Under the Sea: Something Smells Fishy!

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What I'm about to say pains me. I love seafood. Growing up, I spent summers in Destin, Florida, and you better believe I was munching on some fried shrimp, seafood gumbo and fresh fish. Today, I usually choose fish over meat when I have the opportunity and let me tell you, I go cuckoo for tilapia. Oh...and let's not forget blackened catfish Cajun-style. I die.

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My current read on the subway is Dr. Marion Nestle's What to Eat. If you've ever wondered about anything food-related, I can promise you this book will cover it. It's like the encyclopedia of eating...a college education in nutrition wrapped up in a paperback (though as heavy as a hardback, be forewarned). As far as food education goes, this book has given me more knowledge in the past few weeks than I've acquired in a lifetime. Pick it up next time you're in Barnes and Noble or cruising the wares on Amazon.com.

Dr. Nestle devotes 5 chapters of her book to fish - fish safety, fish consumption, fish politics - all the fishy things your heart might desire. I'm here today to give you a quick overview... get the wheels turning, if you will.

It's no doubt that fish is good for you. It provides a lean source of protein, is packed with vitamins and minerals and houses those heart-healthy fatty acids that we keep hearing so much about. So what's the big deal about fish? Why should we be concerned? Are pregnant women the only ones that need to keep an eye on their consumption?

In a perfect world, yes... but it's time we took a closer look at the fish we eat because we all know that the world is far from perfect. Politics play a huge part in what you eat.

The biggest concern related to fish is the level of toxins you ingest when eating it, more specifically, the levels of methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs), which can both cause neurological problems and many other health issues. As far as mercury goes, most of the emissions in the United States come from coal-fired power plants and mining operations. The toxins run off into the waterways. Sadly, you'd be hard pressed to find a clean body of water in the United States as it stands today. Toxins builds up in the tissue of the fish that are exposed to it, so the larger the fish, the higher level of toxin presence. Shellfish and other small fish like anchovies, trout and flounder have the lowest levels of toxins, while bigger fish like tuna, swordfish and mackeral fall on the other end of the toxicity spectrum. 

Fish industry advocates and even the government will tell you that there is a certain level of toxins you can ingest safely - you just need to watch your consumption. Does this sound like an oxymoron to anyone else? A safe level of toxins?

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Dr. Nestle compares the supermarket fish counter to the Wild Wild West. Fish regulations in the United States are sub-par at best - labeling is often wrong and affordable, safe choices are hard to come by. One of the huge problems with fish regulation is that it's divided between 4 federal agencies - the USDA for marketing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for ocean fisheries, the EPA for fish caught for sport and recreation and the FDA for fish safety. Wouldn't it be much easier if one agency regulated the industry? With this sort of system, some safety concerns inevitably fall through the cracks, and that's something you, my friend, should be concerned about.

For one, did you know that farm-raised salmon - which comprises about 80% of total salmon for sale in the US - is dyed to meet your standards of how a salmon filet should look? Would you buy a grey-colored piece of salmon at the grocery store? Probably not. Well, farm-raised salmon are grey because they are not fed their natural diet. Salmon in the wild eat marine krill, which are small crustaceans containing the beautiful pink pigment that gives salmon it's color. But when salmon are farm-raised, they are fed pellets (much like dog or cat food pellets); therefore, their skin is not a natural color. How does the industry solve the problem? Oh, that's easy! They resort to cosmetics!

Salmon isn't the only fish receiving a makeover... tuna falls into that category too. Tuna has become so popular in recent years that it's greatly overfished and very hard to provide to you in the store at peak condition. Tuna naturally turns chocolate brown the longer it's out of the water and since consumers probably won't get excited about buying brown tuna, the industry responds by spraying it with carbon monoxide - this prevents and also reverses discoloration. But is it good for you?

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Now let's talk about fish imports. Much of our fish comes from overseas, especially when it comes to the frozen fish section of your local grocery store. It's widely known that fishing practices and regulations overseas are not as good as you'd prefer them to be. For example, in China, fish farms often feed the fish chicken waste and HUMAN waste. Sounds like a recipe for disease if I've ever seen one. To keep disease at bay, farmers pump their fish full of antibiotics before they end up in your grocery store. Need I say more?

