Posts Tagged ‘Healthy Diet’
What Makes Fish Sick Part 3: How Sick Fish Make People Sick
In part two of What Makes Fish Sick, we discussed in detail DDT and PCBs. In part three of this What Makes Fish Sick series we will discuss the health risks that are caused by consuming contaminated fish and provide information to reduce your risk of exposure to those harmful chemicals.
Fish are incredibly nutritious and very important to a healthy diet. However, consuming fish with high levels of contaminants can prove harmful to your health. While eating the type of contaminated fish we are talking about will not get you sick right away like food poisoning does, the contaminants will accumulate in the body and create potentially serious health problems in the future. Due to the fact that side effects do not occur instantly and a sickness may not develop right away, it is important to remember the risks and be aware that those who eat large amounts of fish are at greater risk and most likely to become ill or contract a disease.
Most people today are unaware that they are still exposed to these chemicals at all, much less through the food they eat. Although it is impossible to completely avoid these chemicals in your diet, there are some ways you can protect your body and reduce your exposure to them. By following these simple steps, you can greatly decrease your body to DDT and PCBs exposure:
• Cut off visible animal fats before cooking. This is because higher levels of chemicals accumulate in fat.
• Choose fish wisely – always check fish advisories. All fish are not bad for you but the ones that are contaminated in many areas of Southern California fishing are white croaker, barred sand bass, barracuda, black croaker and topsmelt.
• Completely remove skin of fish. The skin is where high levels of contaminants are stored.
• Choose lean meat cuts or buy organic when possible. Organic means that they have not been exposed to pesticides, growth hormones, or bioengineering.
• Cut off visible fat before cooking meat or fish and choose lower-fat cooking methods like broiling, grilling, roasting or pressure-cooking.
• Choose low fat or organic options for dairy products.
• Clean and prepare fish properly. That entails a number of methods, which we have outlined below.
A lot of the contaminants can be removed solely by the way you prepare your fish. Always remove the skin, fat and internal organs when you begin preparation because these are the parts of the fish that store the most contaminants. Grill, bake or broil the fish, which allows for the fat of the fish to drip away. Contaminants are concentrated in the fatty portions of the fish, so removing the fat and cooking the fish in order for the fat to drip away are crucial in lessening your exposure. Do not fry fish or meats, since frying seals in the contaminants. If you follow these easy steps, you will be saving your body from unnecessary and harmful toxins.
