3 Day Tuna Diet for Quick Weight Loss

Eating only tuna for three days to lose weight quickly might work for you if you are a healthy adult. However, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends limiting consumption of light tuna to 12 ounces per week to reduce consumption of methylmercury. Ingestion of too much mercury from seafood can result in mercury poisoning. See the Resources section for details on what kinds of seafood are lower in mercury. Pregnant women and young children are discouraged from eating albacore tuna, which is higher in mercury, and advised to eat no more than 12 ounces of light tuna once per week.

Nutrition

One cup of light tuna canned in water and drained of liquid is about 179 calories and has 39 grams of protein, according to NutritionData.com. For that amount of tuna, there is no fat, no trans fat, no sugar and about 521 mg of sodium.

For most healthy adults, protein requirements are half the person's body weight in grams. For example, a person weighing 150 pounds, might need about 75 grams of protein per day. Athletes or people who perform work with very high physical demands may need to consume more: 0.8 grams instead of 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Crash Diets

Most people turn to crash diets to drop weight quickly for a special event such as a wedding, high school reunion, or perhaps as a competitive athlete to make a certain weight category (as in wrestling or boxing).

The dangers of crash dieting lies in eliminating entire groups of foods. Eating only tuna for three days means you will get more than enough protein but no fiber or other important vitamins and minerals found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, dairy products and whole grains.

EPA Warns Consumers About Mercury in Tuna

Tuna also contains methylmercury, and the EPA recommends eating no more than six ounces of albacore tuna and up to 12 ounces of light tuna per week. Pregnant women are discouraged from eating albacore tuna entirely. Methylmercury exists in nearly all foods as it is found in sea water. Were you to eat three days of tuna, you could easily exceed the EPA's recommendation. The EPA estimates six ounces of tuna is a meal and 12 ounces to be about two meals.

Instead of crash dieting, eat a balanced diet of lean meats, poultry, fish, legumes, low-fat dairy foods, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.