Tuna Fish and Headaches

25 years ago, there was a time when I was having fairly regular headaches - but only on Sunday mornings at church. Not all the time, but more often than not, and never during the week. And by Sunday evening I was fine again. Since I didn't think that church should be the cause of a physical ailment, I started looking for a cause. After a few months of trying to be conscious of when these headaches struck and when they did not and what was a common factor, I came to the conclusion that it was tuna.

A little explanation of my life at the time: I was working full-time and my normal lunch was a lunch meat sandwich - two slices of wheat bread, lightly spread with mayonnaise, and a piece or two (depending on thickness) of bologna, ham, or whatever else had been on sale the previous week. I have always liked tuna, but because of the higher amount of liquids (oil, water, mayonnaise) in the making, a tuna sandwich gets pretty soggy after sitting in a baggie for the 5-6 hours between making it and lunch time. So I would quite often "reward" myself by having a tuna sandwich on Saturday when I could make it and immediately consume it. We almost always bought tuna packed in water as it tended to be a higher quality tuna, but even without all the oil and a better taste, I got the headaches.

At any rate, having concluded that tuna was the culprit, I could check it out. If I had tuna on Saturday for lunch, then I would have a headache the next morning; if I had something else on Saturday, then no headache! I had an answer, but not one that I really liked. So, as much as I still liked tuna, I removed it from my Saturday routine for the next couple of years.

Whatever it was in the tuna (was it mercury, or was that it really wasn't tuna at all as this article states), after an extended time without it, my body naturally flushed out the level of toxin. I found that I could still have tuna on occasion - such as in something else (tuna casserole) - and not have any adverse effects. Now, a few decades later, I can even have an entire tuna sandwich (tuna sub from Subway anyone?) and not have any adverse effects from it. Keep it in moderation, certainly not every Saturday like I used to, and everything is okay.

Four learnings:

1 - I still like tuna, but now it’s an occasional reward only

2 - I have always preferred fish and poultry to red meats - not only are they generally better on our budget, but there is less environmental impact - typical beef raising consumes a lot of grain, occupies a lot of land, generates methanol, etc

3 - It is possible to self-diagnose some of our medical problems

4 - Moderation is nearly always better - too much of anything, be it food items such as tuna or carbonated beverages, or other life activities, are apt to be problems down the road.