Wild Caught Salmon

by on April 18, 2014

Perhaps no food is better at supplying healthy Omega 3s then wild caught/marine salmon. These salmon have been fed their natural diet of tiny shrimp like creatures called Krill, which not only gives them their lovely reddish orange color, it also gives them the big dose of Omega 3 that we all desire. Be careful when you are shopping to not pick up “Farm-Raised” Salmon. These Salmon have been enclosed in pens and fed a very unnatural diet of corn meal, soy, and even chicken feces pellets. They aren’t even orange until artificial dyes and colors are added, they are grey. I was reading Jonny Bowden’s 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, and he mentioned a tool used called a SalmoFan. It is literally a choice of colors you can select from to determine the color of orange you want your farm raised salmon to be, if you are produce fish these way. Yuck. If you really looked at the facts regarding Farm Raised Salmon, you would probably never touch it again – from the sea lice, to the dangerous cancer causing PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls). There is great website that helps to explain the issues with Farm Raised Salmon in detail at www.farmedanddangerous.org

There are several different types of wild caught Alaskan salmon for you to choose from. Sockeye Salmon, Chinook/King Salmon, and other varieties, plus you can get the Sockeye or Pink Salmon canned. These are all good, as long as they are wild-caught. You will get around 2.5 – 3 grams of high quality Omega 3 per 7oz.

If you are concerned about mercury in fish, you should be. Mercury is a very poisonous toxic metal that never breaks down or disappears. Methylmercury is formed when bacteria come into contact with mercury. Cleaning your fish, or removing skin and organs will not save you either, as it binds to protein various tissues including muscle tissue. Mercury levels of go up as the fish goes up in the food chain. Predatory fish like orange roughy, shark, and swordfish. I have personal experience with this myself as one year in preparing for competition; I consumed a pound of orange roughy every day for 5-6 weeks. I got blood work done after the show, and I had surpassed toxic levels. I will never do that again – lesson learned.

If you want to see a great chart on how many servings you can safely eat per the EPA, visit this site. Go to the bottom and you will find Wild Alaskan Salmon as one of the least contaminated fish. http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=17694

Regards,
John Meadows