guest blog: fish: mercury, pollutants, contaminants, oh my!

This guest blog is part three of a 4-part series about the benefits of dangers of eating fish, and how to consume it responsibly. Janet Watkins is a freelance writer living and blogging from the Midwest at www.insidewords.blogspot.com.
Please contact me if you are interested in writing a topical guest blog.

Sardines and saltine crackers with a can or two of Vienna sausages on the kitchen table could only mean one thing at my house—Dad and Uncle Italy were going night fishing. They would get us kids to dig for night crawlers (brown earthworms) for bait. Tackle box, rods, flashlights, thermoses of water and coffee were loaded into Dad’s 1955 Chevy and then he would drive off into the night in pursuit of male sibling bonding and a good catch of silver bass, catfish, and on less favorable junkets sheep head.

As a child I didn’t like sardines. There was something about seeing those poor little beheaded fish lying in a can of oil that caused my face and nose to turn up in disgust. Yuck. What a contradiction since seeing larger species of fish dressed in cornmeal and frying in hot oil never bother me at all!

Contaminants, Mercury and Pollutants
Sardines were my Dad’s favorite snack. They are one of the least contaminated fish you can eat. According to the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) sardines rank 5th among seafood with very low contaminant levels. Good news as they are some of the most heart healthy “brain” foods you can eat. But other species of fish, particularly the larger more mature varieties can contain high concentrations of PCBs, dioxins and other pollutants. Industrial and municipal discharges, agricultural methods and storm water runoff– including rainfall that rinses contaminants into the land, streams and rivers bioaccumulate in the skin, organs and other fatty tissues of fish. Many pollutants settle on the water’s floor and adversely affect bottom-dwelling fish like- wild striped bass, bluefish, American eel, and sea trout– all ten to be high in PCBs.

Mercury
Mercury occurs naturally, but also comes from smokestacks mining and other industrial processes. As it moves from the air and settles in our waterways it turns into methyl mercury and absorbed by fish. Larger and older fish have a longer time to build up mercury than smaller and younger fish. Predatory fish at the top of the food chain broadly have higher levels of mercury. Without question or debate mercury toxicity poisoning from fish is a health threat. It is threatening to prenatal development and pregnant women are advised to avoid and use extreme caution when eating fish. Young children’s fish consumption should be smaller than adults. It is recommended 1-2 ounces for toddlers and 2-3 ounces for older children. Shrimp and “chunk-light” canned tuna canned are best selections to serve children. They contain lowest mercury levels.

Contaminants Impact on Health
Mercury, PCBs and dioxins build up and concentrate in our bodies over time. Eating contaminated fish may result in effects that are minimal to birth defects and cancer. It takes 5 years or more for women in childbearing years to rid their bodies of PCBs, 12-18 months to significantly free their body burden of mercury. Mothers who consume contaminated fish prior to becoming pregnant may have children who are slower to develop and learn.

To eat, or not to eat fish, that is the question?
It is about now that you may be thinking, “I’ll forego eating fish …”—a logical place to end up in this fish drama. But studies and statistics support the overwhelming benefits that come from eating fish cannot be ignored. Returning to that Harvard School of Public Health study shows a modest amount of fish per week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 36%.

Fish is high in protein low in fat and rich in Omega-3 fatty acid. Following the marine food chain, algae make one type of Omega-3 fatty acid. It is consumed by zooplankton and stretched to form two other types of Omega-3 acids. Zooplankton becomes the food for finfish and shellfish, resulting in a high concentration of Omega-3. The benefits show up in cardiovascular health and are important for prenatal and postnatal neurological development. There is also evidence that it may reduce tissue inflammation and alleviate symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Other maladies omega-3 may play a beneficial role include cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), depression and irritable bowel syndrome.

guest blog: sugar. what, indeed, is the deal?

As a highly experienced and well-trained Sugar Buzz Pro and Holistic Health Counselor, Chef Aja asked me to share some of what I have to say about sugar. My name is Shannon McCarthy, and during the day I'm a visual artist, sometimes with paint, sometimes with whole foods. But not at the same time!

