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The Most Healthy Fish And Seafood

 

There are plenty of fish in the sea, but finding the best fish and seafood took thorough analysis. We started with a list of the 20 most popular types of seafood in the U.S. (which explains why hairy anchovies are missing). Using the latest FDA data and a serving size of 3 ounces, we calculated the omega-3 (DHA and EPA) content of each fish, plus other nutritional perks like selenium, a mineral that bolsters cancer-fighting antioxidants, and B12 vitamins, which are crucial to nerve health. Then we factored in average levels of toxins like mercury and PCBs. The result: a safe seafood and fish list that will let you navigate the fish counter like Captain Ahab.

1. Salmon (the wild kind) wins by a waterslide, and is a healthy fish you can count on to pack in nutrition. Most varieties, including coho and sockeye, provide more than three times the 250-mg recommended minimum daily dose of omega-3s. Wild Atlantic salmon is king of the sea with a mighty 1.6 g of the good stuff and a mini mercury count of 0.01 ppm. A serving also gets you 72 percent of your 55-mcg RDA of selenium. Avoid Farmed salmon, which may contain PCBs from polluted water.

Fish Habit May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk, Study Suggests

 

2. Rainbow trout (the farmed kind) gets the silver medal for a full gram of omega-3s. Tests on mixed varieties of trout show only 0.07 ppm of mercury, and farmed may contain even less. It also boasts more than twice the 2-mcg RDA for B12 and half the 15-mg RDA for niacin, which lowers bad cholesterol and plays a key role in metabolism.

3. Oysters (from the Pacific) are almost devoid of mercury (0.01 ppm) and pack 1.2 g of omega-3s per 3 oz. Each slippery serving also delivers more than twice the 12-mg RDA of immunity- and libido-boosting zinc. Avoid Wild Eastern and American oysters — they may contain PCBs.

4. Striped bass (if farmed) is not known to contain mercury in any measurable quantity, and packs 0.8 g of omega-3s, more than twice the suggested minimum. Bonus nutrients include about double the RDA of B12 and 72 percent of your daily selenium. Avoid Mercury-laden wild striped bass (0.22 ppm).

5. Pollock (from the Atlantic) — often used to make filet-o-fish, fish sticks, and imitation crab (aka surimi) — is rich in B12 (3 mcg) and selenium (40 mcg) and extremely low in mercury (0.04 ppm). And its 0.5 g of omega-3s is nothing to shake a fin at. Avoid Pacific pollock — it’s more likely to contain PCBs.

6. Flounder and sole are nutritional twins and contain a healthy 0.4 g of omega-3s and just 0.04 ppm of mercury. A single serving has nearly 100 percent of your daily RDA of selenium and B12. Avoid Blackback and Summer varieties — they can pack PCBs.

7. Alaskan king crab deserves its crown as the crustacean with the biggest omega-3 bang (0.4 g) and a piddly 0.06 ppm of mercury. It’s low cal (82 calories per 3 oz), and it contains 50 percent of your zinc RDA and — check it out — five times your B12 RDA. Avoid Blue crab, which has higher levels of PCBs and mercury.

8. Perch (freshwater). One serving provides over 100 percent of your omega-3 minimum, almost all of your selenium (47 mcg), and half of your B12, with no measurable mercury. So eat up!

9. Clams score you 0.2 g of omega-3s (some tests reveal that they can contain as much as 0.5 g). A single serving also has 350 percent of the 15-mg RDA for iron and a colossal 84 mcg of B12. All that with a mere 0.02 ppm of mercury.

10. Scallops have a meaty texture even steak lovers can appreciate. Both the bay and sea varieties are heart friendly, with 0.3 g of omega-3s, more than half your B12 RDA, and only a hint of mercury (0.05 ppm).

11. Shrimp are a dieter’s dream at only 84 calories per serving, with 0.3 g of omega-3s and a super-safe mercury level of 0.05 ppm. The drawback: A serving of shrimp has 166 mg of cholesterol (almost as much as an egg), so if you’re watching your cholesterol, don’t eat the pink critters more than once a week.

12. Catfish (if farmed) has 0.2 g of healthy fats, over 100 percent of your B12 RDA, and only 0.05 ppm of mercury. But the whiskered fish’s biggest claim to fame is 14.3 mcg of muscle- and bone-building vitamin D — almost three times your RDA.

