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!.
1Shark
This means any type of meat eating shark such as Longfin Mako, Shortfin Mako, Blacktip, or common Thresher shark. Because sharks are at or near the top of the food chain, they consume other types of fish as their main source of food. This means whatever mercury and contaminates are in the fish they eat accumulate in the bodies of sharks.
It’s ironic that many people eat shark products such as soups, health drinks, pill supplements, and even shark steaks, believing that shark is a healthy meat. In fact, this terrible misconception is so prevalent that one of the world’s largest insurance companies added shark steaks, while at the famous Taste of Chicago food fest, as one of their recommendations as a “healthy” food. In fact, if you read the numerous studies available on this subject, there is absolutely no scientific evidence that eating shark, or taking supplements in any way, will provide any medicinal benefits whatsoever.
