A Hollywood star’s hand-roll habit has health nuts in a panic -
Entourage star Jeremy Piven recently ditched his role in a Broadway play in the middle of the season. His doctor stepped in with a sick note, stating that Piven had “shocking levels” of mercury in his body from eating tuna sushi rolls twice a day and taking Chinese herbal supplements.
Mercury rising?
While this is unwelcome news for the LA celeb set noshing at Nobu, it’s also alarming for regular Aussie girls who rely on sushi for a fast, cheap and healthy meal. Before you panic, know that mercury poisoning is extremely rare, especially if your fish is sourced from oceans in Australia, which are some of the cleanest in the world.
“You can feel completely confident eating two serves of fish a week. Incidents of mercury poisoning are so unusual - it’s not something you need to worry about,” says Cosmo GP Gillian Deakin. Mercury is used in many products (like batteries and thermometers), and when those products go into landfill it leaks into soil and waterways, where it is absorbed by animals (including us). “We all have a moderate amount of mercury in our systems, but we can get by. It’s like we all have a moderate amount of sun damage, but we don’t all have skin cancer,” says Deakin.
A fishy tale…
So if it’s nothing to worry about, why can’t pregnant women eat sushi?
Studies show that pregnant women should eat two serves of the smaller species of fish per week to help their baby’s brain development. However, they should avoid big fish, like the tuna and salmon used in sushi. The is because big fish eat little fish, and mercury accumulates in them, which a foetus is sensitive to,” Deakin explains.
So is it feasible for a grown man like Piven to get mercury poisoning from sushi?
“Not really,” says Deakin. “He’d need to be eating around 180 pieces of sushi every week for it to be an issue. Also, his doctor prescribed relaxation, but treatment for heavy metal toxicity is chelation therapy injections.”
Hmmm, something smells fishy…
Why we love sushi
One 60g tuna roll has:
• 230 kilojoules (a Tim Tam has 406!)
• 3.5g of protein (you need 70g daily)
• 1.5g of polyunsaturated (good) fat
• 0g of saturated (bad) fat
• 0g of cholesterol
Fish by numbers
• 2 serves per week = our recommended intake of fish
• 120 grams = one serve of fish
• 25 = percentage of Australians who eat fish once a week
• 0.2 = percentage of Australians who eat fish every day
- Share:
-
Share on Facebook
-
More