Problems with sushi & tuna....

Today's post: Thursday, 4-16-2009

In today’s Early to Rise email and online article, their initial list of articles for today had one they called “Why you should steer clear of tuna.”

Since tuna is a wild caught fish & widely available, it would be nice to be able to give it a strong recommendation. But since it has about 5 to 7 times the acceptable level of mercury for eating several times a week -- or at all for women who are pregnant or children or younger teens, I went to the article expecting a write up of that info.

(For wild caught fish not so high in mercury, two or even three times a week is a good idea. For tuna once or at most twice a month is much safer with once a month or less being best.)

But it didn’t even mention that. It seems the article was about the Ahi tuna in sushi instead & a possible to somewhat probable reason to avoid that kind of sushi.

Since many people love sushi and some have eaten enough tuna sushi to get real problems from the mercury, I decided to make today’s post about it.

Here’s the article.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com ."

"Why you should steer clear of tuna

Bright Sushi, Red Flag

By Kelley Herring

Sushi has health benefits, but also has some hidden health dangers.

This one may shock you.

With its appetizing hue, sushi tuna (ahi) is hard to resist. The fish must be really fresh to have such a bright shade of red. Right?

Not exactly. It is treated with carbon monoxide - the gas that streams from the tailpipe of your car and is deadly when inhaled. When "applied" to tuna, it reacts with the heme proteins in the fish, imparting the cherry color.

Avoid sushi tuna. While the coloring process may be considered "safe" by industry standards, there's no long-term evidence that it is. And if carbon monoxide is deadly when you breathe it in, that certainly is enough to raise an eyebrow... if not a red flag.

[Ed. Note: One of the best ways to stay healthy and live longer is to eat good foods. Nutrition expert Kelley Herring has collected dozens of her healthiest and most delicious recipes in her e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts. Pick up your copy today.

For more advice about which foods you should - and shouldn't - be eating to stay in top health, sign up for ETR's free natural health e-letter.] "

(See http://www.totalhealthbrekthroughs.com .)

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Here are some other points. Given this info & the info on mercury and the addictive nature of good sushi, it might make sense to only eat tuna you get wild caught and pass on eating it in sushi.

Since tuna’s mercury comes from the large amount of smaller fish they bioconcentrate it from, there is less in smaller tuna than large. So in addition to not eating it often, another way to make it safer is to buy pole caught tuna instead of tuna caught in massive nets. That has the added bonus of not supporting that kind of fishing with massive nets which tends to also catch porpoises, sea turtles, and other species that then die in addition to the tuna.

Plus pole caught tuna which Whole Foods Markets carries costs more which helps you avoid eating tuna too often compared with the cheaper kind caught in massive nets.

Sushi and Japanese food CAN be good for you. But it looks like tuna sushi or Ahi tuna sushi are kinds you might be safer to avoid.

Second, farmed fish are simply dreadful for your health. It’s almost worse for you than eating produce that still has a heavy dose of insecticide on it that isn’t washed off. And, I’ve read that the eel & any sushi made from it are from farmed eel that live in the worst, most polluted fish farms you can imagine. So also avoid eel in sushi and Japanese restaurants!

So those are two choices to avoid for sushi and in most Japanese restaurants.

But they may have sushi some Japanese restaurants or sushi places can vouch for as coming from wild caught fish of other kinds. And, California rolls are made mostly with avocado, which for anyone not allergic is a superfood that both tastes great & has abundant nutrients.

Also, many Japanese restaurants have chicken teriyaki on the menu or salmon, which some may be able to vouch for as wild caught.

Virtually all the vegetable dishes in Japanese restaurants or in vegetarian sushi are good for you.

Oddly, the other food to pass on is eating the rice. Japanese restaurants almost universally serve refined grain white rice as a side dish and in large portions. This is about like eating that much sugar in how it slams your body if you eat it. So, save them some money & your health some harm and pass on the rice.

(In sushi, the percentage of rice is less and the glycemic effect is balancd by the protein or fat in the rest of each sushi. So eating a modest amount of sushi is OK.)

Last point, Saki is so mild it’s hard to believe it’s alcoholic; but it is and similar to wine in how much alcohol it has. So despite its mild taste, stick to just one or two servings if you want to stay out of trouble.