Obviously, I haven't even begun to touch on the topics that Dr. Nestle covers in her book What to Eat, but hopefully these quick points will give you the desire to become more aware of the fish you consume and even the politicians that you choose to elect. Many of the fish problems we face boil down to lack of environmental regulations from government. When you become more informed, you can feel good about stepping up to the fish counter or ordering that salmon filet at dinner.

For more in-depth explanations of fish industry concerns, I recommend picking up a copy of Dr. Nestle's book. It's not really a poolside read, but it's not a college Calculus book either. She does have a sense of humor about these things...and thank God for that, or you'd be running to the hills, growing your own food and avoiding grocery stores altogether.

For more detailed info on tuna and carbon monoxide, click here.

To hear what Dr. Nestle has to say about supermarket sushi, click here.

Mixed Messages: What Exactly IS a Balanced Diet?

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You remember the colorful food pyramid poster that waltzed in and out of your childhood. It was usually tacked onto bulletin boards in the classroom or lunchroom. It was plastered on cereal boxes. And if I'm not mistaken, it was even included in your health or science textbooks.

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Well, what if I told you that the very same food pyramid is - in the now famous words of VP Joe Biden - a bunch of malarkey? Yes, dear friend, you have been misled... by the government-run USDA, the educational system and big business at it's finest.  Since 1943, the USDA's various eating guides have infiltrated our subconscious and clearly affected the way we choose to eat. We have good intentions, but what are good intentions when based on the wrong material?!?

The USDA's food pyramid can be compared to the many incarnations of Madonna. It has seen it's share of different looks. First there was a pyramid, then there was a pyramid with stairs to indicate the importance of adding exercise to the equation and now, forget the pyramid, there's a plate. Sorry, USDA. Close, but no cigar.

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In his book Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Eating Healthy, Dr. Walter Willett, a leading nutrition researcher, shares that...

"The thing to keep in mind about the USDA Pyramid is that it comes from the [U.S.] Department of Agriculture, the agency responsible for promoting American agriculture, not from agencies established to monitor and protect our health, like the Department of Health and Human Services, or the National Institutes of Health, or the Institute of Medicine... 

Serving two masters is tricky business, especially when one of them includes persuasive and well-connected representative of the formidable meat, dairy, and sugar industires. The end result of their tug-of-war is a set of positive, feel-good, all-inclusive recommendations that completely distort what could be the single most important tool for improving your health and the health of the nation."

There is no phrase more confusing than the phrase balanced diet. Let's forget all about the Food Pyramid and My Plate for a second and take things a bit further. What percentage of protein should we be eating? And what about calcium? Is dairy really the best source? And when it comes to fiber, how much is too much?

These are all very valid questions and different schools of thought will tell you different things. At the end of the day, there is no all-encompassing diet that I can recommend. Every body is different and requires different foods to satisfy it. Culture plays a major part in dietary habits, as well as climate. For example, the Eskimos - who eat primarily meat and lard - have very low rates of heart disease and very 'clean arteries'. This doesn't make logical sense, but their bodies are conditioned to process these foods because they need them to survive the harsh conditions of their environment.

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Let's talk about protein since it is one of the main building blocks of the body. Your body needs it to build and repair tissues, regulate body processes, produce enzymes and hormones and provide energy. It's very important that you get enough protein every day. In her book What To Eat, Dr. Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at NYU, clarifies protein requirements perfectly...

"To meet nutritional requirements, you only need to eat about half a gram of protein each day for every pound you weigh, which works out to 55 grams (just under two ounces) for a 120-pound woman and 65 grams (just over two ounces) for a 180-pound man. Note: these are ounces of protein, not meat... 4 ounces of cooked beef, poultry, or pork can easily provide 20 or 30 grams of protein (and so can beans)...Even if you are a vegan and eat no animal products at all, you almost certainly get more than enough protein from the grains, beans, and vegetables you eat. 

Indeed, unless you diet is unusually restrictive, you will get enough protein as long as you get enough calories."

If you eat well, you don't need to be weighing your portions, doing complex equations and worrying about getting enough protein. If anything, you're probably getting more than enough. Excess protein  is actually stored as fat, so you don't want to be eating a Porterhouse at every meal. Use your good judgment.

