FISH: A NUTRITIOUS FAMILY FOOD

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Substituting fish for meat is one of the best dietary changes you can make for your family. Downgrade meat as a daily main course and use it instead as an ingredient in other dishes, a way to enhance the flavor and nutrition of stirfry, pasta, or casseroles. Upgrade fish as the centerpiece several meals a week, as a tuna "steak" or tuna salad. Fish is a top-of-the-line nutrient-dense food. It's low in fat and high in many good things.

1. Fish is a nutrient-dense food. It's a good source of protein - most varieties contain around 20 grams of protein per 3-ounce serving, the same as meat.

1. The colder the water, the more nutritious and safer the fish. Coldwater fish, such as salmon and tuna, contain more of the omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA than do fish from warmer waters, such as catfish, red snapper, trout, and pike. As a general guide, the warmer the water, the lower the oil content of the fish. Ocean fish tend to be safer than lake fish, which are more likely to contain traces of environmental pollutants.

Have a child who doesn’t like fish? Try Go Fish DHA soft chews to get the recommended amount of DHA in your child’s diet.

NUTRIMYTH:
Shellfish are High in Cholesterol

Actually, shellfish, such as lobster and king crab, contain no more cholesterol, and sometimes less, than the skinless white meat of chicken, and a bit less than lean beef (around 60 milligrams per three ounce serving). Shrimp, on the other hand, contains around 160 milligrams of cholesterol per three ounce serving, yet this is probably more of a theoretical scare than an actual danger to your heart. Shellfish is actually one of the lowest fat fish, especially lobster, which contains less than a gram of fat in three ounces, as does the much maligned shrimp. And, shellfish contain no saturated fats (and certainly no hydrogenated fats), which are more likely to promote heart disease than cholesterol in the diet.

2. Fish is good heart food. Some fish are high in heart-friendly cholesterol-lowering fish oils. Omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, have been linked to reducing total blood fats, reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol, and raising HDL (good) cholesterol. Fish oils rich in DHA are good for the heart. They keep the platelets, the saturated fatty acids, and cholesterol from sticking together and clogging arteries, contributing to heart attacks and stroke. After all, fish fats are called oils, meaning they flow rather than sit. One study showed that one serving of salmon per week cut the risk of heart attack in half. In another study, researchers who followed more then 20,000 male physicians between 40 and 84 years of age for eleven years found that those who ate fish once a week were 52 percent less likely to die of a fatal cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beats) than those who consumed fish less than once a month. The heart-friendly effects of fish oil seems to be related to their ability to lower total cholesterol, raise HDL (good cholesterol), and lower LDL (bad cholesterol).

Since fish fat actually seems to be good for people, might this cast some doubt on the conventional nutritional wisdom that a high fat diet contributes to heart disease? It would probably be more accurate to say that right fats contribute to heart health, wrong fats contribute to heart disease. As evidence look at the Eskimos, who have a diet very high in fat, yet have lower levels of cardiovascular disease. Is this because they eat a lot of fish? (It may also be true that Eskimos have a genetically different way of metabolizing extra fats that protects their heart.) It is also true that most people who eat fish regularly have healthier lifestyles and diet in general.

NUTRITIP:
A Fish a Day Keeps the Heart Doctor Away

The fact that Eskimos, whose diet is high in coldwater fish, rarely have heart attacks prompted researchers to investigate the correlation between fish-eating and a healthier heart. The conclusion of all the studies: eating fish daily, or at least twice a week, can greatly lower the risk of having a heart attack. In one study, entitled the DART trial (diet and reinfarction trial), people who were recovering from a heart attack were put on several different diets, one of which contained two weekly courses of fish high in omega 3 fatty acids. After two years, death was 29 percent less in the fish eaters.

3. Fish is good brain food. Not only is fish good for the heart, it's good for the head. Fish oils are healthy because they contain the two essential omega 3 fatty acids: DHA, which are particularly valuable as nutrients for the cells of the brain and nervous system, the eyes, and the adrenal and sex glands. Come to think of it, those are the organs that helps us think, see, and enjoy sex. Fish food = good brain and heart food.

Fish Food = good brain and heart food.

