Nutrition

Fish

Mercury
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that pregnant or nursing women and young children (serve smaller serving sizes of fish) should follow these guidelines in order to limit mercury intake:

• Avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish.

• Eat 12 oz or less (2-3 different meals) of fish a week. Choose a variety of fish and seafood and avoid eating the same fish more than once a week.

• If the safety of fish from local waters is unknown, limit fish eaten from these waters to 6 oz a week and avoid eating any other fish that week.

Canned light tuna has less mercury than tuna steaks and canned albacore tuna. Tuna can safely be included weekly in the diet.

PCBs
Reports state that farm-raised salmon contain more PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and other cancer-causing substances than wild salmon from natural waters. These dangerous substances may be found in ground up smaller fish fed to the farm-raised salmon. The FDA, however, states that eating moderate amounts of any salmon is safe, but you may wish to remove the outer skin just to make sure. The largest amounts of PCBs are found in salmon from Europe and Iceland , and the smallest amounts of PCBs are found in salmon from Chile. Most farm-raised salmon in the US originate from Chile .

Arsenic
Even though there are no advisories regarding arsenic in fish from local waters, some health care professionals have expressed concern due to the inconsistent reporting of arsenic in fish from Dare County , NC waters. The best conservative recommendation may be to ?go easy? on consumption of fish from these waters.

More advice on eating fish?
Check with your local health department regarding the safety of fish in your local waters. The Virginia Department of Health recommends these precautions:

• Eat small, younger fish rather than large, older fish; less contaminants
• Remove the skin before cooking the fish
• Bake, broil, or grill on an open rack to allow the fats to drain from the fish
• Eat less deep fried fish; frying ?seals? in any contaminants

Why is it good to eat fish?
Fish, especially deep, cold-water fish and other foods are rich in omega-3 fatty acids that can protect against heart disease--these foods include salmon; sardines; trout; swordfish; mackerel; herring; flounder; cod; tuna; shrimp; lobster; soy, flaxseed, and canola oils; flaxseeds; soybeans; and walnuts . And even though fish has fat, it has less of the unhealthy heart disease-causing saturated fat than other animal food sources such as beef, chicken, or pork.

Bon Apetit!

References

The American Dietetic Association (Mar/Apr 2004). ADA Times ), Vol 1, Issue 4

Virginia Department of Health (April 2004). Fishing Advisories