A heavily seafood-based diet. Health concerns?

[Kent Wang]

Since the summer, I think I've been eating at least as much seafood as landfood. As far as meat, the ratio is like 4:1 in favor of fish. This is mostly sashimi-grade farmed Atlantic salmon, fresh oysters and Gulf of Mexico shrimp.

For vegetables, I eat mostly seaweed salad (kombu kelp, wakame, agar agar, some others) though I still eat a good amount of land veggies like asparagus.

Are there any health concerns with an all seafood diet? I do try to avoid the high mercury content fish like shark, swordfish and tuna but I love swordfish and tuna and will have them a few times a month.

[winegeek]

It would seem to me that your diet is very high in cholesterol. It is high in both oysters and shrimp. I know, they're really yummy

[chef koo]

you'll live til your 40 but damn... what a 40 years

[Kevin72]

I'd be more worried about my wallet than my health if I started eating that much seafood!

[Kent Wang]

you'll live til your 40 but damn... what a 40 years

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Well I'm 20 now, so can I get away with things like high cholestrol foods for a decade or two?

[memesuze]

I don't have any citations in front of me, but I'd be concerned about all that farmed salmon - what I remember reading from reputable sources raised the hair on my head

[Patrick S]

Since the summer, I think I've been eating at least as much seafood as landfood. As far as meat, the ratio is like 4:1 in favor of fish. This is mostly sashimi-grade farmed Atlantic salmon, fresh oysters and Gulf of Mexico shrimp

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Generally speaking, farmed salmon are slightly higher in heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids per serving, and lower in mercury, than their wild counterparts. On the other hand, farmed salmon are a bit higher in POPs (persistent organic pollutants) than wild salmon. The most widely discussed POPs are the PCBs, and some people have claimed that farmed fish, by virtue of containing more PCBs, will increase your risk of cancer. Most experts, on the other hand, disagree with this claim, noting that 1) PCBs are not even known to be human carcinogens (studies of people occupationally exposed to high PCB levels has failed to reveal higher cancer risk), and 2) that in any event the levels of PCBs in both farmed and wild salmon are far below those considered to pose a health risk.

[jgm]

Well I'm 20 now, so can I get away with things like high cholestrol foods for a decade or two?

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If you're going to abuse your body, better do it when you're young. When you're older, it's just not any fun. Either your doctor lectures you about it, your stomach won't tolerate it, or some other stupid thing like that. Do it now before it gets downright scary.

[Kent Wang]

Generally speaking, farmed salmon are slightly higher in heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids per serving, and lower in mercury, than their wild counterparts. On the other hand, farmed salmon are a bit higher in POPs (persistent organic pollutants) than wild salmon. The most widely discussed POPs are the PCBs, and some people have claimed that farmed fish, by virtue of containing more PCBs, will increase your risk of cancer. Most experts, on the other hand, disagree with this claim, noting that 1) PCBs are not even known to be human carcinogens (studies of people occupationally exposed to high PCB levels has failed to reveal higher cancer risk), and 2) that in any event the levels of PCBs in both farmed and wild salmon are far below those considered to pose a health risk.

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This is what I've read as well. Also, you have to compare a seafood diet to an equivalent diet of land animals. I'm sure beef, pork and chicken all have their fair share of speculative carcinogens, etc.

[jsolomon]

Unless you're pregnant, I wouldn't worry about the mercury, either. The main points of mercury warnings can be filed under the heading "scare-mongering".

[bavila]

Unless you're pregnant, I wouldn't worry about the mercury, either.  The main points of mercury warnings can be filed under the heading "scare-mongering".

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Oh no, you should still be concerned about mercury. A non-pregnant friend of mine got mercury poisoning, apparently from eating tuna steak (I think she ate it a few times a week). She had to go through a rather unpleasant series of chelating treatments to get it out of her system.

[Jason Perlow]

Since the summer, I think I've been eating at least as much seafood as landfood. As far as meat, the ratio is like 4:1 in favor of fish. This is mostly sashimi-grade farmed Atlantic salmon, fresh oysters and Gulf of Mexico shrimp.

For vegetables, I eat mostly seaweed salad (kombu kelp, wakame, agar agar, some others) though I still eat a good amount of land veggies like asparagus.

Are there any health concerns with an all seafood diet? I do try to avoid the high mercury content fish like shark, swordfish and tuna but I love swordfish and tuna and will have them a few times a month.

←

The Japanese don't seem to be having too much of a problem with that.

[jsolomon]

Unless you're pregnant, I wouldn't worry about the mercury, either.  The main points of mercury warnings can be filed under the heading "scare-mongering".

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Oh no, you should still be concerned about mercury. A non-pregnant friend of mine got mercury poisoning, apparently from eating tuna steak (I think she ate it a few times a week). She had to go through a rather unpleasant series of chelating treatments to get it out of her system.

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After being in both emergency medicine and research at the University level for the past ten years, I can assure you that most mercury poisonings both in the workplace and at home are very, VERY unlikely to have come through the food chain. I am very sorry to hear about your friend, because chelation therapy truly is a toxic therapy (but necessary sometimes).

But, every instance of heavy metal poisoning I have seen, or read about epidemiologically have come from other areas in the environment.