13. Haddock gives up a good bit of omega-3s (0.2 g), 63 percent of your selenium, and over half of your B12 RDA. And barely-there mercury (0.03 ppm) makes it an anytime entr?

14. Tilapia is a freshwater dweller similar to catfish. Though it has only 0.1 g of omega-3s, tilapia is nearly free of mercury (0.01 ppm) and contains 84 percent of your daily selenium and 79 percent of your B12. So you can eat it till the sharks come home.

You May Want To avoid-tilapia-and-farmed-fish

15. Lobster (the spiny kind). Spiny lobster doesn’t have claws like the monsters from Maine, but its tail has tons more omega-3s (0.4 g vs. 0.07 g) and a lot less mercury (0.09 ppm vs. 0.3 ppm). Other highlights include 50 percent of your zinc RDA, 91 percent of your selenium, and nearly twice your RDA of B12.


16. Canned tuna (light). It’s saddled with more mercury (0.12 ppm) than most fish on this list, but it has the least of all other types of tuna and still provides 0.2 g of omega-3s. Eat it no more than eight times a month and feel good about getting 75 percent of your niacin RDA and more than 100 percent of your selenium and B12.

17. Cod (from the Pacific) supplies almost twice the omega-3s of Atlantic cod (0.2 g vs. 0.1 g) and racks up 72 percent of your selenium for just 89 calories a serving. But don’t dine on it more than twice a week, because its mercury count is on the high side (0.1 ppm).

18. Halibut is a very good source of omega-3s (0.4 g) and provides more than 40 percent of your RDA of niacin, 72 percent of your selenium, and 58 percent of B12, so eating it every once in a while is a healthy option. Just keep it to no more than four meals per month because its 0.2-ppm mercury count is twice as high as cod’s.

19. Skipjack tuna is smaller than bluefin or yellowfin and therefore soaks up fewer toxins. It delivers an impressive 0.3 g of omega-3s, 72 percent of your selenium RDA, and 93 percent of B12. Still, it has 0.2 ppm of mercury, so limit it to four meals a month.

20. Orange roughy has two strikes against it: minimal omega-3s (0.02 g) and way more mercury (0.6 ppm) than any other fish listed here. But it’s low in calories and high in protein and selenium (75 mcg). So if you’re craving it, go ahead — just not more than once a month.

WH Ranks The Most Healthy Fish And Seafood Safe seafood        March 10, 2007


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How To Choose The Healthiest Seafood

Choosing the healthiest seafood can be tricky: While many fish are high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, some contain unwanted levels of toxins. These tips will make your decision easier.

The Usual

Shrimp They’re loaded with protein and vitamin D. Too bad that a 2014 Oceana study found that 30 percent of shrimp in stores and restaurants were mislabeled or misrepresented–e.g., some were sold as wild-caught Gulf shrimp when they were actually farmed. (Most farmed shrimp come from polluted waterways in Asia and are heavily treated with antibiotics.)

The Fresh Pick

Oysters These low-calorie morsels are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids as well as iron. And thanks to their short life cycle and algae-based diets, oysters are less likely to pick up harmful pollutants from their environment or their food. This makes them one of the healthiest types of seafood you can eat–cooked or raw.

The Usual

Swordfish It may be hearty and satisfying, but swordfish has been found to contain high levels of the industrial pollutant mercury, which it picks up by eating smaller contaminated fish. Mercury can harm development of the nervous system. That’s why the FDA recommends that women who are pregnant or planning to conceive, as well as children, avoid swordfish altogether.

The Fresh Pick

Rainbow Trout Protein-packed rainbow trout has flaky white or pink flesh and an almost nutty flavor; the freshwater variety tends to have a milder taste than seagoing trout (also known as steelhead). Either way, trout is a safe pick: The type you see at the market was likely raised in man-made rivers (called raceways) where it has little to no contact with pollutants like mercury.

trout_fish

The Usual

Atlantic Salmon Salmon is a healthy-diet staple, but because it’s raised in crowded offshore pens, farmed Atlantic salmon is sometimes given antibiotics to prevent disease. It’s often imported (the name now refers to the species, not the ocean it came from); some nations may have looser restrictions on antibiotic use.

The Fresh Pick

Wild Alaskan Salmon All types of salmon are high in omega-3 fatty acids, as well as phosphorous and the essential vitamins D and B12. But most domestic salmon is wild Alaskan salmon, which swims free. Unlike its farmed cousin, this type of fish doesn’t need a protective dose of antibiotics (or an artificial boost in color).

