Before our beloved fish became so contaminated with mercury, tuna was THE food to eat if you wanted to get some serious protein & healthy omega fatty acids in your eating lifestyle, all for about a $1 a can. How can you argue with that? Bodybuilders, athletes, workout moms… It didn’t matter who, anyone could count on this inexpensive and healthy meat.

But it seems that we’ve been paying a price that’s actually pretty high – poisoning ourselves with Mercury. Unlike other metals such as iron and zinc that play an important role in our bodies, mercury is completely useless… Actually its down right dangerous.

Mercury causes brain and kidney damage, it has a half-life of 3 days in our bloodstream and 90 days in our body tissues such as liver, brain, muscle etc.

Man oh man was I devastated… Everything was so perfect and then this shit happens. We humans, in our endless pursuit of profit just cant get it right can we? How did all this Mercury get into the tuna fish?

Well, first you need to understand that the tuna fish is the top predator in it’s food chain, therefore it has the longest lifespan. So all that crap that the companies just dump into our waters eventually finds its way into the tuna fish, or into OTHER fish that the tuna fish eats. Now the tuna fish has a lifespan of about 20-30 years… And that’s a shit load of time to be exposed to Mercury contamination don’t you think?

That’s the basic jist of things, I’m sure we can go into greater detail, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to show you how you can make this beloved source of protein safe to eat again, or suggest some substitutes. Whichever you prefer.

First let’s tackle the substitutes:

• Cod
• Halibut
• Pollack
• Mackerel
• Sardines
• Redfish
• Herring

Now I say substitutes, but that doesn’t mean these fish are Mercury free! They are all prone to some level of mercury contamination but it just so happens that their level of poisoning is significantly less than tuna.

Moving on, now let’s see how we can make tuna a bit safer. Inside the tuna fish, mercury is primarily stored in the fatty tissues so that means we can broil it away! Here’s what I do. When I first open a can of tuna, I throw out all the juices, then I wash the tuna in a colander to reduce the sodium levels. Finally, I put the tuna on a broiler pan and toss it in the oven. Then I throw away any of the juices from the broiling process… viola!

Now I don’t have some crazy scientific instrument to measure exactly how much mercury I’ve removed but let me tell you, I can definitely tell the difference. I used to eat a lot of tuna before (2-3 cans/day)… But now I’ve cut down to one can per day while cleaning it properly and my concentration levels are better. I also did a heavy  metal detox, and if you’ve been eating tuna for a while, I highly suggest you do one.

If you really want to eat 2 cans of tuna a day, I suggest you supplement with some NAC. What’s this stuff?

“N-Acetyl-Cysteine is produced in living organisms from the amino acid cysteine. Thus, NAC is a natural sulfur-containing amino acid derivative found naturally in foods and is a powerful antioxidant. These dual properties help repair oxidative damage in the body. Being a powerful anti-oxidant and cell detoxification co-factor, NAC works to eliminate your body of free radicals and heavy metals. This improves your cellular health tremendously.” -bulknutrition.com

So how much should you take? About 1-2g/day should be sufficient. And here’s one last tip, if you really want to drive up your tuna consumption, do all of the above, but also make the change gradual. Like start with 3 cans a week, then 4, then 5, then one a day etc.

Just because you now know some tips on lowering the mercury content, still realize that you will never be able to avoid it completely. Your body will still have to remove some of the mercury from your body so give it time and let it adjust to everything.

So there you have it, I just saved your ass from mercury poisoning and you can finally enjoy this cheap source of high quality protein again! You may thank me later. Post your thoughts below.

- FJ
FlawlessFitnessBook.com

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