Fish For Your Heart?

Cutting back on red meat is a common recommendation for both health and sustainability. What’s less clear is what we should replace the meat with. A recent study looked at this and the results may surprise you.

If not red meat, what?
Red meat appears on many lists of foods to eat less of due mostly to its saturated fat and cholesterol content, and the fact that we tend to eat too much of it. A recent study looked at what we should consider substituting for red meat when we follow the advice to cut back. Of all of the substitutions the study looked at, one stood out as the best choice – fish high in omega-3s. The fatty fish showed more benefits for heart health than poultry, unprocessed meat and even lean fish.

Is fish safe to eat?
Fish, especially the kind that gives us omega-3s, has long been considered a healthy choice. Warnings related to contamination by mercury and other toxins has left many people wondering if fish is safe to eat. For most people, the benefits of eating fish far outweigh the risks. To keep those risks even lower, it is important to choose a variety of fish. Salmon, anchovies, herring, shad, sardines, Pacific oysters, trout, and Atlantic and Pacific mackerel are examples of fish that offer omega-3s and are lower in mercury making them good options for those meat-skipping meals.

Bottom Line
If you are looking to improve your health and that of our environment, replacing red meat with fatty fish occasionally seems like a step in the right direction. Choosing the fish carefully to avoid high levels of mercury, especially for pregnant women and young children is recommended. The Seafood Watch Guide (seafoodwatch.morg) can help make sure those fish choices are ocean-friendly too.

REFERENCES:
1. Würtz AM1, Hansen MD1, Tjønneland A2, Rimm EB3, Schmidt EB4, Overvad K1, Jakobsen MU1. Substitutions of red meat, poultry and fish and risk of myocardial infarction. Br J Nutr. 2016 Mar 7:1-8. [Epub ahead of print]
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.

Written by Jennifer M. Roberts, MS, RD
June 2016

Comments

Local Produce

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy local produce because of the sheer variety of fruits and vegetables that are available. I’ve waited all winter for ripe berries, juicy tomatoes and sweet stone fruit. We get a few months of this bounty and when the season is over, we wait patiently for summer to come again so we can enjoy our favorites. Connecting and eating with the seasons can be rewarding but also a tough challenge as many of us now rely on grocery stores to provide year-round produce. FUN FACT Did you know that the average food item has traveled 1,500 miles to get to your plate? Seeking out local food, understanding how it was grown and learning more about the people who grew it can be an empowering experience. Not everyone has the opportunity to shake hands with the person that grew their food but for those that do, it carries more weight than a certification. Download lagu WAIT, THERE’S MORE Did you also know that how we eat can have as big an impact on climate change as transp...

Plant Forward

A New Way of Eating There’s a relatively new term buzzing around the food world that you may or may not have heard of, plant forward. What does that mean you ask? Plant forward focuses on more vegetable centric dishes with meat playing more of a supporting role. Think blended burgers, stir-fry’s or grain bowls where meat is almost like a condiment. Flavors are bold and it’s all about the dish’s deliciousness whether it happens to be vegan or vegetarian, or not. Diners aren’t interested in completely removing meat from their diets so embracing a diet that is mostly plants with some meat here and there provides a comfortable middle ground. The Challenge with Red Meat Conventional animal agriculture is resource intense and less than stellar for the environment. Ruminant animals release methane gas into the atmosphere which is about twenty five times more intense than carbon dioxide. Let’s face it, our country’s enormous appetite for beef is not so great for our health and the heal...

Focus on Whole, Minimally Processed Foods

With assistance from Northeastern graduate student Crystal (Sopher) Richardson What’s the WHOLE story on Processed Foods? Nutritionists and dietitians are often asked why processed foods are bad. It’s not an easy question to answer. Many refer to the fact that the “Diseases of Civilization” – heart disease, hypertension, tooth decay, diabetes and some cancers did not exist before the increased popularity of processed foods. Whole and minimally processed foods are prepared without copious amounts of added fat, salt or sugar, therefore maximizing the consumption of cancer-fighting nutrients and phytochemicals, that protect your body’s cells from damage. A 2017 study of 249 adolescents showed that the consumption of minimally processed foods was inversely associated with excess weight. 1 Another study in 2016, published by Anthony Fardet showed a link between minimally processed foods and satiety versus ultra-processed foods. 2 While most people know that eating a whole a...

Choosing Healthy Foods

Search This Blog