The Usual

Tuna Although it’s a tasty and affordable source of lean protein, tuna has gotten a bad rap. The FDA does recommend that women limit consumption of albacore tuna, which can be high in mercury, to 6 ounces a week. Ahi, bigeye and yellowfin can also have unhealthy levels of toxins. However, canned light tuna, if not mercury-free, is still considered to be relatively low in mercury.

The Fresh Pick

Flounder High in omega-3s and protein, yet low in calories, flounder is an ideal but often overlooked fish. Like other types of flatfish, flounder has niacin, B vitamins and phosphorus. It’s also an excellent source of selenium, an essential mineral that works as an antioxidant to help fight damaging free radicals. As for mercury, flounder’s levels are very low.

By Suzannah Evans, SELF      10/09/2015 


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The Safety of Compact Fluorescent Lamps

More and more Canadians are replacing regular incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient products, such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). While CFLs are being promoted because they are energy-efficient, their use has also raised health concerns.

The federal government has adopted a national standard for lighting efficiency that will come into effect in 2014. Most traditional, incandescent bulbs currently available will not meet the required performance level. The objective is to ensure that only more efficient bulbs such as CFLs, enhanced halogens, and others that are expected in the near future, are used in Canada.

Fluorescent lights have been around for a long time, and CFLs are the latest variation on the traditional tube fluorescent light. CFLs fit into a standard light bulb socket. Like the old-style fluorescent lights, they use a different method to produce light, which makes them energy-efficient. They are low-pressure, mercury vapour lamps that produce invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays. When the lamp is turned on, the mercury vaporizes inside the lamp and becomes ‘excited’ by the high voltage electricity. The UV then ‘excites’ the phosphor coating inside the lamp, which emits the light you see.

With more Canadians using CFLs, some have begun to question their safety, including the level of UV emissions, the electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) they create, and the presence of mercury in the lamps. In response to concerns, Health Canada has conducted UV radiation and EMF tests on a range of CFL bulbs, and submitted a final report outlining the results to Natural Resources Canada who commissioned the study.

What CFLs emit

Ultraviolet radiation

Canadians can be exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from a variety of natural and artificial sources, including the sun, welding equipment, lasers, tanning equipment, and fluorescent lights. The incandescent lights that have been used by Canadians also emit UV radiation. UV can be beneficial: it can be used to kill germs and treat various skin conditions, and it is needed to form vitamin D in our bodies. At the same time, there are risks attached to all forms of radiation, and overexposure to UV has been linked to sunburns, premature skin aging, skin cancer, eye problems, and weakening of the immune system.

As noted above, fluorescent lights produce UV when the mercury vapour is ‘excited’ by the electrical current. However, the amount of UV produced is so small that it is not considered hazardous to your health. The results of the Health Canada study showed that, when either CFLs or regular light bulbs (incandescent) are used at a distance of 30 cm or more, UV emissions do not present a health risk to the general population. Health Canada recommends that people keep this minimum distance between themselves and any light source. When CFLs or regular light bulbs are used daily at 30 cm, exposure should be limited to no longer than 3 consecutive hours.

Although the amount of UV emitted by CFLs poses no problem for the average person, some people are extremely sensitive to UV and may be affected by the amount of UV produced by CFLs. Those who have Lupus or another auto-immune disease and certain skin conditions can be sensitive to the UV from CFLs, in the same way they would be sensitive to sunlight and other light bulbs that emit UV. If you believe you are suffering from symptoms related to UV, you should consult your health care provider.

Electric and magnetic fields

Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) surround all electrical equipment from appliances to power cords to outdoor power lines. You cannot see or feel them. An electric field forms whenever you plug a lamp or an appliance into an outlet, even if it is not turned on. The higher the voltage, the stronger the electric field.

A magnetic field forms when the current is flowing through the wire or appliance. The greater the current, the stronger the magnetic field. Electric and magnetic fields can occur separately or together. For example, when you plug in a lamp, it creates an electric field. When you turn the lamp on, the flow of current creates a magnetic field, in addition to the electric field.

Like other electric appliances found in the home, CFLs emit EMFs. Health Canada has made measurements of the EMFs at 20 centimetres from the lamps, and when compared to departmental and international science-based guidelines, the levels of emissions are well below the maximum levels of exposure. Health Canada does not consider the EMFs from CFLs to be a health risk. This conclusion is in line with current international scientific opinion.

What is in a CFL?

