1. The Mercury Paradox
Hook, line and sinker--fish are mercury magnets!
EPA studies indicate that "virtually every fish sample tested from lakes and oceans across the United States was contaminated with mercury." The conundrum remains: do the benefits outweigh the risks? The answer is yes--but don't go overboard.
Scientific research downplays the mercury risk and concludes that the health pay-off of eating fish far outweighs the negatives of taking in mercury. Most of us don't eat enough to do any damage, and in any case inhale more mercury from the air. When reports encourage people to eat less fish, we might be trolling in perilous waters.
2. It's Dangerous Not Eating Fish
More than likely, mercury is the motive behind your hesitantion about serving your loving household ocean or fresh water fish for its essential omega-3 (EFA) and quality protein. You might have to reconsider this. There's such a clamor being made about the negative aspects of eating fish that the positive effects get drowned out. Moderation is the key to everything, and more is definitely not better.
Scientifically, the AMA has verified that eating fish once or twice a week reduces the risk of heart disease by an impressive third. Of course, we'd prefer the fish to be contaminant-free, but, alas, we live in an industrial world. Deep fried fish with tartar sauce doesn't count, sorry. There may be additional benefits from salmon, sablefish and sardines, fatty fish with high levels of omega-3 and DHA that regulate cell activity and healthy heart function.
3. Ubiquitous Mercury
Mercury, also known as quicksilver, is created from environmental pollution via the burning of coal and industrial waste. Natural sources such as volcanoes are responsible for half of atmospheric mercury emissions. Since the '50s and '60s, scientific evidence has suggested that mercury emissions from human actions, called anthropogenic emissions, are having widespread impacts on the environmental health. Mercury, a potent toxin to the human physiology, has become a commodity since the industrial revolution. It acts as a preservative in children's vaccines, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, algicides, molluscicides, miticides and rodenticides. Paper mills also contribute to the metallic environmental bouillabaisse.
Mercury poisoning causes chronic viral, bacterial and fungal illnesses, unexplained chronic fatigue, depression, emotional instability, headache, short-term memory loss, decreased mental clarity, joint pain and a variety of other types of pain and stiffness in the body.
4. Too Much Mercury?
Over the years, if you've been eating excessive amounts of fish containing mercury, you may experience symptoms such as seizures, vision impairment, impaired motor coordination, neurological impairment and numbness. Fortunately, the symptoms go away once you stop eating from the source. LiveSmart suggests you take a simple test for heavy metal toxicity. Women of child bearing age, that are pregnant or nursing, and young kids are especially affected and urged to avoid foods and industrial billows of mercury. The neurotoxin blunts the development of a newborn's nervous system, leads to serious illness and, in extreme cases, death. Mercury poisoning crosses the maternal placenta into the tissue of a developing fetus. The CDC believes the national epidemic of regressive autism and other neurological disorders in children may be a result of neurological injury caused by mercury, found as a preservative in children's vaccines.
5. What Should You Do?
Raise your level of mercury awareness. Avoid all products or medication that contain it. Eat a variety of delicious seafood. To avoid toxicity, be prudent and try not to eat fish 5 times a week. Think small. Quicksilver tends to accumulate in older fish over a period of time. Shrimp, sardines and fish that have short lives are a safer bet. Alaskan King Salmon is the next best bet for some lean, clean fish protein brimming with omega-3 essential fatty acids. Young albacore tuna is much lower in mercury than standard light or albacore tuna.
Mercury can't be metabolized by our body. Chelating has been used with tangible results, even though there is some skepticism about efficacy within the medical community. The herb cilantro is on the horizon as a fascinating metal magnet.
Ridding the mercury in your system can take 10 days to a year. You can do it! A disease-free life tastes better than heavy metal.