A preface: I used to work as a baker, and could pack away two pounds of cookie dough in a day. I accepted the fact (and myself for it) that I was going to eat a lot of cookies and bread everyday for the rest of my life. Whatever we resist persists, right? In college I attended Overeaters Anonymous for a year as a desperate attempt to stop eating all the time. I was told to give up all sugar and white flour, and eat a diet consisting mostly of steamed broccoli. I tried that, for like, a day. Rather than giving anything up, I started buying and eating boxes of donuts- since everyday was the last day I’d ever eat a donut! Because it was tomorrow, always tomorrow, that I would totally, completely, be a pure shining beacon of sugarless-ness. Riiiiight.

Wondering if you eat more than the 'ol pancreas actually wants? Let's talk about food in general. Every food we eat has different properties that give us a certain food experience, none of which can be classified as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. What we can say is that to continuously repeat a specific food experience is to invite imbalance. It's mathematical, nothing else. A fat like raw olive oil is important to consume because my body needs it to keep up my arteries and a green like arugula is important to consume because it keeps my blood clean. If I only eat arugula for a year, my hair will probably fall out because I've got thin blood and no fat to build with. If I only eat olive oil for a year, my skin will look pasty with all that building oil in my blood and no cleaning greens to keep it in check.

The same thing holds true with eating sweets. Too much sweet puts excess sugar in the blood. Nature provides us with lots of sweet food that comes out of the earth: squashes, berries, hanging fruit. On a continuum of sweet stuff the ground gives, those foods are on the sweetest end of the spectrum. If we were to do like the bears before they hibernate, we would eat an astounding quantity of berries, put on some good warm fat, approach a diabetic coma, and sleep for a couple of months. But let's suppose that we are not bears and are not planning to eat pillows onto our hips. How could we balance eating berries?

Well, what’s on the other end of the sweetness scale? Bitters! What's bitter? Herbs like mint, parsley, cilantro and other greens like spinach, kale, mustard greens, and cabbage. (The play between the sweet and bitters is what makes a spinach and strawberry salad so tasty…and balanced).

Speaking of sweet foods from the earth, let's get back to one of the sweetest of all: sugar cane! Despite various names and appearances, cane products are all from the same plant, but have different levels of processing. As a general rule of thumb, the darker the sugarcane product, the least processed it is. Black strap molasses would be the least processed, and white sugar the most (and the cheap brown sugar you buy at the regular grocery store is typically just white sugar with molasses added back in).

Some people stay away from any kind of cane product all together since they call it addictive. This isn't actually a categorical fact, that sugar is addictive. It only becomes fact through personal experience. Some people want sweet food when they don't want to want it, some people don't have any preference either way. Our own inclinations will tell us if sugar is something we wield, or something that wields us.

I'd like to address the folks who eat sugar when they don't want to eat sugar.
Sweetness is a flavor related to the earth mother. Think sweet pumpkins and squashes in autumn. Sometimes when we want sweetness, we want a ‘Mommy-feeling’. Since many of us haven't learned how to nurture ourselves, we get as close to what we can to what feels right-- something sweet in our mouths. There's nothing, actually, to be done about it but to notice it if it's there.

The good news is that we can supply that for our own self without anything external. Yet, to get to the internal nurturing, I found it helpful to start with external nurturing. We want to be clear that the guilt factor involved in eating doesn’t get us anywhere. It just makes us hide ourselves from ourselves even more. We perpetuate our habits by resisting them, and we heal habits by giving them attention and loving them as they are. So to celebrate what we think of as, a ‘bad thing’ to do is a big step in the direction of self-tolerance (let alone self-acceptance! Let alone self-love!). So, give a little self-love with a little bit of balance. And if there's no balance, love yourself for that too.

Recommended reading on how to eat in a kind way to ourselves: Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David

Note from Aja: For Shannon's scrumptious cookie recipe and a follow-up from Shannon, check the comment from her below!

fish: eating safe, eating good - habitat and sustainability

This guest blog is part two of a 5-part series about the benefits of dangers of eating fish, and how to consume it responsibly. Janet Watkins is a freelance writer living and blogging from the Midwest at www.insidewords.blogspot.com.
Please contact me if you are interested in writing a topical guest blog.