Mercury is the only existing element that produces the UV wavelengths needed to make CFLs work. While mercury is a highly toxic substance, only a very small amount is used in a CFL, about the amount to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. There is no risk to your health when the lamps are unbroken. Even when a CFL is broken, there is a very low risk to your health, unless you mishandle it or store it carelessly. Health Canada has developed clean-up procedures, which are found in the following section.

cfl

Health risks of CFLs

Sensitivity to CFLs

In the past, some people reported headaches or eye strain when using fluorescent lighting. Some could see a flicker in the lighting, caused by lower frequencies and magnetic ballasts. The newer CFLs use higher frequencies and electronic ballasts, which means the human eye cannot detect any change in the light frequency. There is also less of a ‘hum’ in the newer lights. The ‘hum’ in older lights may have caused headaches.

There have been individual reports of health effects such as headaches and depression from the use of CFLs. It may be possible that a small number of people are more sensitive to CFLs as noted above; the majority of people are not. Health Canada will continue to review the scientific evidence as it becomes available, and act if any potential risk is found.

Minimizing your risk

Although CFLs are considered safe to use, here are some steps you can take to further protect you and your family:

  • Always handle CFLs carefully when installing and removing them.
  • Check with your municipality to see if CFLs can be recycled in your area. Recycling them means that the small amount of mercury they contain will not end up in the environment.
  • If you have skin sensitivities to UV, or have Lupus or another auto-immune disease that makes you sensitive to UV, you can take these steps:
  • Buy CFLs that are marked low UV.
  • Buy CFLs that have a glass cover already added, which will help further filter out UV radiation.
  • Use additional glass or plastic materials in your lighting fixtures to act as UV filters.
  • Increase the distance you are from the CFL, as this will reduce the level of UV exposure.
  • If you break a CFL, follow these directions for clean-up:

Leave the room

  • Remove people and pets from the room and keep them out of the room during the clean-up process.
  • Avoid stepping on any broken glass.

Ventilation

  • Ventilate the room for at least 15 minutes prior to starting clean-up by opening windows and doors to the outdoors. This will ensure that mercury vapour levels are reduced before you start cleaning.

Clean-up Directions for Hard and Carpeted Surfaces

  • Do not use a vacuum to clean up the initial breakage, as it will spread the mercury vapour and dust throughout the area and may contaminate the vacuum.
  • Wear disposable gloves, if available, to avoid direct contact with mercury and to prevent cuts.
  • Scoop or sweep up the broken pieces and debris with two pieces of stiff paper or cardboard. Do not use a broom.
  • Use sticky tape, such as duct tape or masking tape, to pick up any remaining fine glass or powder.
  • Wipe the area with a damp paper towel, cloth or disposable wet wipe to remove any residual particles.
  • Place the broken glass and clean-up materials in a glass container with a tight fitting lid to further minimize the release of mercury vapour.

Carpeting – Steps to Take After the Initial Clean-up

  • If the rug is removable, take it outside, shake and air it out for as long as is practical.
  • The first time you vacuum on installed carpet after the clean-up, shut the door to the room or close off the area as much as possible and ventilate the room in which the lamp was broken by opening the windows and doors to the outside. When the vacuuming is done, remove the bag, wipe the vacuum with a damp paper towel, cloth or disposable wet wipe, and then place the vacuum bag and paper towel in a sealed plastic bag outside. In the case of a canister vacuum, wipe the canister out with a wet paper towel and dispose of the towel as outlined above. Continue to ventilate the room for 15 minutes once the vacuuming is completed.

Disposal

  • Immediately place waste material outside of the building in a protected area away from children.
  • Dispose of the waste at a household hazardous waste location as soon as possible. Check with local, provincial, or territorial authorities about the requirements for recycling and for the location of household hazardous waste depots or pick-up.
  • Do not dispose of the waste in your household trash.
  • For further information on disposal, please contact Environment Canada.

Washing

  • Wash your hands after storing and disposing of waste.

Additional Information

  • Remove and install the CFL by handling only the base of the lamp to prevent any unnecessary pressure on the glass that may cause it to break.
  • Consider using a drop cloth when replacing a CFL to minimize the chance of breakage should the lamp fall or to protect the flooring and assist in clean-up should the bulb drop and break.
  • Store fluorescent lamps in containers that prevent them from breaking, such as in their original packaging.
  • Consider avoiding the use of CFLs in areas where the lamps may be easily broken.