Myth Busting: Isn’t Fish a Health Food?

Recent studies have given us plenty of reasons not to eat fish:

• Farmed salmon contain such high levels of PCBs, dioxins, and other toxic chemicals that a study in the journal of Science recommends that people should not eat it more than once a month.
• Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury, some in much higher levels. So much that even the EPA recommends pregnant women, nursing mothers and children not eat it.
• The EPA estimates that over 600,000 children are born each year at risk for lowered intelligence and learning problems from exposure to mercury because their mothers ate fish.
• Four-fifths of the US salmon is farm-raised. The Environmental Working Group estimates that 800,000 people in the US face an increase cancer risk from eating farmed salmon.
• Salmon and other fish flesh contains high amounts of artery-clogging cholesterol and fat.
• In the wild, hundreds of billions of fish, along with "nontarget" animals, including sharks, sea turtles, birds, seals, and whales, are caught each year in ocean-ravaging nets or dragged for hours on long-lines for the commercial fishing industry. (PETA)

What about the fish? While fisheries would like you to believe otherwise, numerous studies, including a recent one by the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh, have found conclusive evidence that fish do feel pain, as they have a nervous system like all other animals.

What about omega-3 (and omega-6) you ask? We require essential fatty acids in our diets to stay healthy and keep our brains functioning. But, like milk and calcium or meat and protein, there is a common misconception that fish is the best and only place to get these fatty acids.

High amounts of omega-3s can be found in: flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, brazil nuts, avocados, dark leafy greens and hemp seeds. Omega-6 can be found in flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, pine nuts, olive oil, pistachios and sunflower seeds. To ensure that you are getting enough you can simple add ground flax to smoothies, sauces, baked goods, etc. You can also take a DHA supplement for an added fatty acid punch.