Eat Fish, Be Smart, Choose Wisely

Fish is brain and heart food. But trying to balance its health-boosting benefits with concerns about contaminant level can leave you floundering! Sad and true, contaminants are in most foods, but don't give up on fish, because fish are still an excellent health choice.

The American Heart Association recommends eating fish twice a week because fish are a great source of protein, vitamins, and nutrients.

Fish are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which provide protection from heart disease and are great brain food for you, your children and if you are pregnant, for your unborn child.

It is important to continue to eat fish to gain the healthy heart and brain benefits. The key is to make smart choices and choose fish that are low in mercury, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), and other contaminants.

Advice For Women and Children

Being wise about the fish you eat today helps protect your baby of tomorrow. If you are planning to become pregnant, are pregnant, nursing, or have children, you and your children are more sensitive to contaminants that can be present in fish.

In the womb and in the first six years after birth, children undergo extraordinary cell growth, from brain neurons to immune cells, so there are more opportunities for toxic compounds to disrupt the cells.

Animal tests show that fetuses and newborns are the most susceptible to harm from many chemicals. Women in their childbearing years should realize that it may take years to lower levels of PCBs in your body and many months to significantly reduce your body burden of mercury. See Washington State Department of Health (DOH) at http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/oehas/fish/fishadvmerc.htm for advice about eating fish with mercury in it.

Examples of types of fish to avoid or eat rarely are because they are high in mercury, PCBs and other contaminants are: shark, swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, or tuna steaks.

Some types of fish that are okay to eat 2-3 three times a day are: salmon, canned (light) tuna, anchovies, clams, crab, oysters, trout, shrimp, sardines, scallops, herring, cod, catfish, and squid/calamari.

Halibut, lobster, mahi mahi, tuna (canned white albacore), chinook salmon (Puget Sound), sablefish, croaker, and black sea bass should all not be eaten more than once per week.

One of the best parts of growing up on the coast of Florida is learning how to fish !

Mackeral are pretty much seasonal fish here in Florida, only comming around when the water is in the 72 degree range. Which is good for keeping them a rare meal. They're really good baked with lemon-butter.

Mullet has a somewhat earthy taste to it because of it's plankton diet, but it's a nice oily fish that can be found pretty much year round, harvested in bulk by net, and makes a great smoked fish spread.

A great thing about catching fish, is your vegetable garden will love you for burrying the skin and bones in the soil, sadly though, so will the raccoons.

I don't know about that whole make you smart thing though, I've probably eaten more fish by the time I was 13 than a lot of people will eat in their entire lives and I'm no Einstien.

I don't know about that...you sound pretty Einstieny to me... You're just being too modest.

Don't Like Fish??

I was reading the Reader Digest and it said for all of you who don't like fish, a study in England holds out hope that you can get nearly as much benefit from plant foods, which contain alpha-linolenic acid, a substance that your body converts into omega-3's.

Blood tests on women who ate fish and those who never touched the stuff suggest fish avoiders actually become more efficient at making that heart-healthy conversion. In fact, Omega-3 levels were only about 10 percent lower in those who steered clear of the fish counter.

Best sources of alpha-linolenic acid:

Walnuts
Flaxseed
Tofu
Canola and soybean oils

Here is a Healthy Fish Guide that shows exactly what Tammy posted, hopefully it is easier reading ... also, if you choose fish from the yellow column, eat only once a week and do not eat any other fish meals that week.

www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/oehas/fish/fishchart.htm

Healthy Fish Hints
Reduce your exposure to PCBs and other contaminants found in fish:

• Remove visible fat before cooking fish
• Eat the fillet and no other parts - contaminants accumulate in the fatty areas of fish
• Do not eat the skin
• Grill, broil or bake the fish
• Let fat drip off during cooking
• Do not use fat for gravy or sauces
• Eat smaller fish, they have fewer contaminants

Note: Mercury is stored in the fillet of the fish and is not reduced by preparing fish this way.

For Fish Consumption Advisories in Washington State go to www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/oehas/fish/fishadvisories.htm

This site (Washington State Department of Health) has Waterbody Specific Fish Consumption Advisories
If you fish or eat fish from Washington waters, this site has State Fish Consumption Advisory, State Map, and Puget Sound Map.

Also, this site has Statewide Fish Consumption Advisory for Mercury
If you are a woman who might become pregnant, are pregnant, nursing, and have young children it is important to make smart choices and choose fish that are low in mercury.