NUTRITIP:
Fish for Omegas

You can get omega-3 fatty acids from plant sources, such as walnuts, flax oil, and canola oil . But seafood is the richest source of the most nutritious omega- 3, DHA.

Are wild fish from oceans and lakes more or less nutritious than farm-raised fish? Let's go fishing for some facts.

As health-conscious American consumers have turned from meat to fish, the demand for fish has outgrown the supply. Some waters have become less, shall we say, fishy. In some parts of the world, populations of certain kinds of fish have been depleted, and fish prices have jumped sky high. One solution to the supply problem is to grow fish in "farms" where conditions are controlled and ecological conditions are not upset by overfishing. Fish on farms are raised in pens filled with water and are fed factory-made fish food. Fish farming has brought down prices for some kinds of fish and made fish supplies steadier and more dependable.

However, a 1992 study comparing wild Coho salmon, rainbow trout, and catfish with their farm- raised mates found that the farm-raised catfish had five times more fat and the salmon two-and-a- half times more fat than the wild fish, yet there was no significant difference in protein or vitamin content. Different conditions produce different fish, even within the same species. Wild fish have these benefits on their side:

The jury is still out on whether or not wild fish is healthier and safer than farm fish. So, it's back to using your common sense.

A tale of two fish--one from the oceans of Alaska, the other from the farms of Alabama. Both are salmon--my favorite fish. The Alaskan salmon is spawned in a very fast moving fresh stream, the source of which is usually the meltdown of tons of snow and ice. In order to survive, the baby salmon must fight the raging waters and make its way out to the sea where she finds a healthy diet of seaweed. The seaweed is rich in brain-building fatty acids, which is why it is known among fishermen as nature's antifreeze, a nutrient that allows the seaweed to grow in such frigid waters. The little salmon becomes a big salmon and becomes bigger by eating little fish that are also rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Over an average of four years, that salmon travels thousands of miles, spending winters in the warmer Pacific and summers in Alaska. The combination of a healthy diet and exercise builds a healthier fish, containing healthier oils. Once that little salmon becomes a big salmon, following one of nature's most fascinating, yet least understood, homing instincts, the fertile fish navigates back to its original birth place, fights her way upstream past the raging waters to deposit her eggs and spawn more salmon. Soon after spawning she dies, a martyrs death. For that little fish to survive such a life cycle, that is one smart and healthy fish.

Contrast this natural fish cycle with the little salmon in the farm fish tank. That fish doesn't have to battle predators and raging waters to survive. Nor does he have to swim much to search out for food. The farm fish just has to swim and eat, the equivalent of a couch potato. So, it stands to reason that the muscle and the oil in that fish will be chemically, and therefore nutritionally, different - sort of like the nutritional superiority between free-range chicken (and their eggs) and caged birds. And the farm fish's food is chosen by the farmer instead of the fish, and it is unlikely that the fish farmer will buy expensive DHA-enriched fish food. The wild fish gets a healthier menu.

Fish just do not grow as fast in a pen as they do in the wild. (Keep a goldfish in a bowl and it stays a tiny goldfish. Take that same fish and put him in a backyard fish pond and that fish will grow.) This slow-to-grow fish will, however, be pushed to grow more quickly so he can go to market as soon as possible. Enter the fish-fattening chemists, who may give him fish-building steroids or other growth-boosting chemicals. Antibiotics may be added to the feed to keep the fish healthy, and the water will be filtered to keep the fish cleaner. Clearly, this fish will be different from the one that lived in the wild.

But deciding whether the wild fish is always the healthier fish is not so simple, especially because of pollutants and chemicals. For example, wild fish caught near the industrial areas of the Great Lakes may contain a lot more pollutants than closely monitored farm fish. Fish caught in smaller lakes that collect agrochemical runoff may also have high levels of pollutants. On the other hand, high pesticide residues have been discovered in commercial fish foods, and farm fish may be raised in pens filled with the same polluted waters that are home to the wild fish. True, both farm fish and wild fish are "regulated and inspected," and the FDA routinely samples commercially-caught and farmed fish for pesticide and hormone residues to see "if limits are exceeded," but not every fish that goes to market is inspected. And, who decides what is the "safe" or "tolerable" limit of pesticide, antibiotic, and hormone residues? There's much we don't know.