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Next on the list is calcium for bone health. Now before you reach for the milk carton, think twice. Dairy products are not actually an effective source of calcium like we are told by the USDA and the dairy industry. In fact, dairy products do quite the opposite of what you might expect in regards to calcium. Vivian Goldschmidt, MA, who holds a Masters Degree from NYU in Nutritional Science and Biochemistry and authored a book called Save Our Bones, explains that...

"...not only do we barely absorb the calcium in cow's milk (especially if pasteurized), but to make matters worse, it actually increases calcium loss from the bones...

Here's how it happens. Like all animal protein, milk acidifies the body pH which in turn triggers a biological correction. You see, calcium is an excellent acid neutralizer and the biggest storage of calcium in the body is - you guessed it... in the bones. So the very same calcium that our bones need to stay strong is utilized to neutralize the acidifying effect of milk. Once calcium is pulled out of the bones, it leaves the body via the urine, so that the surprising net result after this is an actual calcium deficit.

Knowing this, you'll understand why statistics show that countries with the lowest consumption of dairy products also have the lowest fracture incidence in their population..."

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If you've ever seen the documentary Forks Over Knives, you've already been introduced to this concept. The Office of Dietary Supplements with the National Institutes of Health recommends that most adults get 1,000 mg of calcium per day. This amount is up for debate though, as it's been suggested that this amount is so big to make up for the excessive amounts of protein and sodium that we consume in America, which both encourage calcium loss.

Instead of embracing the 'Got Milk' campaign and all it entails, I suggest you look towards vegetables and other foods for your calcium needs. Here are a few examples of the calcium content in 1 cup of...

Cooked turnip greens (450 mg)

Cooked bok choy (330 mg)

Cooked collard (300 mg)

Cooked kale (200 mg)

Romaine lettuce (40 mg)

Cooked pinto beans (100 mg)

Garbanzo beans (95 mg)

Cooked quinoa (80 mg)

Oats (40 mg)

Shrimp (300 mg)

Raw oysters (240 mg)

Almonds (750 mg)

Walnuts (280 mg)

Sunflower seeds (260 mg)

Again, if you concentrate on eating foods from plant sources, you may not need to have as much calcium per day. And on the flip side, if you're OD'ing on calcium (taking three to four times the recommended average, due to supplementation plus excess amounts in your diet), you may start to notice side effects such as dry mouth, headaches, increased thirst, loss of appetite, constipation or depression.

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Last, I'd like to touch on fiber intake. Fiber is important for everything from intestinal health to weight loss. Your body needs it to keep things moving, which in turn, keeps you regular AND happy. The Institute of Medicine suggests 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories eaten. So if you're on a 2,000 calorie diet, you should be eating about 28 grams of fiber daily. You can get fiber from whole grains (especially bran), nuts and seeds (remember my post on chia seeds?), legumes (beans and lentils), fruits (especially berries and apples) and vegetables (sweet potatoes with the skin, peppers, mushrooms, peas and greens). When you get your daily fiber from whole foods (versus supplements), you are guaranteeing that you're getting both types of fiber - soluble and insoluble fiber - which both play an integral part in intestinal health.

Obviously, these three aspects of diet only begin to touch the vast list of things we could discuss, but I'll save the rest for another post. In the meantime, I think it's important to remember that, in general and excluding anyone with major health complications or allergies, a balanced diet means a diet full of unprocessed foods - lots of vegetables, whole grains and fruit. You'd be shocked at how much of your daily nutritional requirements are met through vegetables especially. In very rare situations do you actually need supplements. When you take supplements, you are picking and choosing which nutrients your body needs, but when you eat whole foods, you are reaping the benefits of the full spectrum of nutrition - the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients and more!

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Don't worry your pretty little heads about numbers and percentages. Instead, focus on the quality of the foods you put in your mouth. If you concentrate on eating whole foods (versus processed junk food), you will find that your daily nutritional requirements are being met naturally and your body will start to respond in positive ways. 

Your body is the best indicator of whether you are eating a balanced diet - a diet appropriate for your particular situation! Just learn to tune in and listen to it.