This is scary, Thanks to Lou for this one...

So, how much sushi and fish can you eat before the mercury starts lowering your IQ? Turns out, according to this Slate article by Amanda Schaffer, there's no easy answer.

The bottom line:

The apparent trade-offs are not as stark as they seem. Fortunately the kinds of fish that are highest in mercury are not necessarily the same as those that are highest in heart-protective fatty acids.

Swordfish, for instance, is high in mercury but low in omega-3s. Salmon, on the other hand, is high in omega-3s but low in mercury. In other words, a savvy consumer can ometimes have the best of both worlds -- choosing heart-healthy fish without piling p a plate of mercury. (The issue is more complicated for other toxins, such as PCBs, hich do tend to be higher in the fatty fish that are high in omega-3s.)

New research has also shown that mercury itself can increase an adult's risk of heart disease. The toxin's presence, then, may actually undermine the cardio benefits of omega-3s -- which would mean that too much fish really is too much.

Got that? If you eat a lot of fish like me, click through to the story and check out the links, which include a mercury calculator to help you judge how much poison you're actually consuming...