It's crazy when you think about all the different kinds of foods we eat.

We just swallow and hope it all works out for the best.

Well, as it turns out, there are better ways to think about keeping our bodies humming healthfully along.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

It's time for the Nutrition Facts grab Bag, where we look at the science behind an

whole array of topics, and we start with how the adverse effects of industrial

pollutants in seafood may counteract the benefits of nutrients and fish.

Although the levels of industrial pollutants like dioxins and PCBs continue to decline

in the food supply, there is one dietary source that still remains a major threat,

fish.

Everything eventually flows into the sea.

Yes, so we can get some dioxins from eating horses, but most of our exposure comes

from eating fish.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency puts the tolerable upper limit of dioxin intake per

kilogramme of body weight at 0.7 picograms, less than a trillionth of a gram per day.

We're already skirting the max by just consuming dairy, and fish takes us right over the top,

even at low levels of consumption.

So the adverse effects of chemical contaminants in seafood may counteract the benefits of any

nutrients in fish, so much so that many dietary guidelines recommend no more than one

serving a week of fish and seafood to cut down on exposure

to toxic pollutants. But which is worse, wildcought or farm? Take salmon, for example.

...