Wading along the river, sand squishing between our toes my siblings and I were completely captivated by the life we found along the shoreline. Like marine biologists, we studied the activity that swam near the shoreline, following silver minnows that wiggled between the rocks and pebbles. Our parents, sat close by keeping an eye on their fishing lines and us.

“Hey, Lou looks like you got one!” my uncle shouted. Dad moved quickly lifting the rod from its rest. We chanted, “Daddy caught a fish! Daddy caught a fish,” and watched as he spun the reel and pulled on the rod until the end of the line finally emerged from the water. Hanging from the hook a beautiful silver bass wiggled wildly. Dad caught several of them that day.

Later, as we feasted on cornmeal coated fried silver bass served with home fries and coleslaw; we had little concern or knowledge about the health of the fish from the river. But, by the early 1960s the environmental quality of the Great Lakes basin had deteriorated. Today, fish consumption advisories are commonplace for nearly all of the world’s waters.

SUSTAINABILITY

Habitat Damage
The Great Lakes is the world’s largest freshwater source containing 90% of the U.S. surface drinking water. A vibrant ecosystem, fish, migratory waterfowl, human and wildlife benefit from this vast watershed, but excessive runoff, over fishing, and toxic substances threatens its vitality. Did you know that it could take hundreds of years to recycle and restore fragile ecosystems like the Great Lakes? The ocean floor needs centuries to grow back! But, “trawl fleets,” to keep up with our hungry demand for fish, dredge the sea-floor plundering coral reef, habitats, and seaweed with unintentional side effects and severe consequences for marine life. It may be the single most damage done to the marine environment by man. Many restaurants and stores list fishing methods and, there is an increasing call to make this information more widely available. Habitat-friendly methods: hook-and-line fishing, long-lining and trap fishing. Ask the method by which the fish were caught when ordering your favorite from the menu or the market.

By-catch
American consumers boycott of tuna had a tremendous impact on the fishing industry, in an effort to protest and protect the toll on dolphins and other by-catch – animals caught unintentionally by fishing gear. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization one in four animals caught as by-catch dies. Tons of dead fish are thrown out. Dolphins, sea turtles, seals, whales and seabirds are regularly caught, and accidentally killed.

Overfishing
Over fishing happens when the rate of catching fish exceeds the rate at which they can reproduce. Simple and to the point, fish that were once plentiful become depleted, fishing fleets move on to new species, and over fish them to extinction. Slow-growing types like orange roughy and Chilean sea bass are particularly at risk. Check out Hooked – Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish by G. Bruce Knecht for a dramatic global fish true whodunit story about the pursuit of Chilean Sea Bass in the icy waters of the Antarctica. It will cause you to think twice about what you order your next meal out.

Aquaculture
Controlled cultivation of fish or “fish farms” has given rise to what is known as aquaculture. Not a panacea, but an effort to change current problematic fishing methods, the aquaculture industry now produces one-third of the seafood we eat. But, even this approach has side effects. Fish farms can pose a threat to the environment, too.

Farm shellfish
Oysters and most clams and mollusks are farm raised. And, these farms are kind to the environment – yippee! – indeed, they improve water quality (mollusks work as filters). Shellfish require non-polluted water to grow in; therefore these farms are often diligently involved in clean water initiative.

Farm salmon
Eating farm raised salmon – not a good choice. Over crowded net pens become polluted and fish become diseased. Pollution and disease spread to wild fish, antibiotics used leak into the water. Salmon escaping the pens can overtake wild habitats, and the fishmeal used as feed is often made with fish that contain toxins. Bummer! If you must buy farm raised salmon, look for markets that sell organic salmon sourced from the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Ireland, Nova Scotia and Scotland with European organic certification such as the Soil Association a British based agency.

