Health experts have been encouraging us to eat more fish. At the same time, there is a growing concern about mercury levels in people who eat a lot of fish, and the ongoing mercury poisoning in some traditional communities who have relied upon the sea for their dietary needs. A new study by the University of Montreal surprised the researches with the following information.
Cooking fish (boiling or frying) reduces the mercury exposure by 40 to 60%. Up to this point, there has been debate as to weather cooking made any difference in ingested mercury levels. Researchers continued to test to see if ingesting coffee or tea might have a similar effect. Their hypothesis was that it would further reduce it 5-10% more. They were shocked to find that eating cooked fish while drinking coffee or tea reduced the risk to almost nil. Furthermore, the results of the testing showed that eating raw fish (i.e. sushi) while drinking coffee or tea reduced the risk to 50-60%. Using corn meal made almost no difference.
While researchers caution that more study needs to be done, I thought this was worthwhile passing on to you readers. Fish (and other seafood) become large parts of the diet of many of us boaters, especially those of us out cruising.
Here is a link to the article in the Montreal Gazette.
Blessed Be
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