Tuna is without doubt one of the most handy protein sources that exists, so it could actually simply grow to be your go-to lunch. However is it suitable for eating it daily?

The brief reply: Most likely. However when you’re improper, you may find yourself with mercury poisoning, which might trigger bizarre signs like tingling sensations and lack of stability, says Michael Gochfeld, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher with the Environmental and Occupational Well being Sciences Institute.

“It might seemingly be protected for a lot of males to eat tuna daily, whereas some males might expertise signs of mercury toxicity from consuming the identical quantity,” says Meals and Drug Administration spokeswoman Lauren Sucher.

This is why it is so difficult: You need to stability the advantages of consuming fish with the chance from mercury, whereas bearing in mind an individual’s weight, their sensitivity to mercury, the kind of tuna, and the way a lot threat you are keen to take, says Dr. Gochfeld.

MORE: How A lot Tuna Does It Take To Get Mercury Poisoning?

Almost all seafood comprises traces of mercury, in line with the FDA. So the query is: At what degree does mercury grow to be toxic?

That is the place it will get much more complicated. Nobody is aware of precisely the place mercury goes from being innocent to poisonous, since you’d should poison folks to seek out out, says Males’s Well being vitamin advisor Alan Aragon, M.S.

Most consultants can agree on no less than two details, although.

1. Fish is nice for you. Analysis has proven that it could decrease your threat of coronary heart illness, stroke, weight problems, cognitive decline, despair, most cancers, inflammatory problems, and bronchial asthma, says Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., dean of the Friedman College of Diet Science and Coverage at Tufts College. Limiting your fish consumption might make you miss out on all these advantages.

2.  The dangers from mercury have been overhyped. Mercury can hurt the growing nervous programs of fetuses and younger youngsters, in line with the FDA. However when the company warned pregnant ladies to restrict consumption of high-mercury fish in 2004, it set off pointless panic for everybody else, Dr. Mozaffarian says.

The reality is, these warnings by no means utilized to most people. Nonetheless, it’s doable for adults to get mercury poisoning. You simply should eat a number of high-mercury fish for that to occur.

MORE: Quick And Low cost Lunch Recipes

Our recommendation: Except you are pregnant, you have to be completely wonderful consuming a can of sunshine tuna 4 instances every week. If you wish to eat extra tuna, or several types of tuna, you possibly can calculate your weekly restrict by following the directions beneath. And when you do expertise signs of mercury poisoning, you possibly can often reverse them by consuming much less fish or consuming solely low-mercury fish, says Dr. Gochfeld.

1. Decide your tuna.

-A mean 5-ounce serving (1 can) of sunshine tuna comprises 18.11 micrograms of mercury.

-A mean 5-ounce serving (1 can) of albacore tuna comprises 49.53 micrograms of mercury.

-A mean 5-ounce serving of tuna steak or tuna sushi might include as much as 97.49 micrograms.

2. Convert your weight to kilograms by dividing your weight in kilos by 2.2.

3. Divide the quantity of mercury from Step 1 by your weight in kilograms from Step 2. The result’s your mercury dose (in micrograms) per kilogram for a 5-ounce serving.

4. Decide a mercury dose restrict from the 2 foremost federal suggestions. One could be very conservative, the opposite is much less so.

You would go along with the Environmental Safety Company dose, which is protected sufficient for essentially the most weak folks—together with pregnant ladies. That dose is .1 microgram per kilogram per day. Or go along with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, which says consuming .3 micrograms per kilogram per day of mercury poses minimal threat.

5. Multiply your chosen every day restrict by 7 to seek out your weekly restrict. (For the EPA it is .7; for the CDC it is 2.1.)

6. Divide your weekly restrict from Step 5 by your dose from Step 3 to seek out what number of 5-ounce servings you possibly can have per week. When you’re a 180-pound man consuming mild tuna, you may safely eat 9.5 five-ounce cans in line with the CDC, or 3.2 five-ounce cans in line with the EPA.

The article “Is It Secure to Eat Tuna Fish Each Day?” initially ran on MensHealth.com.