Coming up: Mercury, Pollutants, Contaminants - Oh my!

guest blog: fish: eating safe, eating good

This guest blog is one of a 5-part series about the benefits of dangers of eating fish, and how to consume it responsibly. Janet Watkins is a freelance writer living and blogging from the Midwest at www.insidewords.blogspot.com.
Please contact me if you are interested in writing a topical guest blog.

I love eating fish. It is on my menu at least twice a week. Salmon and tilapia are particular favorites. I enjoy catfish, too, even though I should avoid eating it according to the Eat Right For Your Type diet (which I follow, generally). But the mercury warnings and concerns about sustainability are enough to make a person holler and forego marine edibles altogether.

As a child, I spent many weekends with my family along the banks of the Detroit River or at some other nearby lake where we would drop lines baited with hopes of snagging the fresh catch of the day. Fish was a mainstay. Mercury and PCB levels were not the concern it is today. Greenpeace red lists did not exist. The destructive practices of fisheries that have put many species at high risk were not widely acknowledged nor publicly known back in the day. And, while intuitively my mother knew eating fish was good food for us, there was no research hailing its health benefits like the Harvard Public Health study, which states eating modest amounts of fish each week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 36% and overall mortality by 17%.

Doctors and health experts all agree that the benefits that come from eating fish outweigh the risks. But given the ongoing health warnings and environmental concerns, what’s a fish lover to do?

Remember the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland? His madness was likely due to the mercury leeching from that top hat he wore. Before its use was banned in the 1940s, mercury was used in the curing of some felt hats. Scientific evidence shows that many of the hat makers suffered severe neurological effects from inhaling the fumes during the hat making process. Psychotic symptoms and hallucinations were experienced by many of the workers as mercury poisoning progressed. So what does this have to do with eating fish? You don’t have to be in the hat making business to be worried about mercury – it has invaded our waters. And, therefore also shows up in the fish we eat.

Understanding the threats to the marine environment can help us make informed decisions about eating fish. Learning about the pollution issues of our water can help us steer clear of contaminated fish.

Coming up: Habitat and Sustainability

guest blog: don't forget to brush your teeth

Sabrina Hu is a yuppie working the corporate world in Atlanta, GA. She thinks that Bill Gates should run for some office and work his “creative capitalism” edge on sustainable enterprises. In her free time, she sits and ponders about her environmental footprint as well the as the internally displaced children and child soldiers in Uganda, while dreaming about blue skies and white beach sands.
Please contact me if you are interested in writing a topical guest blog.

Many years ago, a dear friend, Mike, made an analogy that taking care of yourself is like brushing your teeth in the morning. Mike said that “Before you (and even super heroes) go and try to take on the world every day, you should make sure that you have minty fresh breath. Taking care of yourself is something that you have to do before you take care of others or the world around.” Since then literally and figuratively, I’ve been brushing my teeth. (I’d probably be unemployed if I didn’t…)

And so in line with figuratively “brushing my teeth”, I participated in a 6-day alkalizing detox through my yoga studio. Three days of raw foods were followed by 3 days of juices. This isn’t my first time participating in this cleanse but the effects of this cleanse were a little different. The first time was about mind over body and mental strength. This cleanse was about winter time rejuvenation of my body and spirit.

The raw foods portion of the cleanse was a catered menu of various salads and cold soups. We started off each morning with an alkalizing elixir of warm water with lemon followed by a 30-minute walk, and then eating two apples in 30-minute intervals. The rest of the day, we were free to eat as much as we liked of our salads.

My first three days were amazing. I loved experiencing the raw foods and tasting things in their natural states. The catered salads were inspiring in that they showed me how things could be combined to make new salads and different combinations of veggies. Who knew that curry powder, grated carrots, pumpkin seeds and lentils would be so good? Or that broccoli and tahini mixed with garlic and onions would be so stimulating?! Everything was SO delicious!

In the juice half of the cleanse mornings started with a cleansing tea to help to clear the digestive tract, followed by a breakfast of fruit juice. Aloe juice acted as soothing mid-morning snack and carrot juice, apple juice, mixed veggie juice, and miso soup rounded out the rest of the days’ snacks and ‘meals’, and right before bed was a cup of spearmint tea.

