so consumption of it should be restricted.

The colour of swordfish varies according to their diet, some have an orange tint due to eating shrimp while some are rosier in colour. Mercury levels seem to be higher in the more long living fish like tuna, pike, king mackerel and swordfish particularly.
 
I do not eat fish as often that is why I am not worried in any way. Maybe I eat fish twice a month only. But I like tuna the most and I do not know that it is included in the list of fish that contain and is high in mercury. Nowadays we must be really careful to what we are eating not only fish as well as red meats, chicken. fruits and vegetables. All of them are produced with the use of some chemicals that is harmful to our bodies. That is why we should know carefully what we are eating are safe for us.
 
Nah, not really. Yes, there's a *risk* of mercury poisoning, but to be perfectly fair, there's a risk when you do anything. I'm definitely not going to let it keep me from eating delicious sushi. Speaking of which, the Japanese eat a ton of raw fish in their diet and they seem perfectly fine...
 
I would worry a small bit about it if I ate fish as frequently as you do, in as high as contents as you may consume. Regardless of how you cook the fish there is still the chance. So, if you're worried about it and consume tons of fish I'd just ask a Doctor you live near to keep an eye on it at your regular checkup. True that the Asians have lived that way for ages, but that is because they precisely HAVE lived that way that they can probably mitigate it better than some of us can. They've been exposed and grown a tolerance to it. Now if you didn't eat fish like they did and had a normal diet of food, consuming as much as you do may have certain repercussions.

I however don't eat fish but very rarely so I don't concern myself too much with it.
 
Nope. So long as the levels are measure in PPM I doubt if any sort of normal diet will have any effect at all. There are far too many other thing that will kill you much faster.
 
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