Plus a better option to look for. 👀
Canned tuna is an excellent inexpensive source of hunger-satisfying protein that's low in saturated fats, unlike fatty meat counterparts like beef. Have some canned tuna on crackers or celery sticks for lunch, and it's unlikely you'll notice hunger pangs at 3 or 4 p.m.Manaker cautions, however, that not all canned tuna options available in grocery stores are the same.
Large fish like tuna tend to have more mercury than small fish like sardines because they live longer and eat a lot of fish containing mercury so the highly toxic heavy metal in the form of methylmercury builds up in their flesh over time. Tuna is generally safe to eat but if you eat a lot of it, you could develop mercury poison, which is characterized by symptoms like numbness, loss of coordination, memory and vision problems, and in some cases, seizures.
Skipjack tuna is a smaller fish used in most canned light tuna products. Canned white tuna is albacore tuna, which contains mercury levels almost three times higher than skipjack, according to theIf you're eating large"quantities of fish that may contain larger amounts of mercury, it's best to stick to options that specify the type of tuna in the can,"
says Manaker."If I had to choose my least favorite canned tuna, it would be Great Value tuna, chunk light. For one, the variety of the tuna used inis not specified on the label. It could be a lower mercury skipjack or a high-mercury tuna variety like yellowfin. You don't know." What's more, Manaker says this can of tuna is higher in sodium than most because it's packed in vegetable broth.