We’ve been really upping the fish intake here at casa agad, and I must say that I’m lovin it! We’ve mainly been eating salmon — but we’ve also had some halibut. These two fish are high in all the things we decided we needed more of: B vitamins, vitamin D, and omega 3. It’s also a great source of protein. We try to buy wild-caught Alaskan Salmon, because it is more sustainable. We also go with Pacific / Alaskan Halibut, as it is more sustainable than Atlantic.
Last week, we enjoyed some wildcaught copper river salmon which we baked on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. It was super tasty — we had it with coconut-lime quinoa and toasted-then-steamed cauliflower sauteed with some garlic and fresh ginger root. I love creating meals like this — where you throw in a hint of something in each part of the meal, so it creates some harmony between the different dishes. Jake threw some garlic and olive oil on the fish before baking it, and I boiled the quinoa with lime, ginger, and coconut milk; then I threw in some garlic and ginger with the cauliflower to bring it all together! It was a masterpiece.
Anyway — back to the fish. I had no idea the importance of balancing omega 3′s and 6′s in your diet! Both of these are essential fatty acids that we cannot make in our own bodies. Omega 3′s are fairly hard to come by in the typical American diet — the most common sources are cold water fish like salmon and herring. Vegetarians can get this from walnuts and flaxseeds – but the body has to go through a little more work to get it (needing to convert the precursors to omega-3 contained in these sources into EPA and DHA, the two types of omega-3). We need EPA and DHA to build hormones that control immune function, cell growth, and blood clotting.
By contrast, omega 6′s are EVERYWHERE! They are found in seeds and nuts and the oils extracted from them – which are in everything the typical American eats every day (think soybean oil, which makes up 20% of the typical American’s caloric intake every day). Our body also makes hormones from Omega 6′s — but those hormones have the opposite effect than Omega 3-derived hormones, causing inflammation, blood clotting, and cell proliferation (where omega-3 fatty acid hormones have the opposite effect).
Many nutrition experts have concluded that the rise of many common diseases today can be attributed, at least in part, to the severe imbalance in our intake of Omega-3 fatty acids versus Omega-6, including: asthma, coronary heart disease, many forms of cancer, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, depression and hyperactivity (which are all associated with inflammation). Cutting down on processed foods will help immeasurably with this balance, as will using extra virgin olive oil for cooking, and eating more fish!!! And, add another tally mark next to sea veggies — which are also an excellent source of omega-3 (especially kelp)!
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