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Thread: a question for the health gurus

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    Veteran Member alexisgold97's Avatar
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    Default a question for the health gurus

    I've been wondering how safe it is to eat fish these days. With all the pollution of our water/oceans, how is this affecting the quality and safety of fish. The reason I ask is because I've been changing my diet and started to incorporate albacore tuna several times a week for protein. I also love sushi and I'm wondering how safe this is now also. I eat mainly ocean fish. No shell fish. What do you guys think?
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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    There was a thread about wild vs farmed fish awhile ago that touched on the topic of heavy metals... try a search for 'farmed fish' or 'farmed salmon'.

    Try skipjack instead of albacore tuna. It's cheaper, and I'm pretty sure it has less heavy metals (google it though, I'm going on memory)




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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    Facts about farmed salmon:

    Most salmon sold today is not wild. It is farmed.
    Farmed salmon are grown in floating netcages and
    impact wild salmon and other marine species
    by spreading disease and parasites.

    Here are the health reasons to avoid farmed salmon:

    1- Farmed salmon are given antibiotics that are also
    used to treat human illness. This contributes to the
    dangerous increase of antibiotic-resistant disease worldwide.

    2- Farmed salmon receive more antibiotics by weight
    than any other livestock.

    3- Farmed salmon contain higher levels of unhealthy
    saturated fats and lower levels of beneficial omega-3
    fatty acids. A U.S. Agriculture Department study found
    farmed Atlantic salmon contain 70 percent more fat
    than wild Atlantic salmon because of the high fat
    content in their feed.

    4- Farmed Atlantic salmon contain 200 percent more
    fat than wild Pacific pink or chum salmon. W
    orld Health Organization (WHO)(1999).

    5- Farmed salmon are also administered chemical
    dyes to colour their flesh an appealing salmon
    pink; otherwise the flesh would be grey.

    Some types of wild Pacific salmon are not farmed.
    Those are: Sockeye, Chum, Pink.


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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    By Dr. Joseph Mercola
    with Rachael Droege

    As most readers of this newsletter know, I have been advising against eating fish, whether from the ocean, lakes and streams, or farm-raised, for some time because of their dangerously high levels of mercury, PCBs and other toxins.

    Sadly, as fish would otherwise be one of the healthiest meats on the planet, fish (and shellfish) easily accumulate high levels of chemical residues from the water they live in (fortunately, there are still some healthy options, which I’ll discuss below). Residues in fish can be as much as 9 million times the amount found in the water!

    So before you open your next can of tuna or sit down to a plate of salmon, consider that contaminants found in fish flesh include:

    Mercury
    PCBs
    Radioactive substances like strontium
    Toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic
    Factory-Farmed Fish

    If you eat fish in a restaurant, it most likely came from a fish farm. Almost half of the salmon, 40 percent of the mollusks, and 65 percent of the freshwater fish consumed today are raised on fish farms. Not surprisingly, fish farming, a multimillion-dollar industry, has become one of the fastest-growing sections of the food production market.

    What many people don’t know is that farmed fish face many of the same health issues as factory-farmed animals. In order to be profitable, fish farms must raise large quantities of fish in confined areas, and the overcrowding leads to disease and injuries to the fish. The fish are given antibiotics and chemicals for the parasites like sea lice, skin and gill infections and other diseases that commonly affect them.

    The fish are also given drugs and hormones, and sometimes are genetically modified, to accelerate growth and change reproductive behaviors. Farmed salmon are also given chemicals, canthaxanthin and astaxanthin, to turn their flesh pink in order to make them more marketable. Wild salmon eat a diet of shrimp and krill, which contain natural chemicals that make the salmon pink. Farm-raised salmon do not eat a natural diet, so their flesh would be gray if they were not given the additives.

    Ocean Fish

    Even fish that are ocean-caught are fraught with problems. Tragically, our oceans are largely contaminated with industrial pollutants. Ocean fish pick up these toxic chemical residues, which bioconcentrate in their flesh.

    The larger the fish, the more problematic because big fish eat smaller fish, thereby getting an even greater dose of accumulated toxins.

    Almost all fish are contaminated with mercury. Mercury is especially dangerous to children and can cause birth defects during pregnancy. In adults, mercury damages or destroys nerve tissue and affects the visual cortex and the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls complex movements and balance. Exposure to mercury may also result in:

    Attention and language deficits
    Impaired memory
    Inability to process and recall information
    Decreased concentration
    Impaired visual and motor function
    Pesticides in fish, such as DDT, PCBs, and dioxin, are also dangerous. They have been linked to cancers, nervous system disorders, fetal damage and many other health problems.

