RESPONSIBLE SEAFOOD PART 2

ANNOUNCEMENT: I never quite knew where to put my responses to reader comments, my updates on past topics, and my corrections and explanations to various items I'd neglected, so time and again I've been in the habit of doing a whole blog entry to attend to those matters. From now on, to keep new topics coming, I'm creating a section at the end of the blog called "LEFTOVERS," where I'll address those items, unless a topic is large enough that I can do a substantial blog entry devoted to it.

Hopefully by now some of my readers are eating more seafood, and perhaps finding the sustainably caught or farmed finfish in stores near them. I know it's not always easy. I thought it would be easier to find responsible shellfish, until I read about them and checked out my local supermarket. It was "slim pickins," but then again I was at a major chain grocery store.

As with the other fish, you can get more information about good seafood choices on the web site www.seafoodwatch.org, from which I boosted most of the below information.

RESPONSIBLE SHELLFISH TO EAT:

1. CLAMS, farmed (apparently farmed anywhere is OK according to seafoodwatch.org)

2. CRAB, stone and Dungeness crabs (this seems too good to be true, as local Bay Area sources tell me that Dungeness crab is fast becoming overfished on the West Coast- hopefully seafoodwatch will have an update on this at some point)

3. LOBSTER, U.S. Spiny lobster(wild)

4. MUSSELS, farmed

5. OYSTERS, farmed

6. SCALLOPS, farmed (Bay scallops only)

7. OYSTERS, wild (unfortunately, there is a "mercury warning" on this one)

8. SHRIMP, U.S. ONLY (farmed or wild, but these are considered OK choices, not "Best Choices"). Alas, it seems that no shrimp are great choices.

YOU'RE MOST LIKELY to find U.S. shrimp, or farmed Bay scallops, at a typical grocery store. Fortunately, these are healthy food choices and at least the farmed Bay scallops are considered a "Best Choice" by seafoodwatch.org. If you're lucky enough to live near the coast, you may commonly find such delicacies as Spiny lobster, wild oysters, and stone crabs. In fact, stone crabs are easy to catch yourself if you live near a pier. And they are simply delicious!

NEXT BLOG: we're going to get more into some more exotic fish, mollusks such as squid, and more about fish you can catch yourself.

LEFTOVERS

1. Tilapia: apparently not all farmed U.S. Tilapia are without problems- check the reader comments on my last seafood blog, a reader has a great link to a site that "fleshes out" the facts about Tilapia.

2. Drug questions? Some of my own patients have brought up some amazing questions about pharmaceuticals lately; questions that have sent me off to hit the textbooks and to hit up my pharmacists for more info. If you're on any drugs, prescribed or otherwise, feel free to ask any questions here.

3. Finally, my favorite: What ILLNESS does Kenley from the show "Project Runway" have?

I spent all day thinking about this one. But I need to restrain myself, because of the following disclaimer, which you must read before reading any further:

-I don't know Kenley at all and have never met her.

-I'm not a psychiatrist.

-She may be acting. After all, she should have been fired at least 3 episodes ago. Why do they keep her on? Because a "crazy person" stirring up drama makes a show more exciting. She may be getting paid under the table to act nuts.

-If she does have a mental illness that she's struggling with, it would be harsh to rip on her about it. Unlike her, I'm actually nice to most people and feel guilty making fun of them, unless they are myself.

SO, I'm simply going to list the diagnoses that I've been WONDERING about, when I see her behavior on television. You'll have to find out more about them on your own.

1. (Most likely, in my limited opinion): Narcisisstic personality disorder, quite possibly with antisocial features.

2. Borderline personality disorder with psychotic features.

3. Bipolar depression (currently in bipolar mania part of the cycle).

How she behaves in future episodes may help narrow down this entirely speculative list.

RESPONSIBLE SEAFOOD: PART 1

All day long I find myself looking at bad cholesterol numbers, and high blood pressures, and singing a similar song to my patients: Eat More Seafood. Eat More Vegetables. Exercise More.

It's pretty simple to live a healthy lifestyle, when you really think about it. But some of these things need elucidation, especially if you're thinking about more than just a healthy "you." What if you're thinking about a healthy planet? I know I am. I want to keep my own body, my family, my community, and my patients healthy. But JUST AS importantly: I want my planet to be healthy. Perhaps that's even more important. After all, if we don't have a healthy planet to support us, what use is our own health?

As you know from my recent blog, when a doctor tells you to "eat more seafood," you can include shellfish on your shopping list. But as you may also know, seafood, including shellfish, is a complicated issue. Which seafood items are fished or farmed in a manner that respects the environment? Which fish are overfished? Which fish are farmed in a manner that destroys ocean and watershed ecosystems? Which fish are loaded with mercury and other harmful contaminants?

RESPONSIBLE SEAFOOD THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU

If you read no further, read this: the web site that will tell you everything you need to know about seafood: www.seafoodwatch.org. This site was created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, and it's updated frequently. Rather than just telling you what NOT to eat, this site gives you lists of seafood products that ARE safe to eat, that ARE readily available, and that ARE fished or farmed in a sustainable manner. Yes, the lists do get long and complicated, but that's just because there are many organisms that can be described as "seafood."

SEAFOOD TO EAT: FINFISH

Here are the best choices. Keep in mind the SAME fish can be a sustainable choice or a TERRIBLE choice, depending on how it was raised or caught. If you don't know, ask the person at the seafood counter of your store. If they don't know, leave the store and go somewhere else.

