It used to be that eating seafood and fish regularly was a pretty safe nutritional bet. Fish was packed with protein, healthy monounsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, all those good things (read more about benefits of fish oil).
Unfortunately, due to our continued poisoning of the environment and the Fukushima power plant meltdown, many fish are now loaded with unsafe levels of mercury and radiation.All fish, every single fish on this planet, have some level of mercury; however, some have much higher levels than others.
Take a look at our list of the top 15 most contaminated fish on the market today. Avoid eating these or eat them in very small quantities, unless you are an expectant mother, in which case, avoid these fish entirely. However, we will list the best fish to eat at the end of this article, too, so keep reading!.
7Orange Roughy
Orange roughy, which are part of the slimehead family (sounds tasty, right?) can take as long as 40 years to reach full maturity. Amazingly, these fish can live as long as 150 years! This means that, besides being easily overfished, they have many years to accumulate mercury and other toxins into their flesh. Orange roughy live in the deep waters off the Western Pacific Ocean, Eastern Atlantic ocean, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and the Eastern Pacific off Chile. Although they are actually a deep brick-red color, their flesh fades to a yellow orange after death, hence their name.
Because of their very long lifespan, orange roughly can accumulate huge amount of mercury within its flesh. Regular consumption of orange roughy can have seriously adverse effects on your health. On top of that, compared to other fish, orange roughy is not a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, so you would be wise to choose another type of fish. Make safer choices from the “safer” list at the end of this article.
