Mussels

Dr Sarah Ballantyne PhD is the creator of “the paleo mom”.  One of my first books I purchased after being diagnosed was “The Paleo Approach”

Because I love to share healthy food, especially healthy food I love, I turned to her for some information on one of my favorites!  

Mussels!

Do you know these creatures are amazing nutritional resources? Mussels are full vitamin B12, selenium, and manganese, making them great for supporting cellular health, DNA synthesis, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, connective tissue and bone health, and blood sugar regulation. They also have small amounts of vitamin A, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and copper.

What About Toxins?

Despite their incredible nutrient density, Mussels have a reputation for being unhealthy due to their “bottom-feeder” status (meaning they eat near the bottom of an ocean, lake, or river). The logic goes that bottom-feeders consume the feces, parasites, decomposing animals, and various toxins that accumulate at the floor of a body of water, and therefore must contain unhealthy contaminants.

This is a misconception! Mussels are generally filter-feeders, which means they use their gills to draw in food and filter out any larger particles. This is much different than scavengers, consuming dead animals and large debris (such as wild catfish).

Because mussels are so low on the food chain, they have minimal risk in terms of heavy metal contamination. Mussels consistently rank as some of the lowest-mercury seafood available (you can see the FDA’s list here) because the particulate matter they consume is nearly free from heavy metals.

It’s important to only consume mussels that have been harvested from safe waters (away from recent algal blooms), not eating shellfish while traveling in developing countries (where safety standards are lower and risk of contamination is higher), and not harvesting our own from beaches that haven’t been monitored for biotoxins. If we get our mussels from high-quality restaurants, reputable farmers, and other suppliers that test their products for contamination, our risk of shellfish poisoning is extremely (extremely, extremely) low.

The bottom line is that, unless you have a seafood allergy, mussels are an amazing nutritional resource that all of us should be tapping into!