Including Fish into your Diet

The Mediterranean Diet praises Fish as part of a healthy life style. Today we are going to look at different kinds of fish and their benefits of including them into your diet. Most people know that fish is a great source of protein; it is also a fact that fish contain Omega-3 fatty acids which greatly benefit your heart and according to the American Heart Association can also help those who have or are at a high risk of cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association highly recommends eating fish at least two times a week because of its beneficial nutritional value; the Mediterranean Diet also values fish more so than red meat as we showed in the Mediterranean Pyramid in the beginning of the year. Check out this ling from the American Heart Association to see what else they recommend (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4632); they talk about certain oils that are good to use while including fish into your diet and its benefits. Don’t forget that we always speak highly of our wonderful and health benefiting Olive oil. One thing about fish that could be a concern is that fish contain mercury which poses as a health risk but certain fish contain much less amounts than others and even though fish do contain mercury the benefits have shown in studies to outweigh the negative. Here is a list of fish below that we will discuss:

Lake Trout and Herring: this fish is another good choice because of its low mercury content (Herring) and a good source of omega-3 oils
Sardines: Sardines hail from Italy (was actually named after the Island Sardina in Italy) and has great nutritional value containing Omega-2 fatty acids, protein and calcium. Sardines come by cheap and healthy.
Albacore Tuna: Along with Salmon, Tuna has one of the highest amounts of Omega-3s which mean that it’s a heart-healthy fish helping with lowering blood pressure and reducing your risk of heart attack
Salmon: The benefits of Salmon are that it contains the best source of omega-3s (specifically “three times more than the required daily dose” which makes the salmon extra special). This has shown a drop in prostate-cancer risk and another interesting thing to know is that the mercury levels are fairly low and makes salmon one of the safest fish to eat.
Tilapia: This is another fish with low mercury content and at the same very high in nutrition. Tilapia is available year-round and is said to be inexpensive.
Atlantic Pollock: contains lots of omega-3s and vitamin B12 and again low mercury content. According to the source they can be found in fish sticks and imitation crab.



References:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4632);
http://en.chatelaine.com/english/health/article.jsp?content=20070416_160725_5044
http://www.weightlossfun.com/Sardines.htm