Now that’s a good question. We all need more omega3 fatty acids in our diet, but should we eat fish. Fish is contaminated with mercury.
And how else do you get that Omega3 in your diet if eating fish is a bad idea?
Ive pointed out before that Omega 3 fats are most prevalent in fish, but that there are plant sources like flax seeds but they dont have the optimum types, or amounts, of Omega 3 fats that you need.
But surely there’s a problem with eating fish, because we all know that now fish is contaminated with mercury.
According to the EPA all fish has some mercury contamination.
And you don’t want to be getting mercury in your body do you? It’s not something that your body gets rid of, and it’s not good for children in particular.
But the EPA does not tell us to take fish out of our diet. It only has small amounts of mercury, and eaten in moderation it’s ok to eat fish, and they offer guidelines on how much.
2 serves a week is fine, but for children and pregnant women they do offer some more guidelines about the types of fish to avoid.
Pregnant women and children ought to avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish. These fish are high mercury fish.
But dont eliminate all fish from your diet just because youre worried about mercury. If you like fish you can eat it, sensibly and in relatively small quantities.
But there’s another problem before we conclude that we all ought to be eating fish for our Omega3 fatty acids. Fish is scarce and getting scarcer. Have you seen the price of fish lately? It’s really expensive.
And it’s ok to eat it in small quantities, but if you’re just eating it for those good fats there are better ways. Of course if you love eating fish then no problem. Eat it.
There is mercury in fish, but small amounts. There is a way to get your Omega3 fats into your diet with no mercury, and at a lower cost.
Use fish oil supplements. You can get Omega3 fatty acid supplements. They contain fish oil, and they are extremely clean, sourcing their oil from fish that live in the cleanest ocean in the world, the southern ocean, and then this is put through a molecular distillation process until contaminants are undetectable.
But be aware that although many fish oil supplements claim to be contamination free, there are varying standards, none binding, and not all fish oil supplements are truly contamination free.
So unless you really love fish, if youre just eating it for the Omega3 fatty acids it contain, youre better off using the best fish oil supplements on the market. Use them daily to get your good fats. Its cheaper than eating fish, and you arent getting any mercury at all.But if you love fish eat it, just be careful.
