Eating tuna leads to blindness in cats.. What about humans? - Tilted Forum Project - TFP - Sexuality, Philosophy and Political Discussion

Jimellow · 08-23-2008, 12:25 PM

I've been informed through various sources that tuna consumption can lead to blindness in cats. As someone that eats tuna on a regular basis as a primary source of protein, I am curious if it has any detrimental side effects for us humans. It, along with chicken, seems to be one of the healthiest natural protein sources available, but I'm intrigued since coming across the information relating to its effect on cats.

Katyanna · 08-23-2008, 12:33 PM

The only issue I have ever heard with tuna is warning about mercury which applies to all fish. Larger/older fish will tend to accumulate more mercury than a younger and smaller fish. They are still healthy for you, though it is recommended that you watch the amount that you consume. Particular attention should be given to pregnant women and small children.

Jetée · 08-23-2008, 01:27 PM

After a quick search on the matter, I am now more confused than when I started. Fish is a complicated animal, especially when you factor in that it can be eaten.

Various news presses, studies, and 'research' show that tuna and its oily-fish counterparts can do everything from: increasing concentration, decreasing depression, puts a higher risk for pregrant mothers to have premature birth, it can limit cancer risk especially that of prostate, alleviates asthma, produces a warning on autism for unborn children of expectant mothers, prevents and aids those who have had or are at risk of heart attack/stroke, or filling your your body with contiminants found in the fish, fights wrinkles, and after all those studies on tuna, the most surprising one of all claims that "when the results were pooled of no fewer than 89 studies into the benefits of omega 3 fats, they showed no strong evidence that omega 3 affected overall deaths, heart disease, strokes or cancer...".

Two noteworthy articles that I came across, and will present here show that, one story contradicts the OP's contention entirely, actually claiming that eating tuna, mackerel and salmon aid those in risk of going blind and can significantly decrease contracting the illness, while the other puts forth that fatty fish don't have any significant helath gains or losses when all is said and done.

Quote:

11/07/2006
Daily Mail

EATING oily fish such as mackerel and tuna can stop you going blind, say scientists. Just one portion of fish high in the wonder fatty acid Omega 3, can slash the odds of eye disease by half. A study in the US Journal of Clinical Nutrition claims a diet including oily fish such as salmon massively reduces the risk of AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration) which causes blindness, particularly in old age. More than one portion of Omega 3 rich fish a week cuts the chances by 70 per cent. Astrid Fletcher, Professor of Epidemiology in London, who led the research, said: "It is the first study in Europeans to show a beneficial association on AMD from the consumption of oily fish. "It is also consistent with results from studies in the US and Australia." August 14, 2008

Quote:

24/03/2006
The Independent

Debunked: the health benefits of oily fish
Researchers from the University of East Anglia who reviewed no fewer than 89 studies into the benefits of omega 3 fats, say that when the results were pooled they showed no strong evidence that omega 3 affected overall deaths, heart disease, strokes or cancer. Until three years ago cumulative evidence showed that omega 3 was beneficial ,but a major study, the Dart 2 trial, changed the overall picture in 2003 when it found a higher heart death rate in men taking fish oil supplements. The possibility the findings were the result of high mercury levels in fish has been put forward.

One more article I came across that intrigued my soul was entitled: Blind Man 'Sees' : NPR
(you can listen and read the story at npr.org)

Excerpt:

Tuna Sashimi and Pink Dresses click to show

Willravel · 08-23-2008, 01:32 PM

I've been eating tuna pretty regularly since I was a very young boy. I still have 20/20.

LoganSnake · 08-23-2008, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willravel

I've been eating tuna pretty regularly since I was a very young boy. I still have 20/20.

This.

Baraka_Guru · 08-23-2008, 02:11 PM

What is "pretty regularly"? I've read that a can of tuna per week is the maximum you should eat if you're concerned about heavy metals.

Jimellow · 08-23-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru

What is "pretty regularly"? I've read that a can of tuna per week is the maximum you should eat if you're concerned about heavy metals.

If only a can per week is recommended maximum, I'm toast.

Thanks for the research and replies. My cats really enjoy tuna, and I've been giving them a portion when I make a tuna sandwhich, but dad recently mentioned it could lead to blindness, thus this post.

