Is Tuna good for us or not?

[Athena]

Had a Subway foot long wheat roll today with Tuna (mixed with mayonnaise), 2 slices of Swiss cheese and fresh salad fillings, no salt or pepper. So how badly did I go today with this?

 I happen to love tuna but have refrained from eating it for years now because it comes canned. Apparently tuna is relatively kidney-friendly from my on-the-spot googling I did today.

[kickingandscreaming]

Tuna should probably be eaten in moderation due to its high mercury content.  But it has high protein, relatively low phosphorus and can be low sodium, so it qualifies as kidney friendly.  One food (except starfruit) is not going to kill you.  Nor will it save you from ESRD.

I had a piece of fresh tuna for dinner last night, and I love tuna salad.  Everything in moderation.

[Athena]

I too have always worried about the mercury contamination of seafood in general, not to mention all the other chemical pollutants found in the sea. That is why I generally don't eat fish & seafood now. This was a treat though.

[Charlie B53]

I don't worry so much about the mercury in fish from the oceans.  I think that is more of a problem of fish from many of our river fish polluted from industry and farming.

Raised in the Pacific Northwest we were Blessed with far cleaner rivers than those running through to more industrialized cities of the East and Mid-West.

I do have to severely limit my diet of all shellfish, which I LOVE.  Shellfish are very high in purines which trigger gout.  Trust me, gout is NO fun, for many days.

What bothers me about seafood is their nets do not discriminate what they catch.  Often taking dolphin.

[smartcookie]

Fish is generally safe to eat once a week to avoid excess mercury levels.  I love seafood of all kinds, but am limited due to food allergies to shellfish.  Anaphylaxis is no fun!

[cassandra]

Had a Subway foot long wheat roll today with Tuna (mixed with mayonnaise), 2 slices of Swiss cheese and fresh salad fillings, no salt or pepper. So how badly did I go today with this?

 I happen to love tuna but have refrained from eating it for years now because it comes canned. Apparently tuna is relatively kidney-friendly from my on-the-spot googling I did today.

Yummy, thát's what I'm going to make me for lunch!

It's not that bad, just have binders with it (especially with the cheese) and enjoy it while you are eating (apparently your body absorbs more nutrients, gives a fuller feeling (especially on a wholegrain roll), you'll produce more endorphins, and less cortisol. Mind over matter and s...t 

[Charlie B53]

We always have canned tuna on hand.  She stocks up when it goes on sale.

We love it as a tuna noodle casserole.  But it never makes it into the oven.  We end up eating it soon as it is mixed with the cooked noodles.

Why wait to bake it further?

Usually use a can of cream of mushroom and another can of cream of celery but may use broccoli cheese or what ever else is on hand.  Sometimes add in a can of peas for a little added color and texture.

Simple fill your belly comfort food.

Oh, and BUTTER!   Butter always gives an added flavor.

[Old Fool]

A five-ounce can of tuna with about 28 g of protein and only 40 mg of sodium can be found at Whole Foods.  The protein has what they call "high biological value."  Add rice, vegetables and liberal quantities of olive oil, and it can satisfy a lot of cravings.  Amazon has 7-ounce cans of low-sodium salmon, which serves the same purpose.  Just rinse before you serve.

[Charlie B53]

As many ofo us have grown up eating canned Tuna, I still have to wonder when I see the Tuna Steaks in the seafood cases.  How do you fix it?  Can you describe it? The taste, etc.?

[justagirl2325]

Mmm.  Tuna steaks, they are awesome.  Really different texture from anything else.  You only sear the outside and leave the middle cold.  But the only way I like them is seared in soya sauce.  My husband hates them fortunately.  As the care partner (not dialysis patient) I'm not super salt conscious these days in something like this as 99% of my other meals are low salt as I cook low salt every day for both of us.

[kickingandscreaming]

I fast sear them and then serve with a mix of mayo, soy sauce, dark sesame oil, garlic and ginger.  Not much soy sauce in the whole.  Yum!

[Charlie B53]

'Cold' in the middle?   Isn't this considered a meat and a minimum core temp required?

I've never done the 'sushi' thing.  Unless you consider cracking apart live shrimp just pulled from 400 feet of ocean, shelling them out and straight to the neck.

Oh, and shucking out oysters standing in a very low tide, add a small splash of lemon or lime juice, and straight down the throat.

Kinda hard to find any of this here in the middle of Missouri.   I REALLY do miss living around Puget Sound!

[Paul]

When I asked my dietitian what I could eat that is healthy, her first suggestion was tuna.

'Cold' in the middle?........I've never done the 'sushi' thing.

I think you mean sashimi. Sushi means "served with pickled rice (or rice in vinegar)". Japanese raw fish meals are sashimi. Oh, and you are missing out if you have "never done the 'sushi' thing", it is delicious. Bloody expensive, but delicious.

[Paul]

Woooh. Having re-read my last post, I think the answer to "what can I eat that is healthy?" is probably "sushi".

[Charlie B53]

Sorry, but I've always had an aversion to eating raw fish if any kind.

I've seen 'worms' in the lining of the skin/abdomin of any number of fish so I have to wonder if there isn't more hidden in the flesh.  Minimum core temps when cooking kill off parasites.

Recent news article about so many Veterans of Viet Nam are only now being diagnosed with parasites that they picked up eating local foods under-cooked.  50 years later?  Holy Qwap!

Raw shrimp and oysters immediately out of the COLD water of the NorthWest is one thing.  Fish?  I don't think so.  And under-cooked warm water fish, Not hardly.

[Paul]

Sorry, but I've always had an aversion to eating raw fish if any kind.

Yeah, but as I said sushi is not raw fish. Some of it is not even fish, my nephew's favourite is a sort of oblong of egg on a cube of rice. My sister is a vegetarian (won't eat meat or fish) and she often eats a large sushi meal. And when sushi is fish, it is cooked fish.

As to your parasite friends: The trick is to freeze the fish first. That does a better job of killing the parasites than cooking the fish. (Same rule with beef, if you eat rare steak, make sure the steak was frozen in its past).

[Charlie B53]

Freezing makes sense.

Dad owned the Refrigeration Company.  I grew up working around industrial freezers often set to maintain minus 20.

I'm half disappointed my home freezer only holds minus 8.  I'd like to build my own walk-in refer and freezer just off the kitchen so I can have not only SPACE, but total control over temps.

And Yes, I like my steak seared on the outside but hot and red inside.  Juicy!