Eating tuna as part of a healthy diet is a great choice. But eating bluefin tuna you might find to be an even better choice. You will be amazed at the health benefits this fish can add to your diet.
You won’t find bluefin tuna canned. This is a delicacy you’ll most often find in sushi dishes. It is the largest species of tuna and while it’s found in many waters, it’s also very prized because when caught at just the right stage of maturity a bluefin tuna has a very pronounced flavor. You’ll probably find this fish at a healthy price tag, but it is so worth it. And here’s why a single piece of bluefin tuna is a great and healthy choice.
Health Benefits of Bluefin Tuna
* It’s low in sodium. With only about 40 milligrams of sodium per 3 ounces of bluefin tuna, this makes for a very wise and heart healthy choice. Helping to keep that blood pressure low by consuming less sodium does wonders for your heart health.
* It contains omega-3 fatty acids. This is a necessary nutrient to help with brain function, reduce the risk of heart disease, help prevent cancer, relieve inflammation, and keep your skin healthy. It is recommended that you consume 1-4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids a day. Bluefin tuna contains about 1.4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids in just 3 ounces of the fish.
* You get key vitamins and minerals from bluefin tuna. Potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, E, and D are all present in bluefin tuna.
Cautions When It Comes to Bluefin Tuna
Everything has risks and benefits and the same is true of bluefin tuna. While it does provide all of the great things mentioned above, it also does come with some warnings. Bluefin tuna is relatively high in fat and calories. This makes it not the greatest of diet foods in terms of losing weight. It’s good for you, but it’s probably not going to promote weight loss.
In addition to that you have to take into consideration the mercury content. Mercury is especially problematic for pregnant women as it can affect the growing brain of a fetus. This does not mean a pregnant woman should not or cannot eat bluefin tuna, but she will have to limit how much she eats of it during pregnancy to not hinder the development of her child’s brain.
Because bluefin tuna is most often served as sushi, it’s rarely cooked. While not cooking something does help it maintain more of its nutrients, there are some health concerns to eating uncooked fish. The bacteria and parasites you could be picking up from a bluefin tuna that has not be cooked or is rare is not healthy for you. So it’s just something you’ll want to think about when you’re considering all of the bluefin tuna benefits.
All in all any tuna, especially in fresh form, is a great source of many vitamins and minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, but do be careful when consuming tuna given the high amounts of mercury which can be found in them.
Alice Carroll
Sunday 7th of June 2020
It's great to know that there are kind of tuna that don't have much sodium in them so they can be quite an exciting source of protein. I've been trying to look for tuna recipes so that I can have some meat alternatives for the food truck business that I'm planning to start someday. Since most of the other items on the menu are quite oily and salty, it's good to have something tuna-based in order to accommodate people with different tastes.
Scott Adams
Monday 23rd of October 2017
I had no idea that the omega-3 acids in tuna can help prevent heart disease. I have been wanting to lose weight by changing my diet. I can see how it would be smart to eat lots of tuna, because a few people in my family have heart disease.