It does seem to be a very healthy food on the surface, but as is the case with most things nowadays, it seems detrimental side effects may exist. I'm not overly concerned, but am curious, and the extent of my knowledge previously was that mercury level was at the center of the issue.

onesnowyowl · 08-23-2008, 05:32 PM

I couldn't turn up any peer-reviewed research on tuna being directly connected to blindness in cats. I saw plenty of anecdotal mention of tuna leading to a form of macular degeneration called central retinal degeneration. So I looked that up (using my handy-dandy university library research website), and the main cause of the condition seems to be a lack of taurine in a cat's diet, and there's the crux of the matter--if you only feed your cat tuna fish, it won't get enough taurine, and it will go blind. Clearly, most intelligent pet owners don't feed their cats just tuna fish. And people don't eat just tuna fish either.

jorgelito · 08-23-2008, 07:39 PM

This reminds me of the soy scare. I have also heard that tuna is bad for humans due to the heavy concentration of mercury. A can a week tops is deemed a relatively safe amount to consume.

I find it interesting that people are scared to eat soy products but not tuna.

Baraka_Guru · 08-23-2008, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgelito

I find it interesting that people are scared to eat soy products but not tuna.

I know.

Quote:

August 20, 2008, 10:24 am
Chicken-of-the-Sea Headed Back to Court Over Mercury Poisoning
Posted by Dan Slater

Tired of preemption in the medical device context? Let’s try tuna.

Tri-Union Seafoods, maker of Chicken-of-the-Sea brand tuna, took a hit yesterday when the Third Circuit Circuit Court of Appeals revived a suit brought against it by a consumers who says she was never warned that excessive consumption could lead to mercury poisoning. The appeals court found that a lower court improperly dismissed the suit on the grounds that it was pre-empted by FDA regulations.

Here’s a report from the Legal Intelligencer, and here’s the 38-page opinion.

“The FDA has promulgated no regulation concerning the risk posed by mercury in fish or warnings for that risk, has adopted no rule precluding states from imposing a duty to warn, and has taken no action establishing mercury warnings as misbranding under federal law or as contrary to federal law in any other respect,” wrote Judge Walter K. Stapleton on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel.

Someone else who might applaud the decision is Daphne Zuniga, of Melrose Place fame. Zuniga apparently had a pretty bad case of mercury poisoning a few years back.

The facts of the Tuna case merit a brief mention: Deborah Fellner, the plaintiff alleges that, for five years, her diet consisted almost exclusively of Chicken-of-the-Sea tuna, causing her to contract severe mercury poisoning, and that Tri-Union Seafood had failed to warn consumers of the risk of excessive tuna consumption.

John A. Kiernan of Bonner Kiernan Trebach & Crociata repped Tri-Union. Adina H. Rosenbaum and Brian Wolfman of the Public Citizen Litigation Group repped the plaintiff, Deborah Fellner, in the appeal along with William O. Crutchlow and Khalid Elhassan of Eichen Levinson & Crutchlow.

The lesson? Eat a varied diet, and know the various health risks in food.

Willravel · 08-23-2008, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru

What is "pretty regularly"? I've read that a can of tuna per week is the maximum you should eat if you're concerned about heavy metals.

It's not consistent, but I would guess that I maybe average about twice this.

I believe the best way to detox from mercury is with a diet low in sugar and bad fats, high in yogurt and cheeses, high in fiber, and plenty of garlic. I'll probably be okay. Or I'll go CRAZY!

luciferase75 · 08-23-2008, 11:39 PM

Cats and humans have vastly different metabolic pathways. As such, there are things that we can do that many animals cannot. One good example is we can eat chocolate, but the thiobromine in it is deadly to dogs because they can't metabolize it. One more common one is that grapes and raisins are deadly to dogs and probably cats as well.

Cats can't catch tuna in the wild, so they probably shouldn't eat it. That is my general rule - if they can't catch it or are not otherwise exposed to it in the wild, they probably shouldn't have it. Can cats have...perch, bass, minnows? Oh yeah no sweat. Tuna? Guess not. Chicken? Sure. Beans? Hell no. Just a general rule of thumb I go by, but what do I know, I have a degree in entomology and my wife is a vet

MSD · 08-24-2008, 11:32 AM

I googled 'mercury tuna' and found this as the first result.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/23sushi.html
I'm quite glad that I went from having 12-18 pieces of sushi a week to almost none in the past few months. At the advice of my pediatrician when I was 17, I keep myself to having one can of tuna every two weeks, at most, even though I could probably do two a week at my size without exceeding FDA safe limits.

