Better Nutrition August 2017

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/// BY VERA TWEED
3 Hidden Food Sources
of Mercury (Besides Fish)
If mercury were listed as an ingredient
on a package of food, would you buy it?
Probably not, but unless a food is certified
organic, you may be doing just that,
says Renee Joy Dufault, PhD, a former
food investigator for the FDA and author
of Unsafe at Any Meal: What the FDA
Does Not Want You to Know About the
Foods You Eat (Square One Publishers).
It turns out that many processed
foods contain residues of inorganic mercury.
A different form than what’s in fish
(methyl, or organic, mercury), inorganic
mercury is used in manufacturing food
ingredients because it extends shelf life.
The law doesn’t require that it be listed
on labels because residues are considered
“safe,” but research by Dufault and
others begs to differ.
Alarming Findings
One of Dufault’s studies, published in
the journal Integrative Molecular
Medicine, found that people
who ate more processed food had higher
blood levels of mercury and higher levels
of blood sugar, which raises risks for
diabetes and heart disease. And, she says,
“The inorganic mercury in the food supply
makes us more susceptible to the adverse
effects of organophosphate pesticide
exposures, so there’s a cascading effect.”
How to Avoid Hidden Mercury
Dufault recommends avoiding all
processed food, in supermarkets and restaurants,
but at the very least, skipping
these common mercury sources:
1. Corn sweeteners, including corn
syrup and high fructose corn syrup
2. Sodium benzoate, a widely used
preservative
3. Artificial food coloring
PROTECTIVE MINERALS
Studies show that magnesium and
selenium protect against damage from
mercury and may help to eliminate
the metal. Both minerals can be found
in many multivitamins, and integrative
physicians generally recommend
taking extra magnesium.
Fortunately,
mercury isn’t
used in making
certified organic
ingredients. Go to
foodingredient.info
to learn more.
8 • AUGUST 2017