Only recently has Kent been willing to let me experiment with fish recipes. I’ve mostly bombed so far, but I’m going to get it right one of these days. (Update – I finally made some delicious fish! Here are more seafood recipes.)
Read a few excerpts about eating fish from Nina Planck’s new and soon to be released book, Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby’s First Foods
- Seafood is the classic example of a knotty personal health and global environmental issue, the kind that makes perfectly intelligent people wail: “I can’t keep track anymore. Am I supposed to eat fish or not? Which fish?” Don’t despair. I can explain…
- Fish or other seafood is vitally important for your health. We’ve yet to discover a population of humans living without any foods of the sea.
- In the human diet, fish is a relatively rare source of important omega-3 fats and a great protein if you don’t care to eat meat and poultry. It is also indispensable for mothers and babies.
- Not eating fish poses a greater risk to your baby’s brain than eating fish.
- Methylmercury is infamous for causing birth defects and brain damage in children. It’s no friend to fertility, either. It can cause ovulatory problems, uterine bleeding, and miscarriage.
- If you’re pregnant or trying to conceive, do eat fish, but avoid fish high in methylmercury.
- Good choices are herbivores (catfish, tilapia, freshwater trout), small fish (herring), smaller, line-caught American tuna, and wild salmon.
- If you don’t eat fish, take a high-quality fish oil. (Note from Kelly: I recommend Fermented cod liver oil.)
- Many would argue that fresh, local seafood just off the boat is the best eating…but with seafood, I’m not a strict locavore. Most of the seafood I buy comes from the Pacific Coast, three thousand miles away.
Here’s a great resource to help you know which fish to buy. It tells you your best and worst choices based on which ones are more environmentally friendly and more healthy.
- Frying fish in tallow, a healthy, traditional fat
- Check out Kristen’s new post that explains why some farmed fish are actually better for us. Also there is a nice list of the 6 best types of seafood to eat.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Debbie 03.20.09 at 9:02 am
Hi Kelly, I noticed the first “good choice” fish Ms. Planck mentions is catfish. However, when I went to the Seafood Watch site link you provided and looked up catfish, I found that the farm-raised fish are “fed a primarily vegetarian diet of soybeans, corn and rice…” Since soybeans and corn (not sure about rice) are two of the most GM’d “products” out there, do you feel the potential consequences are negligable? I’m just not sure what to think…
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Local Nourishment 03.20.09 at 10:41 am
Wait. Catfish? A bottom-feeder? The last time I studied fish, that was a no-no. I read (wish I could provide specifics, but it’s been too many years) that bottom feeders and scavengers’ diets consist of…droppings, which a healthy food source does not make. Kind of like eating vulture.
Well, I guess the confusion rages on…
Local Nourishment’s last blog post..CSA, yeah, I’ve heard of ‘em, aren’t they expensive?
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 03.20.09 at 10:49 am
I’ll email Nina and see what she says. Although she’s out of town right now, so we’ll have to be patient.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s last blog post..Statins After a Heart Attack?
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Rosy 03.20.09 at 11:16 am
Rainbow trout are very yummy. I would suggest broiling it. Just top with garlic infused olive oil and cook until it flakes. Top with citrus juice. Tangerine is really sweet, but Lime is my fav. Lemon is nice if you are looking for a classic, but all citrus goes great with fish. Serve over wilted greens or with green beans!
Also the acid in the citrus helps you to digest the protein fully.
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Debbie 03.21.09 at 10:19 am
Thanks, Kelly. I’m really interested in what she’ll say. I love her book “Real Food” and was disappointed to see catfish and tilapia (I believe it’s a farmed fish) being the first two. Thanks for your follow through!
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cheeseslave 03.21.09 at 5:27 pm
Shellfish including crabs and lobsters are also bottom feeders and they are highly nutritious.
Not sure where this info came from re: bottom feeders; I’ve never heard it before.
cheeseslave’s last blog post..Organic Vegetable Garden on White House Lawn
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Kelly 03.22.09 at 1:06 am
I was thankful to read that according to Nina, farmed Tilapia was a good choice, because that’s all I can find!
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jeanne 03.22.09 at 9:24 am
There are books by Don Colbert, M.D. that discuss bottom feeder fish.
I have just read two of his books in the last couple of weeks.
“In What Would Jesus Eat?” he quotes the Bible and says all bottom feeders (catfish and shellfish are both mentioned) should not be eaten.He also says we should not eat pork. But he is coming from a biblical standpoint and not necessariy a nutrition standpoint. His books support a whole food diet and he suggest eating 50% of your food raw (fruits, vegetables, nuts).
Two things that stuck with me from his writing:
“In 1910 US was classified as the healthiest nation in the world among 100 nations studied . . . 1950 3rd place . . . (then the onset of fastfood and processed industrialized food became common place) . . . 1970 41st place and 1981 95th place.”
Then this quote “Jesus cared abuot the health of people . . . He desired that people be made whole, and that included being whole in body as well as mind and spirit.”
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Michelle 03.23.09 at 12:31 pm
I am jumping on the “catfish- what?!?!” bandwagon. I do not believe God made laws for no reason. There are health related reasons for not consuming scavengers. From what I remember, scavengers often have “cysts” in their meat of parasites that, even though cooked (and, therefore, dead), trigger an immune response in much the same way a killed vaccine does. I read (five years ago, so no reference, sorry) that Orthodox Jews who follow all the OT dietary restrictions have a much lower incidence of cancer, and this is linked to the whole cyst=immune response theory.
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CHEESESLAVE 03.23.09 at 12:52 pm
I think it’s fine to forgo certain foods based on religious convictions.
For myself, I’ll keep eating shellfish because it is so nutrient dense. And I love pork sausage (I’m half-Polish and 1/4 German).
My husband is Jewish and shellfish and pork are his two favorite foods.
CHEESESLAVE’s last blog post..Best of Expo West: Ayala’s Herbal Water
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KitchenKop 09.15.09 at 1:03 am
Check out Kristen’s new post that explains why some farmed fish are actually better for us:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/healthy-seafood-what-to-buy/
Very interesting! Also here is a nice list of the 6 best seafoods to eat.
Kelly (I’ll have to add this info to the post above…)
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