I used to have a can two or three times a week, especially when I was staying with my grandmother while in college. My vision is still around 20/15 in both eyes, so I'm going to guess that what snowy found on taurine deficiency is probably the answer. I'm at no risk of visions loss there considering my energy drink intake through college (although it didn't help my blood pressure much.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willravel

Or I'll go CRAZY!

Too late

sound chaser · 08-24-2008, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimellow

I've been informed through various sources that tuna consumption can lead to blindness in cats. As someone that eats tuna on a regular basis as a primary source of protein, I am curious if it has any detrimental side effects for us humans. It, along with chicken, seems to be one of the healthiest natural protein sources available, but I'm intrigued since coming across the information relating to its effect on cats.

I've never heard that happening in humans before. But cats have a different physiology to humans so that might be one factor.

Plaid13 · 09-02-2008, 09:09 PM

Everything you eat is bad for you and your cat. Thats life. Do everything in moderation eating and otherwise and you and your cat will be fine.

Willravel · 09-02-2008, 09:27 PM

Eating cats causes humans to be blind to tuna?

Baraka_Guru · 09-02-2008, 09:29 PM

No, no. Your eating tuna will be bad for your cat when you die and the police find it eating your remains.

lotsofmagnets · 09-04-2008, 08:24 AM

does this mean that eating tuna is for cats the same as masturbating for humans?

highthief · 09-04-2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onesnowyowl

I couldn't turn up any peer-reviewed research on tuna being directly connected to blindness in cats. I saw plenty of anecdotal mention of tuna leading to a form of macular degeneration called central retinal degeneration. So I looked that up (using my handy-dandy university library research website), and the main cause of the condition seems to be a lack of taurine in a cat's diet, and there's the crux of the matter--if you only feed your cat tuna fish, it won't get enough taurine, and it will go blind. Clearly, most intelligent pet owners don't feed their cats just tuna fish. And people don't eat just tuna fish either.

And there's the answer. Taurine is typically added to prepared cat foods in order to give the cat a nutrient he requires and might otherwise not receive. Feeding a cat the odd bit of tuna won't hurt it, nor will it hurt people.

Living exclusively off tuna, however, is a bad idea all around.

luciferase75 · 09-04-2008, 10:46 PM

Yes I agree, but I don't give my cats tuna because it would be impossible for a cat to find a tuna steak without human intervention. Not that it's bad for them in moderation, but that alone is obviously bad. I didn't specify that before and wasn't really thinking that far ahead anyways. The farthest I go outside of "normal diet" (cat food isn't exactly normal either, but they grew up on it so I call that normal) is turkey slices when I'm eating a sandwich.

Now our dogs are a little different, I'll give them pieces of banana and stuff like that (one dog doesn't mind the occasional cooked jalepeno), but I avoid legumes of any sort, safe or not, and of course grapes or any similar fruit.

onesnowyowl · 09-04-2008, 11:45 PM

Given what my cats eat up off the floor, feeding them the occasional bit of tuna left over after I clean the can when making a tuna sandwich is the least of my worries. Really, they eat anything. It's kind of gross.

08-23-2008, 12:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jimellow Junkie Join Date: Oct 2004	Eating tuna leads to blindness in cats.. What about humans? I've been informed through various sources that tuna consumption can lead to blindness in cats. As someone that eats tuna on a regular basis as a primary source of protein, I am curious if it has any detrimental side effects for us humans. It, along with chicken, seems to be one of the healthiest natural protein sources available, but I'm intrigued since coming across the information relating to its effect on cats. __________________ Desperation is no excuse for lowering one's standards.