    How Do I Find Healthy Fish?

    Unless you can verify that the fish has been lab-tested and found to be free on contaminants, don’t eat it! When you visit your supermarket, ask the fish handlers where the fish comes from. They may contact the manufacturer for you, otherwise contact them on your own and ask if their fish has been tested for mercury and PCBs.

    Early last year we did extensive testing on fish from a company that takes salmon from the interior of Alaska and were surprised and delighted to find that the mercury levels were virtually undetectable. The company has also conducted numerous tests on the salmon and has never once detected PCBs.

    The salmon are sustainably harvested by a native Alaskan tribe to ensure the success of the species. After hatching, the Alaskan salmon swim upstream to pure, fresh water lakes where they feed and grow for one to three years before swimming out to the Bering Sea. The salmon are sustainably harvested during their migration.

    If you enjoy the delicious taste and immense health benefits of some of the world's finest salmon--Alaskan wild red--but you are concerned about the mercury and other toxins now found in dangerous amounts in almost all fish, then please consider trying the Alaskan wild red salmon from Vital Choice that tested safe and is now available in our Web site store. The salmon contain very high levels of omega-3 with DHA and EPA.

    Another option for obtaining the nutritional benefits of omega-3 is regularly consuming high-quality fish oil. I have researched and tried many brands of fish oil, and I recommend Carlson’s brand above all others as it offers fish oil and cod liver oil with superior purity and freshness. It is purified to the highest standards to be free from mercury and other toxins and is made without chemical modification and processing. If you are unable to find it in your local health food store, you can purchase Carlson’s brand fish oil and cod liver oil on this site.


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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    Ryan by any chance do you know anything about red tide and the effects on fish? Just asking

    I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them.

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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    What is red tide?
    Red tide is a naturally-occurring, higher-than-normal concentration of the microscopic algae Karenia brevis (formerly Gymnodinium breve).
    This organism produces a toxin that affects the central nervous system of fish so that they're paralyzed and can't breathe. As a result, red tide blooms often result in dead fish washing up on Gulf beaches. When red tide algae reproduce in dense concentrations or "blooms," they are visible as discolored patches of ocean water, often reddish in color.


    How, when and where do red tide blooms start?
    Texas red tides have occurred from August through February. They typically begin in the Gulf of Mexico. Currents and winds then transport blooms toward shore. The blooms mainly come up along Gulf beaches, and less frequently into bays and estuaries.

    Where is the red tide on the Texas coast right now?
    It's almost impossible to say exactly where the red tide is at any given moment, because blooms constantly expand and contract and move around in response to winds and tides. It's important to realize that red tides are typically isolated patches that don't blanket every stretch of beach. They often concentrate around wind- or tide-protected areas like man-made jetties.

    How can I get the latest information on the current red tide?
    Texas Parks and Wildlife has set up a menu item on its main toll-free information line to provide regularly updated reports on the current red tide event. Phone 800-792-1112, press 4 for fishing, then 9 for red tide information. Red tide updates will also appear on this website each time that an update is provided by biologists.


    Should I consider postponing a trip to the coast right now?
    Dave Buzan, head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Kills and Spills Team, had this to say on the subject... "If it were my family heading to the coast, I would not cancel a vacation because of red tide. It's an isolated, patchy phenomenon that does not blanket every stretch of beach. On any given day, there are generally miles of good beach and clean water for beach-goers and anglers to enjoy. However, we encourage all travelers to heed the advice of the Texas Department of Health, get the current facts and draw their own conclusions, since different people have different comfort levels with these kinds of situations."

    Is it safe to eat fish that I catch in or near the red tide?
    It's usually okay to eat fish, crabs and shrimp during a red tide bloom because the toxin is not absorbed into the fleshy tissues of these animals. This advice from the Texas Department of Health is based on the assumption that only the "edible" portions are being consumed (the fillet or muscle). Keep in mind that you should never eat fish found sick or dead, whether or not they are caught during a red tide.

    Why doesn't the state post signs on the beach warning the public about red tide?
    The eye and throat irritation caused by red tide results from high concentrations of the algae and rough surf. These conditions cause the red tide's irritant to become suspended in the air in the salt spray. There is typically little or no irritation when surf conditions are relatively calm. In most red tides in Texas, these conditions vary a lot within the space of days or even hours. As a result, the same part of the beach may have irritating conditions in the morning and those conditions may be gone by afternoon. On a calm day, even with red tide in the surf zone, many people can enjoy the beach because there is not a lot of salt spray from the surf carrying irritant to the beach. The best advice for beach visitors is if they feel effects in an area, leave that area and try another one. Some local authorities will post signs on beaches that they manage. Be aware of all beach warnings when visiting the beach."

