Tuna ...too good to be true?

Tuna is great..theres no food I know of that has such high protein for such low calories. UnforTUNAtly theres another ingrediant tht isnt natural in fish and isnt very healthy...Mercury.I did a little reading on it and some brands of tuna from certain areas can have a pretty harmfull amount of mercury in them if taken excessivly.I found this myself because for about a week and a half i was eating ALOT of tuna( usually I would only eat like a can a week).All of a sudden i started feeling wierd..emotionally. I tried and tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with me but i couldnt figure it out. So then i realized that the only thing i had been doing differently was eating alot of tuna. I actually thought about this after my girlfriend had told me that i shouldnt eat alot of tuna because of the mercury. So then i did a search on tuna and mercury in it and the effects it can have on you.So what i found that tuna in excessive amounts can cause a number of things including the emotional stuff i was experiencing..but the more severe cases are much more worse like psychosis and organ failure. Now I dont know exactly if the doses they were talking about was near the amount of mercury i was getting from the tuna i ate in that week and a half...but i'm not eating tuna now and i definantly feel fine. It may have been a personal sensitivty to it even ....not sure, but i'm pretty confident tuna was the culprit in some form or another. Just a caution though...if tuna plays a big part in your diet you should be carefull.It really [censored] me off though that such a great fish could be tainted by pollution...even in some of the deepest waters.

Thanks for the warning.. I don't eat fish because I don't like how it tastes but my brother eats tuna almost every day.

oh dear, I'm eating alot of tuna recently (3 cans a day ) Hope i dont get poisoned by mercury.

Mercury poisonng does as you say have negative effects on brain function. Hat makers used to use mercury in their trade, this is where the term 'mad as a hatter' comes from.

How much tuna were you eating? i ask because for enough mercury to be in your system to effect you in such a way it would most likely have damaged your health in other ways.

To put it into perspective, i have regularly ingested, year in and year out an average of approx 1.5 kg (3.3lbs) of tuna per week, with no ill effects what so ever.

Whilst trace elements are good to keep track of, i suspect that your mood changes are coming from other sources, and that the link you have made is psychosymatic.

Well I was eating about 2 185gram cans a day. I had alot of it in the store room and no chicken so i said screw it..if there are bad effects they shouldnt show through one tuna binge.Cord I dont think I consume as much as you...thats alot of freeking fishy.I'd suggest mayby an effect on me over you due to weight differences but man...thats a pretty steady flow of tuna.But hey either way i'm happy with not feeling all screwed up in the head so wether its psychological or not, i'm doing good!

I dont mean to scare anyone off of tuna...i'm just being overly paraniod myself. There are studies and info out there though if your interested in researching it yourself..at the very least know what the hell kind of crap is going into our seas.


3.3 Pounds of tuna a week man?Christ boy, half your weekly workout must be crappin!

My intake is nowhere near as much these days, as my training and goals are completely different, but I would regularly have 2 meals a day incorporating tuna, and also an occasional 'tuna shake' (small tin of tuna, half a pint of non fat milk, big dash of tabasco, all blended together ).
Tuna, milk and eggs were my mainstay of protein for around 12 years, purely on a financial basis. I could not afford whey protein convenience bars, or 'great tasting' fudge brownie casseine shakes. i would get protein shake mix as birthday presents from friends and family, but the rest of the time i liked to keep it old school.
I never experienced any problems, but i am not dismissing what you say. A thousand rocks can make a mountain.
I would say however that if what you experienced was mercury related, then your base level of mercury must have been elevated for the trace amount in the tuna to tip you over the edge, so there may be problems elswhere.
I would suggest a medical exam testing for mercury to be on the safe side.