• Home
  • About
    • About PATH Medical
    • About Dr. Braverman
    • PATH Medical Specialists
    • Testimonials
    • Case Studies
  • Services
    • Executive Health Program
    • Tests and Services
    • Weight Loss
    • Brain Health
    • Stem Cell Therapies
    • Hormone Therapy
    • Women's Health
    • Men's Health
    • Children's Health
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
    • Low Level Laser Therapy
  • Media
    • Radio
    • Video
    • Publications
    • Quotes
    • Press
    • Blog
    • Gallery
  • Resources
    • PATH Supplements & Products
    • PATH Foundation
    • AgePrint Quiz
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Publications for Achieving Total Health
  • Visit Us
PATH Medical | Dr Eric Braverman
  • Home
  • About
    • About PATH Medical
    • About Dr. Braverman
    • PATH Medical Specialists
    • Testimonials
    • Case Studies
  • Services
    • Executive Health Program
    • Tests and Services
    • Weight Loss
    • Brain Health
    • Stem Cell Therapies
    • Hormone Therapy
    • Women's Health
    • Men's Health
    • Children's Health
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
    • Low Level Laser Therapy
  • Media
    • Radio
    • Video
    • Publications
    • Quotes
    • Press
    • Blog
    • Gallery
  • Resources
    • PATH Supplements & Products
    • PATH Foundation
    • AgePrint Quiz
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Publications for Achieving Total Health
  • Visit Us

Mercury Levels on the Rise: A Fishy Issue

11/17/2015

0 Comments

 
A new study from the US Geological Survey reveals that scientists found mercury in every fish sampled in 300 streams across the United States. Over a quarter of these fish contained mercury levels exceeding the criterion established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the protection of people who eat an average amount of fish.
Why is mercury a problem?
Mercury is extremely toxic and only a few mg is needed to kill a grown human being. FDA’s methylmercury safeguards are designed to protect an average-sized woman eating an average fish contaminated with an average amount of methylmercury that decays in her body at an average rate. These assumptions rarely apply to the risks faced by any individual; risks are unevenly distributed throughout the population. Especially women expecting to become pregnant should avoid consuming fish altogether, unless the fish have been tested free of methylmercury.
Women, who eat even just a single serving of highly contaminated fish during pregnancy, expose their developing child to excessive levels of mercury. The toxic metal can cross the placenta to harm the rapidly developing nervous system, including the brain.
In adults, mercury poisoning has been linked to:
• Fertility problems
• Memory and vision loss
• Trouble with blood pressure regulation
• Extreme fatigue
• Neuro-muscular dysfunction.
If infants are exposed to mercury – even at low levels – it can lead to:
• Mental retardation
• Cerebral palsy
• Deafness
• Blindness
• Shortened attention span and learning disabilities
Mercury is especially damaging to your central nervous system (CNS), and studies show that mercury in the CNS causes psychological, neurological, and immunological problems. In addition, mercury bonds very firmly to structures in your CNS. So unless actively removed, mercury has an extremely long half-life of somewhere between 15 and 30 years in the CNS.
What is the primary route of exposure to mercury?
Coal-fired power plants account for 41 percent of all mercury emissions (some 90,000 pounds of mercury) and 80 percent in some regions including the Great Lakes and Northeast. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences have determined that eating mercury-contaminated fish is the primary route of exposure to mercury for most people.
Bacteria and chemical reactions in lakes and wetlands change the mercury into a much more toxic form known as methylmercury. Fish become contaminated with methylmercury by eating plankton and smaller fish, which has absorbed methylmercury. Almost all fish are mercury contaminated, although small fish like sardines and anchovies are generally a safe option. The National Resources Defense Council points out that predatory fish such as large tuna, swordfish, shark and mackerel can have mercury concentrations in their bodies that are 10,000 times higher than those of their surrounding environment.
Mercury and other toxins are accumulated up through the food chain, which is why you should avoid eating these fish; especially if you are expecting to become pregnant or nursing:
• Tuna steaks
• Canned tuna
• Sea bass
• Oysters (Gulf of Mexico)
• Marlin
• Halibut
• Pike
• Walleye
• White croaker
• Largemouth bass
• Shark
• Swordfish
What makes Vital Choice different?
The nutritional benefits of fish complicate the task faced by health officials when protecting the public from methylmercury. Protein, omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D, and other nutrients make fish an exceptionally good food for pregnant mothers and their developing babies.
The Alaskan wild red salmon from Vital Choice has been tested free from Mercury and other toxins found in dangerous amounts in almost all other fish such as:
• PCBs
• Radioactive materials like strontium
• Toxic metals like lead, chromium, arsenic and cadmium
Vital choice sustainably harvests their salmon from the interior of Alaska. Besides that wild salmon has a more intense flavor, it is one of the best ways to increase your intake of Omega-3s. Relying on flax oil and other vegetable sources for Omega-3s is not sufficient as countless studies have shown that humans are virtually incapable of transforming alpha-linolenic acid into EPA and DHA fatty acids. Case in point: a majority of those patients we see coming to PATH, adhering to a vegan lifestyle, usually suffer from severe hormone imbalances, mild depression, dry skin and hair as well as osteopenia – all issues that partly can be related to insufficient EPA and DHA intake.
When ordering your fish online at www.vitalchoice.com, use offer code 7777777 to receive a 10% discount.
References:
USGS: Mercury in Fish, Bed sediment, and Water from Streams Across the United States, 1998-2005. 2009
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Eric R. Braverman, M.D.

    Dr. Braverman is a Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brandeis University and NYU Medical School, did brain research at Harvard Medical School, and trained at an affiliate of Yale Medical School. He is acknowledged worldwide as an expert in brain-based diagnosis and treatment, and he lectures to and trains doctors in anti-aging medicine.

    Archives

    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    November 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    June 2009

    Categories

    All
    Anti Aging
    Brain Health
    Heart Health
    Hormone Therapy
    Immune Health
    Introduction
    Losing Weight
    Menopause
    Nutrition
    Organ Health
    Recipes
    Testimonials

    RSS Feed

    Schedule Appointment

Location

PATH Medical
200 Chambers St 26C

New York, NY
Main office numbers:
(212) 213-6155
(347) 266-9361

info@pathmed.com​

What Our Patients Are Saying

"I could write 2 pages worth of what I really want to tell you, but to make a long story short I just want to thank you for changing and saving my life. The knowledge I’ve gained through you has done more for me than any doctor or medication has ever done for me. Using your principles, I have turned my life around in more ways than I ever would have thought possible. So again, thank you."
​ – Bret J​

Follow Dr. Braverman via:

Schedule Appointment

Subscribe

Join our mailing list today!
Join Now
  • Home
  • About
    • About PATH Medical
    • About Dr. Braverman
    • PATH Medical Specialists
    • Testimonials
    • Case Studies
  • Services
    • Executive Health Program
    • Tests and Services
    • Weight Loss
    • Brain Health
    • Stem Cell Therapies
    • Hormone Therapy
    • Women's Health
    • Men's Health
    • Children's Health
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
    • Low Level Laser Therapy
  • Media
    • Radio
    • Video
    • Publications
    • Quotes
    • Press
    • Blog
    • Gallery
  • Resources
    • PATH Supplements & Products
    • PATH Foundation
    • AgePrint Quiz
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • Publications for Achieving Total Health
  • Visit Us