    Is it safe to eat oysters during a red tide?
    Oysters and other shellfish such as clams, mussels, whelks and scallops can accumulate red tide toxins in their tissues. People that eat oysters or other shellfish containing red tide toxins may become seriously ill with neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP). Once a red tide appears to be over, toxins can remain in the oysters for weeks to months. For this reason, the Texas Department of Health (TDH) closely monitors oyster growing areas for the presence of red tide and red tide toxins. TDH has the authority to close shellfish harvesting areas during and after a red tide. Oysters you buy from a restaurant or certified shellfish dealer should not have red tide toxins in them because of the TDH’s monitoring program. There are, however, other risks associated with bacteria and other contaminants in raw oysters. For more information about consuming oysters, consult a physician or health authorities such as TDH at http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/bfds/ssd/.

    What causes red tide?
    Red tide is a natural phenomenon not caused by human beings. When temperature, salinity, and nutrients reach certain levels, a massive increase in Karenia brevis algae occurs. No one knows the exact combination of factors that causes red tide, but some experts believe high temperatures combined with a lack of wind and rainfall are usually at the root of red tide blooms. There are no known ways that humans can control it, but many scientists around the world are studying red tide at present. It's important to remember that red tide has happened before and the Texas marine environment has always recovered

    I found that on Google... There's a lot more info if you are curious.

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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    Quote Originally Posted by RYAN link=board=5;threadid=12209;start=msg157313#msg157 313 date=1092676444
    5- Farmed salmon are also administered chemical
    dyes to colour their flesh an appealing salmon
    pink; otherwise the flesh would be grey.
    At my Safeway there is a sign by the salmon that says they fish is colored. It makes it impossible to tell the freshness and quality of the fish. Needless to say I don't buy from here, I always go to a fishmonger for seafood.



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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    Thank you for the info. It's a really sad thing when we've polluted our water to such a point that ocean fish isn't safe. the Alaskan salmon would have been a good option if i wasn't allergic. I guess this means sushi is out of the question, which really sucks; my body always felt lighter and cleaner after eating it.
    Wellspring of energy
    Rises in the body's core
    Tap it and be sustained.
    Channel, and it will speak.

    from 365 Tao



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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    Quote Originally Posted by alexisgold97 link=board=5;threadid=12209;start=msg157487#msg157 487 date=1092697421
    Thank you for the info. It's a really sad thing when we've polluted our water to such a point that ocean fish isn't safe. the Alaskan salmon would have been a good option if i wasn't allergic. I guess this means sushi is out of the question, which really sucks; my body always felt lighter and cleaner after eating it.
    Yeah, we fucked up BAD

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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    By law, farmed salmon must be labled as such. When you see the sign saying that color has been added, that means it is farmed fish. They feed the fish pellets (dog food) and they do not get the red flesh that ocean fish get from eating krill. eating open ocean fish such as tuna, salmon, halibut, Mahi etc is much more healthy than bottom fish like catfish. Sure, the ocean is polluted too, but still cleaner that anti-biotii/steroid filled beef and chicken. I spend the extra $$ and buy at Whole foods free-range meat and wild caught fish.

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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    Quote Originally Posted by scorpio link=board=5;threadid=12209;start=msg157899#msg157 899 date=1092762293
    By law, farmed salmon must be labled as such. When you see the sign saying that color has been added, that means it is farmed fish. They feed the fish pellets (dog food) and they do not get the red flesh that ocean fish get from eating krill. eating open ocean fish such as tuna, salmon, halibut, Mahi etc is much more healthy than bottom fish like catfish. Sure, the ocean is polluted too, but still cleaner that anti-biotii/steroid filled beef and chicken. I spend the extra $$ and buy at Whole foods free-range meat and wild caught fish.


    Yeah, me too. Whole Foods is the shit.

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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    LUV WF. Btw, I bought a food mag there called Eating Well (eatingwell.com) it has a seafood guide in it (Spring issue '04) with safe (mercury-wise) fish. I can post it if you like.


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    Default Re:a question for the health gurus

    If you could post your info whilerz that would be great!
    Organic style has a article in the latest issue about fish also....
    The main things I got from it where: wild Alaskan Salmon and Trout (all types) are 'good' Tuna (NOT bluefin), pacific cod and sole are ok once a week.

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