Salmon for dinner, mercury toxicity for desert? (part 2)

This post will be a brief nutritional breakdown of the dinner I had a few nights ago.  I think for my next few posts I'll be going over a few more fundamental things about macro nutrients (fats, carbohydrate and protein) and what effect they have on your body and your health.  So with that out of the way, lets get this show on the road.

Starting with the pumpkin, it's chock-full of B vitamins, vitamin C, super high in vitamin A, magnesium, potassium, soluble fiber, low glycemic starches, and the seeds contain one of the highest natural sources of zinc.  Who knew pumpkins were so good for you and NOT just for carving at Halloween.  Throw some pastured butter on top and you have some healthy fats, more vitamin A and some vitamin K2.
 
As for the kale, as many of you know, it has a LOT of antioxidants and amazing anti-inflammatory properties that aid in a variety of disease prevention.  It has a lot of the same micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) as pumpkin with a lot more vitamin K.  Kale is rated as one of the most nutrient dense foods because of its low caloric content and high nutrient value.  Making kale chips in either melted coconut oil or olive oil is another source of healthy fats.  Many of the vitamins you get from veggies are fat soluble, which means you actually NEED fat in order for your body to absorb them.  So when you order your next salad, make sure to NOT avoid the full fat dressing. 
The salmon in the meal is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and a very well absorbed form of vitamin D.  Our bodies need Vitamin D for almost every cellular function in the body and thus for those cultures living in a place of little sunlight, eating cold water fish is a very effective way to keep vitamin D levels up.

Now I wanted to share a bit of information I myself just learned.  I was listening to the weekly podcast from Chris Kresser about mercury toxicity from eating fish.  I'll try and keep it fairly simple and understandable.  Firstly, mercury itself doesn't cause so much direct damage to your body, but remember all those anti-oxidants in the meal above? Well for your body to make use of anti-oxidants (which help prevent or reverse damage from various oxygen related processes) it needs enzymes from selenium.  Therein lies the problem with mercury, it binds to the selenium so there is none available to help your body make use of those beneficial anti-oxidants you guys are eating, right?.  Fish is pretty high in mercury so that must mean then, that you shouldn't eat fish, right?  Not so fast.  Ocean fish, and most fresh water fish, actually have much more selenium than mercury, thus providing more than enough selenium for the mercury's use while leaving plenty for your body to use for the assimilation of anti-oxidants.  The good news for us is that most fish you find in your local grocery store or market has more selenium than mercury.  So believe me, the benefits of eating fish FAR outweigh any negatives.  There is a great documentary about 20 minutes long, from the University of North Dakota, that does a great job of explaining in more detail if anyone is interested.  It can be found by clicking here.  So basically I am saying, stop reading this and go eat some fish.. 2-3 times a week at least. 

 All the best,

Matt

Salmon for dinner, mercury toxicity for desert? (part 1)

So it's my second post and it was just going to be a short and sweet recipe of what I had for dinner last night, however it just so happened that today I read some studies and listened to a few podcasts and the issue of fish and mercury toxicity was discussed at length.  I decided to go into detail with a nutritional overview of the meal tomorrow and discuss why mercury levels aren't typically a concern when eating fish, but for today I'll stick to my original plan of last nights dinner.

I like to base my meal around what protein I'm going to be using, because well... I love meat.  Last night I decided to have salmon as it was basically all I had left and I was far too lazy to go to the grocery store.  I recently bought Practical Paleo, a nutritional reference guide and cookbook, written by one half of a duo of girls who have a great wellness blog/podcast called balanced bites - check them out!  There was an amazing recipe for lemon rosemary broiled salmon.  It was delicious and super easy.  As you can probably guess the ingredients are: Salmon(preferably wild and sustainably sourced), dried rosemary, sea salt and fresh lemon.  That's it.  The only other thing you need is a source of fat to grease the pan and put a little bit on top of each filet.  I would suggest butter or coconut oil - I opted for butter(from grass fed cattle ideally).  Pop in the oven Broil for 10-12 minutes and that's all folks.

Next I typically make a random assortment of sides usually consisting of a slightly starchy vegetable and something green.  Last night was pumpkin pancakes with banana and cinnamon, again from Practial Paleo.  I don't want to give all their recipes away but I will say these was completely grain free and DELICIOUS.  My green tonight was kale chips.  If you haven't tried these they are super easy, nutritious and really satisfy that chip craving of something crunchy and salty.  I will do another post about how to make your own kale chips - perfect late night snack.  Some pictures of each below...  I am going to assume you can tell which ones are which.  If not then I give you an electronic smack.  Partially joking of course.  Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see the nutritional benefits of this meal! 

What's your favorite way to make salmon? Leave me a comment and let me know!

It's late and I'm tired so talk at ya tomorrow people! Have a good one!

Matt