Ok, this post may be a little bit of education for you.  I am discussing the consumption of large fish. So have you ever tried eating tuna (ahi or bigeye), shark, marlin, orange roughy, mackerel, swordfish or any of those other large fish?  Most of us have. When I tasted grilled shark and tuna I loved it.

The larger fish are higher on the food chain. This means that smaller fish are eaten by bigger fish. The cycle continues until you get to the biggest fish, the top guy on the food chain. Environmental toxins and pollutants in our environment concentrate in the food chain and the  largest fish have the most toxins because they are the recipients of the toxins that all of the other smaller fish has picked up.  Hence eating a large fish is now unhealthy and considered toxic to your body.

So what are these toxins?   The main culprit is methylmercury which is a highly toxic fat soluble heavy metal mercury.  This toxic mercury compound is in the atmosphere from coal-burning power plants and settles in the oceans of the world.  The toxic metals are then ingested and concentrate up the food chain to our dinner plate.   Sound appetizing?  Yes, a little pesto sauce will make it taste great but you are still poisoning your body.

The methylmercury is a known neurotoxin that affects the bodies central nervous system.  It is now suspected that these heavy metals are the culprit to many other illnesses such as MS and EBV.  Recently the United States (US)  placed more restrictive environmental standards on fugitive emissions from coal-burning power plants, the main source of atmospheric methylmercury, causing the price of electricity to rise.You may have noticed the cost of your electric bill skyrocket even tho you are using less electricity.  Well, this is is why.

Unfortunately,  the US is not the only place in the world that used coal for electricity.  It is well known that China is producing massive amounts of fugitive emissions from coal burning and environmental restrictions are next to none.  Little do you know that every time you purchase something that is made-in-China you are promoting and contributing to world atmospheric pollution of toxic heavy metals and indirectly poisoning yourself, your children and the oceans with your purchase.

So what can we to minimize our exposure and help the envrionment?  Besides eating smaller fish, meaning ones with less bioaccumulation, we can change our habits.  For one, we can be a conscious shopper and choose not to buy products that are made in countries that have little to none environmental standards.  When you make a purchase, make a conscious eco-friendly purchase and purchase one that was made in a country that has substantial environmental regulations.

Purchase items that were made in your country or a country that is not across the globe.  Everyone has heard the term  “buy locally”.  This has meaning.  Purchasing items that were manufactured locally have less of a pollutant footprint. I’m not talking about a carbon footprint for all or you uninformed environmental nutjobs who think the world is going to catch on fire with manmade global warming.

Take control of you energy consumption.  Turn down you air conditioner and furnace temperatures.  Update your home furnace with a high-efficiency furnace to reduce mercury emissions and you electric bill.  Recharge your air conditioner so it can work efficiently.

There are probably a million of other things  that I can recommend, and most likely I will later, but I want to encourage you to use your neurotoxin, methylmercury soaked brain to think of other tings you can do to make a difference.