A good old-fashioned tuna fish sandwich is a favorite and nutritious food the world over. Canned tuna is the largest selling seafood in the United States. Because tuna fish is a favorite family food, here are some fish facts you should know about what's in the can.*

Canned tuna may contain one or several kinds of tuna, such as albacore, blue fin, yellow fin, and skip jack. These vary considerably in texture and flavor. Albacore, the most expensive, is the only one that can be labeled "white" under federal regulations. What you see on the label is not always what you get in the can. Government regulations allow canned tuna to contain up to eighteen percent other stuff, such as casein and soy proteins, and sometimes sulfites. The labels on tuna fish cans don't list the amount of omega 3 fatty acids in the tuna, which is unfortunate since this is one of the reasons you're eating tuna in the first place. Among popular coldwater fish, it ranks just below salmon in omega 3 fatty acid content. There are several reasons for this omission. The tuna fish inside the can may be a mixture of tuna of various quality, making it impossible to determine the omega 3 content. Also, some tuna is precooked and bleached nice and white before canning to remove the oil that makes it spoil faster. The fish is then packed in vegetable oil or water. The result of this process is a loss of omega 3 fatty acids. Some specialty tunas are packed in their own oils and contain omega 3 fatty acids.

The fresher, the better. If it smells fishy, it will probably taste fishy. The fishier a fish tastes or smells, the less fresh it is. The smell is due to a chemical called trimethylamine, which is produced as the fish begins to spoil. Also, the mushier the fish feels, the older it is. Fresh fish should have a meaty texture and easily flake after a brief cooking. Unless you live near the source, you may find that the freshest fish you can buy is fish that has been shipped frozen. If you're buying fresh fish, plan on cooking it the same day you buy it.

Fixing fish. Baking or poaching fish preserves most of the omega-3 fatty acids. Frying fish in vegetable oils high in omega-6's decreases the potency of the omega 3 in the fish.

When you're deciding what kind of fish to buy, ask yourself, "What's the main nutrient I'm trying to get from this food?" What nutrients can you get from this food that you can't get as easily from others? For fish, the most valuable nutrient status would probably go to omega 3 fatty acids. For this reason, we have placed the fish containing the most omega 3 fatty acids at the top of the list. These are not necessarily the fish that are the lowest in fat. Note that when you choose one fish over another, you're making some tradeoffs. Some of these are small and insignificant; if you eat dairy products regularly, you don't need to worry about how much calcium is in your fish. Other choices matter more: mackerel, for example, contains a high amount of omega-3 fatty acids, but it also derives half of its overall calories from fat, including saturated fats. You would do better choosing salmon or tuna, unless you're on a tight budget. Here's how fish rate according to different nutrients.

FISH (Serving size = 6 ounces cooked, unless otherwise specified)	OMEGA 3 FATS (grams)
Salmon, sockeye	4
Salmon, Atlantic	3.1-3.7
Tuna, albacore	3.5
Sardines in sardine oil (3 oz)	2.8-3.3
Salmon, chinook	2
Salmon, coho	2
Salmon, king	1.9
Trout, rainbow, wild	1.7
Tuna, bluefin	1.5
Anchovy, European (3.3 oz)	1.4
Swordfish	1.4
Herring, Atlantic and Pacific (3 oz)	1.2-1.8
Oysters	1.1
Shark	1.0
Mackerel (3 oz, canned)	1.0
Pompano, Florida	1.0
Whiting	0.9
Flounder	0.9
Sole	0.9
Rockfish	0.8
Halibut, Pacific	0.8
Pike, walleye	0.6
Perch, ocean	0.6
Squid	0.6
Snapper	0.6
Cod, pacific	0.5
Haddock	0.4
Yellowtail	0.4
Catfish	0.3-0.4
Crab, Dungeness (3 oz, steamed)	0.3
Shrimp (3 oz, steamed)	0.3
Tuna (canned, 3 oz)	0.2-0.7
Lobster	0.2
Clams (3 oz, steamed)	0.2

* The omega-3 fatty-acid content can vary according to the mode of cooking and whether wild or farmed varieties.