To round out the cleanse, we had daily 2-3 hour yin yoga in the evenings, followed by dry bristle body brushes, hot salt water baths, and cold showers. These practices helped to clear toxins out of the organs, draw out impurities, improve blood circulation, and clearing out lymph nodes.

You’re probably thinking, “Oh Sabrina, you are crazy, girl. You were probably dragging all week and ready to chew on your hand.” However, quite the opposite happened. In giving my body a rest from all the time it spend digesting, it was able to take those energies and put them towards cleaning out my organs and my blood. I did drag a little the second day from the toxins releasing into my blood stream, but it quickly went away. It left me energized and alert- sometimes too energized and I couldn’t sleep. I felt rested and peaceful. I wasn’t spending so much time thinking about my next meal (and boy do I spend a lot of time thinking about food!). My mind was clear and I was able to evaluate where I was spending all of my time (thinking about food, preparing food, cleaning up, the gym). It was very introspective. In addition, my skin is now glowing. I was breaking out prior to the cleanse, and you would never know it now. Everything is soft, supple and smooth. It feels like I just left the spa! And an added bonus is weight loss of about 5 pounds. (Woo!) This really has been a rejuvenation of the mind and body as I had intended and a great way to start off the New Year.

Namaste!

guest blog: the reluctant treehugger

This is the second in a series of guest blogs. Jason Lowell lives in South Florida, where he works as a website producer. He also spends entirely too much time watching baseball and makes a very respectable grilled cheese sandwich. Jason can be reached at jasonlowell35 at gmail dot com. Please contact me if you are interested in writing a topical guest blog.

Hi - my name is Jason, and I think I'm going green.

I'm trying to cut down on waste. I bring a fork and spoon to the office, instead of using a plastic set I'll throw away later, and I'll put my lunch in reusable containers instead of wrapping it up in plastic wrap or foil. No more coffee cups in the office either. I've got a mug that I keep there and wash on a (semi-) regular basis. I carry a backpack instead of bringing my lunch in a bag I would throw away anyway. And I don't buy bottled water anymore.

I harass my family incessantly about recycling. I read my news online (Google Reader -- it might change your life), and if I do pick up a paper or a magazine, I always make sure to toss it in the recycle bin. I also stopped asking for receipts at the gas pump and ATM.

I've replaced all of my regular light bulbs (or as many as I can reach without a ladder) with compact fluorescents. I now turn off lights and fans when I leave the room, and I'm *trying* to start to unplug things that I don't use very often while they're off. When I leave work, I always power down my computers, instead of just flipping the monitors off. I only wash clothes when I have a full load (probably too full a load).

Yes, it's a little more expensive, but I'm trying to eat organic when possible. I've even taken up eating more soy over the last few years, and I generally feel much healthier when I do. I've gotten funny looks from family and friends for the stockpile of chick'n patties and portobello burgers in the freezer, but those brave enough to try them are now just as addicted. I recently found my carton of Silk empty on the counter, and my brother sitting on the couch, large bowl of cereal in hand.

I bought tofu once. I think it lived in the back of my fridge for a while before I ended up throwing it away. I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment just yet.

Right now, I live in a city where public transportation isn't a reliable option (not unless I want to wake up at 5am to get to work by 9). Though I'm somewhat stuck with driving to work, I've cut back on excessive driving. I also own a pretty fuel-efficient car, and I'm planning on making my next one a hybrid. I also try to go without air conditioning when possible (which, yes, is rare since I live in South Florida).

No, I don't own Birkenstocks. None of my clothing is made out of hemp. I don't have a small shrine to Al Gore in my closet, because you don't need to be obsessive about all of this to make a difference. For me, I've started to pay more attention to the habits I have and doing my small part to break some of the bad ones. If you do a lot of little things, sooner or later, they'll add up.

And then maybe someone will ask you to be a guest blogger.

guest blog: momma's got a brand new (shopping) bag

This, the first in a series of monthly guest blogs, is written by my Mom, Silvia, about her own journey into 'healthier lifestyle enlightenment'. Please contact me if you are interested in writing a topical guest blog.

At my age, being a mother of children in their 20’s, all of those 'eat healthy' and 'go green' statements can be quite confusing because we tend to think that we are stuck in our way of thinking, unable to make changes in the way we live and/or eat. However, I am happy to say that I have made significant changes and feel great! I can’t really say what got me going, other than I started noticing more books and articles on healthy eating and related health issues, seeing reports of tainted foods on the news; and the biggest influence was my daughter who was going to a culinary school specializing in healthy foods. The more I read, the more convicted I became to change.

I suffer from a chronic disease and my husband has a heart condition, so I felt that any changes I made would benefit both of our health. I have always been a pretty good eater so I don’t feel I had to establish completely alien eating. My husband, on the other hand, was a horrible eater. I knew any changes I made for myself would eventually filter over, and I started with small changes for myself and slowly removed pork from my diet, then beef and chicken.

This summer I decided to completely quit eating meat altogether. Mostly, I did it to see how long I would last-- and I'm still going! It was made easier with the markets full of awesome produce. Who can resist all those watermelons, plums, peaches and berries? Not only does my whole body feel better, but all the problems I used to have with my digestive system are gone-- I have more energy and never feel bloated. My hairdresser tells me my hair has gotten thicker and my skin looks great. I've even lost weight and inches too! There are times when I want a burger or a taco and I’ll go for it, but my body quickly tells me I shouldn’t have-- and I pay for it later. It’s amazing how quickly our bodies get used to eating ‘good-for-you’ foods and quickly let us know when we eat foods that are too rich, too salty, too sweet, too processed.

In this transitioning, I have completely changed my husband’s eating habits. He is has been good about tasting all the new and different dishes I put in front of him, and is eating a lot healthier. He has even surprised himself: he was eating homemade chocolate tofu pudding and couldn’t believe it wasn’t his favorite Jell-o pudding! (I myself could never be persuaded to try tofu, however, this summer I tried a deliciously tasty baked tofu!) And while he does eat some meat, he doesn’t eat much, and even then it's turkey or pork, and we both enjoy fish. I’m making my own hummus to snack on with fresh veggies and keeping a jar of fresh made granola on the counter, which we all grab whenever we get the munchies! My friends and family have come to understand that if they come to my home, I won’t be offering them meat dishes, soda or processed foods-- instead, they get freshly made delicious dishes.

We are creatures of habit, and I have found that we can all create new habits that are better for us. I started buying healthier versions of food I’ve always liked by shopping at Whole Foods and try to get my fruits and vegetables from my local farmer’s market. Eating this way, I have discovered how sweet fresh foods are on their own, and have found that whole and fresh foods taste better and need very little seasoning to enjoy their true taste. Just today, I had a baked sweet potato that was so sweet I thought my daughter had put sugar on it, and I ate the whole thing-- and I don't like sweet potatoes. However, she told me that she hadn’t put anything on it.

So if you find yourself wanting to make some changes, I would recommend you start with small steps. Try cutting your meat intake in half: try tofu, beans, or eggs for protein. Eat fresh produce instead of canned.Stop drinking soda and drink more water! Eat whole wheat breads and pastas. And have you every had freshly ground peanut butter? Better yet, my favorite, fresh almond butter! Yummy! Visit a farmers' markets or Whole Foods on a Saturday and you can sample a variety of free samples-- it gives you a chance to try new things without having to commit to actually buying them.

Once you start making some changes, you will find that your taste buds and your body will automatically crave healthier foods. I’m still making changes into my life and not as scared of change since I’ve been seeing so many positive results. I’ve started incorporating 'green' lifestyle changes as well-- saving industrial energy by shopping locally, bringing my own bags when I shop (groceries, Target, everywhere!), and recycling as much as possible-- I feel good about helping the environment and supporting local farmers and businesses.

Take it from someone who felt that making these changes would be hard-- I have actually enjoyed the process. I feel better and am having fun discovering new foods, new recipes and establishing new taste buds. Whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks never fed that dog fresh ground almond butter!