Mercury in Fish: Symptoms & Testing – How Do You Eat?

Madrid

The endocrinologist Esteban Jódar has visited How you eat to talk to Ángela Quintas about taking supplements in a controlled and responsible way, vitamins, medications and also about the relationship between eating fish and the level of mercury that a person has in their body.

Speaking about omega 3, Jódar points out that there are many observational studies currently being carried out, but comments that the only “serious” study that has obtained positive results demonstrated “a slight reduction in cardiovascular risk in people in secondary prevention.”

However, the expert warns that, from these positive results “to recommending supplements in general, there is an important leap.”

You can distinguish a Japanese from a Spaniard by the amount of mercury they have

“If you like to take omegas, take a little olive oil and some oily fish,” recommends Jódar. Quitas, for his part, points out that it is better for this oily fish to be small to avoid contaminants. “We have always talked about the possibility of heavy metals accumulating in the food chain,” continues the expert.

The endocrinologist also comments on a curious fact – surely unknown to many – and that is that “you can know a Japanese or a Spaniard simply by determining the mercury they have in their hair and nails”, as a result of the volume of fish they eat.

“There is a position, I seem to remember from some American scientific society, that it is preferable that you eat fish, even if it is large, even if it may have heavy metals, because it has a benefit, especially if the alternative is to have a hamburger,” explains Jódar.