People have NO BUSINESS selling stuff they don't know about, especially if it's food.

EAT THESE:

1. FARMED U.S. Catfish (easy to find)

2. PACIFIC wild Halibut (moderately easy to find)

3. ALASKA WILD Salmon (sometimes hard to find)

4. ALASKA WILD Pollock (hard to find)

5. U.S. FARMED Tilapia (easy to find)

6. FARMED Rainbow trout (easy to find)

7. U.S. or BRITISH COLUMBIA, trolled or pole-caught Albacore Tuna (hard to find)

8. Trolled or pole-caught Skipjack (I've never heard of it)

9. LAKE, TRAP-NET caught Whitefish (moderately easy to find)

10. U.S. FARMED Barramundi (I don't know where to find it)

THE EASY BOTTOM LINE

If the above is too complex for you, let me recommend my favorite 3, easy-to-find, very healthy and large finfish. There are lots of little healthy fish, but today I'm talking about fish that are nice as fat fillets and steaks, when you want a big slab of yummy fish:

1. U.S. Farmed Tilapia: it's hard NOT to find this fish in food stores. Can be used in any recipe that calls for Halibut, trout, sole, flounder, catfish, or other "whitefish."

2. Wild Alaskan Salmon: you might need to go to a specialized meat or seafood store for this, or a Whole Paycheck Market. I rarely see this in the normal chain supermarkets, which are awash with Atlantic Salmon and farmed salmon, both of which are BAD CHOICES for the planet. If you don't know how to cook salmon, post a comment. I've got recipes.

3. Farmed Rainbow Trout: this is still my favorite fish to pan-fry with a bit of butter, lemon, and salt and pepper. I consider it the "flank steak" of fish: lean, tasty, and delicious without a lot of spices or sauces needed. I see it in most of the grocery stores I go to.

NEXT BLOG: SEAFOOD TO EAT- THE SHELLFISH

THE VARIETIES OF THE SHELLFISH EXPERIENCE

Many people are allergic to shellfish; most of those people, however, can eat regular fish, or "finfish" as they are called in the nutritional literature. One of my dear friends, however, is allergic to "finfish" but not to shellfish, prompting me to look into the health benefits of eating these animals. After all, they sure are tasty!
It turns out that the data are somewhat mixed, but on the whole I can thankfully say: SHELLFISH ARE GOOD FOR YOU, with a few qualifications. In fact, many shellfish are EXTREMELY GOOD FOR YOU! Let's break them down by pros and cons:

1. SCALLOPS: in my literature review, it turned out that scallops were probably the healthiest shellfish out there. While they are not as high in the beneficial omega-fatty acids as some of the other shellfish, they are very high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and relatively low in cholesterol. I would say with no reservations that if you want to eat shellfish frequently, scallops are the way to go. They are easy to grill, which is another benefit, and they freeze well.
2. CRABS AND LOBSTERS: these are a mixed bag. Believe it or not, these spiny crustaceans actually have the most beneficial omega-fatty acids of all the shellfish. So in terms of their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, crabs and lobsters are the best shellfish choice. Some problems: First, they are overfished and numbers are declining. Second, they are high in cholesterol, which itself can contribute to heart disease. Balancing out the risk/benefits however, these are still healthier food choices than most animal meats.
3. CLAMS: not a bad food by any means. They are loaded with protein, B vitamins (who knew?) and lots of minerals. They are moderately high in cholesterol, but not as much as most animal meats. They can also be farmed, and for reasons I don't understand farmed shellfish do not seem to cause environmental degredation (the way some farmed finfish do). Of course, all filter feeding shellfish such as clams, mussels, and oysters can cause outbreaks of disease when they feed on toxic algae. But this can be avoided by cooking them.
4. MUSSELS: similar to clams, with a bit more cholesterol but also more minerals.
5. OYSTERS: similar to mussels. Naturally, they are delicious raw. They have a modest amount of cholesterol but also a modest amount of healthy omega-fatty acids. I say: eat them all you want. Yes, you could get food poisoning from them when you eat them raw, but in recent years there have been VERY few reports of food poisoning from oysters. It's fast-food beef and commercial vegetables you need to watch out for in this regard.
6. CRAWFISH (otherwise known as crayfish, crawdads, and mudbugs): nutritionally these are similar to lobsters and crabs, but lack much of the beneficial omega fatty-acids. So they are not as good for you as crabs and lobsters, and they have quite a bit of cholesterol. They are a treat when fresh, but hard to find, so most of you probably don't eat a ton of these anyway. I order them from Louisiana once a year and pig out on them for about a week, and it's fun. But I wouldn't recommend doing that every weekend.
7. SHRIMP: unfortunately, our beloved shrimp round out the bottom of the list, nutritionally. They are a great source of protein and minerals, but they are also the highest in cholesterol of all the shellfish. They do have some anti-inflammatory fatty acids in them, which might offset this a bit. But they don't have much. They are also filling, and filling foods can help reduce calorie intake for people who need to lose weight. I don't think they are a bad choice overall, and the prevalence of shrimp farming has led to less overharvesting of shrimp from the sea. My concern is that if you eat shrimp more than once every 1-2 weeks, they can increase your cholesterol numbers. Personally, I'm going to start eating less shrimp and a lot more scallops.
NOTE: I did not investigate thoroughly the "sustainability" of the above shellfish foods. However, people in the know have told me that "farmed" shellfish are both healthy and neutral to the environment. So unless you know something I don't, go for farmed shellfish and learn how to like scallops if you can.