08-23-2008, 02:11 PM	#6 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru In the 6th percentile Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Toronto	What is "pretty regularly"? I've read that a can of tuna per week is the maximum you should eat if you're concerned about heavy metals. __________________ "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer." —"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell "Humankind cannot bear very much reality." —"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

08-23-2008, 05:32 PM	#8 (permalink)
onesnowyowl feeling evil Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Corvallis, Oregon	I couldn't turn up any peer-reviewed research on tuna being directly connected to blindness in cats. I saw plenty of anecdotal mention of tuna leading to a form of macular degeneration called central retinal degeneration. So I looked that up (using my handy-dandy university library research website), and the main cause of the condition seems to be a lack of taurine in a cat's diet, and there's the crux of the matter--if you only feed your cat tuna fish, it won't get enough taurine, and it will go blind. Clearly, most intelligent pet owners don't feed their cats just tuna fish. And people don't eat just tuna fish either. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

08-23-2008, 07:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	This reminds me of the soy scare. I have also heard that tuna is bad for humans due to the heavy concentration of mercury. A can a week tops is deemed a relatively safe amount to consume. I find it interesting that people are scared to eat soy products but not tuna. __________________ "The race is not always to the swift, nor battle to the strong, but to the one that endures to the end." "Demand more from yourself, more than anyone else could ever ask!" - My recruiter

08-23-2008, 11:39 PM	#12 (permalink)
luciferase75 Crazy Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: sɐxǝʇ pooʍƃuıʞ	Cats and humans have vastly different metabolic pathways. As such, there are things that we can do that many animals cannot. One good example is we can eat chocolate, but the thiobromine in it is deadly to dogs because they can't metabolize it. One more common one is that grapes and raisins are deadly to dogs and probably cats as well. Cats can't catch tuna in the wild, so they probably shouldn't eat it. That is my general rule - if they can't catch it or are not otherwise exposed to it in the wild, they probably shouldn't have it. Can cats have...perch, bass, minnows? Oh yeah no sweat. Tuna? Guess not. Chicken? Sure. Beans? Hell no. Just a general rule of thumb I go by, but what do I know, I have a degree in entomology and my wife is a vet __________________ Living in the United Socialist States of America. Entomologist, A+ certified

08-23-2008, 12:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
Katyanna Psycho Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Minnesota	The only issue I have ever heard with tuna is warning about mercury which applies to all fish. Larger/older fish will tend to accumulate more mercury than a younger and smaller fish. They are still healthy for you, though it is recommended that you watch the amount that you consume. Particular attention should be given to pregnant women and small children.

08-23-2008, 01:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
Willravel [wil-ruh-VEL] Join Date: Aug 2004	I've been eating tuna pretty regularly since I was a very young boy. I still have 20/20.

09-02-2008, 09:09 PM	#15 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon Join Date: Apr 2003	Everything you eat is bad for you and your cat. Thats life. Do everything in moderation eating and otherwise and you and your cat will be fine.

09-02-2008, 09:27 PM	#16 (permalink)
Willravel [wil-ruh-VEL] Join Date: Aug 2004	Eating cats causes humans to be blind to tuna?

09-02-2008, 09:29 PM	#17 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru In the 6th percentile Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Toronto	No, no. Your eating tuna will be bad for your cat when you die and the police find it eating your remains. __________________ "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer." —"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell "Humankind cannot bear very much reality." —"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

09-04-2008, 08:24 AM	#18 (permalink)
lotsofmagnets Upright Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: reykjavík, iceland	does this mean that eating tuna is for cats the same as masturbating for humans? __________________ mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor. she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron. physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

09-04-2008, 10:46 PM	#20 (permalink)
luciferase75 Crazy Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: sɐxǝʇ pooʍƃuıʞ	Yes I agree, but I don't give my cats tuna because it would be impossible for a cat to find a tuna steak without human intervention. Not that it's bad for them in moderation, but that alone is obviously bad. I didn't specify that before and wasn't really thinking that far ahead anyways. The farthest I go outside of "normal diet" (cat food isn't exactly normal either, but they grew up on it so I call that normal) is turkey slices when I'm eating a sandwich. Now our dogs are a little different, I'll give them pieces of banana and stuff like that (one dog doesn't mind the occasional cooked jalepeno), but I avoid legumes of any sort, safe or not, and of course grapes or any similar fruit. __________________ Living in the United Socialist States of America. Entomologist, A+ certified

09-04-2008, 11:45 PM	#21 (permalink)
onesnowyowl feeling evil Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Corvallis, Oregon	Given what my cats eat up off the floor, feeding them the occasional bit of tuna left over after I clean the can when making a tuna sandwich is the least of my worries. Really, they eat anything. It's kind of gross. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau