Don’t Worry About Mercury in Fish If….
If you’re leery of eating fish because of a mercury hazard, here’s some incredibly good news. Mercury in fish is not likely to harm you after all, say some leading experts.
The reason: Mercury’s toxic hazards are neutralized when you also eat selenium, a trace mineral that, experts say, counters the toxicity of mercury. In fact, most fish are so rich in selenium that a threat of human mercury poisoning from eating fish is very remote, according to a new analysis by Dr. Nicholas Ralston, University of North Dakota.
For example, Ralston documented that yellowfin tuna had 25 times more selenium than mercury; albacore tuna, 15 times more selenium than mercury; and even swordfish, often blacklisted for its high mercury, had 7 times more selenium than mercury, making it non-hazardous, too.
In fact, fish typically eaten by Americans, including grouper, swordfish, pollock, tuna, salmon, and flounder, all had much more selenium than mercury, making them safe, Ralston found. Most common scientific explanation: selenium attracts mercury and “binds” with it, rendering it harmless.
Dr. William Lands, formerly at the National Institutes of Health and a world-renowned expert on omega-3 fish oil, totally agrees. Mercury warnings that drive people away from eating fish are needless and wrong, and do far more harm than good, he says, by depriving us of the enormous benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, especially in preventing heart disease.
“If people got enough omega-3s in fish oil, they wouldn’t need cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, like Lipitor,” he says.
