The Hemp Connection [Search results for fish] 

I wrote this article two years ago for a newsletter I was publishing. As we face a very important issue in the Gulf of Mexico, the issue of farmed fish needs to be revisited. I hope this creates awareness and opens up dialogue. For my nutrition colleagues reading this blog, we can be such an important part of the solution…provided we disseminate the real facts.

Despite our current love affair with salmon, our relationship with this cold-water fish has not always been productive. As recently as 30 years ago, it was reported that as much as 80% of a year’s supply was commercially fished out of the water. Despite an awareness of a need for better fishing practices and attention to sustainability, recent salmon fisheries were shut down along the Pacific Coast due to drastic drops in supplies.

As salmon gains favor as the fish with the highest known concentration of the coveted omega-3 fatty acids,
threats on its numbers, and its ability to sustain itself, are only likely to increase. One answer to maintaining salmon populations has been to farm them. However, fish farming has not been an industry that has been met with open arms. Current popular wisdom—and professional recommendations—tend to lean toward “wild Alaskan salmon” as the ultimate in seafood choices. However, it is just not that simple.

It is not at all a Free Willy scenario.

It is important to understand what “wild” really means. These “wild” salmon we envision with a lifetime of free ocean swimming are not all that likely to start life as a salmon egg hatching free of human contact and growing into an adult that has lived a life free of farms, pesticides, or any human mishandling.

Salmon are a migratory fish. In an ideal scenario, they would have free access to both oceans, where they
would spend most of their time, and rivers, where they swim to reproduce. Unfortunately, as many rivers the salmon used for spawning were dammed to be used for generating hydroelectric power, the salmon lost their breeding ground. In order to keep the prized fish from completely losing reproductive ground, salmon hatcheries were developed. It is here that salmon eggs are collected and hatched, and where a very high percentage of “wild” salmon begin their lives.

Actually, the process is a little more involved. Adult salmon are killed. Their eggs and sperm are collected
and combined, and the fish resulting from this process are raised in the hatchery (in a tank or a concrete
pond) for about 2 years. They are then released into the oceans, and can legally be called “wild.” As Mark
Powell, Vice President for Fish Conservation at the Ocean Conservancy and creator of the blog, “Blogfish”
describes it, “a ‘wild’ salmon may live half its life in a pond and the next half swimming in the open ocean, compared to a ‘farmed’ salmon that lives half its life in a pond and the next half in an open-ocean net pen. When in captivity, the ‘wild’and ‘farmed’ salmon are in nearly identical conditions… Also certain is that if you eat so-called"wild" salmon you have probably paid wild fish prices for fish that were spawned in a bucket and did some hard time in a concrete pond. ”

Based on this description, the terms “wild” and “farmed” merely describe what part of a fish’s life was spent
in captivity. The percentage of “wild” salmon that are actually hatchery-derived varies from region to region,
but as reported by blogfish, is 25% of Alaskan and British Columbia salmon, and at least 75% of salmon from Washington, Oregon, and California. Even the prestigious, expensive Copper River salmon is not exempt; as much as 24% of Copper River salmon in the market originated in hatcheries. Powell writes, “For a scientist, there are three main types of salmon, wild, farmed, and hatchery. But fishermen and the seafood industry call salmon wild if they're caught in the ocean, no matter how long they actually lived free.”

What this translates into, is that a label denoting “wild Alaskan salmon” is telling you that you have a 75% chance of having a fish that did not spend any of its life in any artificial confinement, as a hatchling, or as an adult. You are not guaranteed that this fish spent 100% of its life in the wild before being caught. The best bet
for wild salmon, according to blogfish, is the Copper River king variety, which is almost 100% wild.

Why would hatchery-bred fish be labeled as wild? Salmon populations have been declining for decades.

Much of the research about why, implicates damming of rivers that they need to have access to in order to
spawn. Hatcheries were originally developed as a means to maintain salmon populations, but it’s been difficult to produce evidence that this practice is actually effective. Rather than address the real issue, “wild” was redefined to include hatchery-bred fish, in order to create the impression that salmon populations are healthy, rather than declining. Unfortunately, words can only do so much. This past season, reality hit hard when Pacific fisheries had to close the salmon catch because populations were too low.

What is it about hatchery salmon that endangers the truly wild Salmon? Numerous issues, according to Salmon Nation, an organization dedicated to protecting salmon integrity. Initially, hatchery salmon were fed a mixture of fish offal, horse meat, tripe, and condemned pork and beef that ultimately spread disease throughout the populations of fish these hatchery fingerlings interacted with once they were released.

In 1960, feed was changed to pellets made from fishmeal. This new pellet drastically increased the numbers of fingerlings that survived to a size where they could be released into local rivers. However, in the numbers they were being released, they were competing for available food with truly wild salmon.

There has been a tendency on the part of hatcheries to assume that salmon are interchangeable from river to
river. Aquascientists have learned, however, that each strain of salmon, over hundreds of thousands of years, has developed immune systems specifically capable of defending against parasites and diseases found in the waters in which it is native. Fish whose parents were native to one river simply do not have the natural defenses to successfully survive the elements of a neighboring river. Indiscriminate release of salmon into a variety of environments results in a decreased immune resistance which is perpetuated into wild salmon as interbreeding occurs. The result is overall decreased survival rates, and ultimately dimished salmon populations.

The point of this article is not to determine which is better, wild or farmed salmon. Those debates exist in
abundance in other printed and electronic media. The purpose is to challenge whether or not nutrition specialists are helping or exacerbating the problem of declining salmon populations by not looking closer at facts before making recommendations and understanding labeling laws. It is true, salmon is the densest source of omega-3 fatty acids compared to other fish. And it is true, a truly wild salmon is nutritionally superior to any kind of salmon that spent any of its life in captivity.

Could it also be true, however, that promoting the perception that a wild salmon is something that it may
not be, only puts more pressure on a declining population of fish that is already struggling to survive?

One thing we CAN do, is to encourage consumption of a wide variety of fish. Salmon is not the only fish that contains omega-3’s.

We can also educate about the issue of hatcheries. If the demand for a product declines, it puts pressure on the industry that depends on sales of that product to adapt its practices in order to sustain itself.

The current situation has resulted from multiple detrimental policies affecting salmon and the habitat they depend on. It supports the argument that waiting for policy makers to figure out how to fix the problem may not be a viable solution. Reducing demand for a product that encourages ineffective policies to continue, in other words, voting with our collective purchases, may be the best sustainability strategy of all.

REFERENCES

http://www.salmonnation.com/essays/hatcheries.html
http://www.nativefishsociety.org/conservation/biblio/wild_vs_hatchery/index.html

http://www.blogfishx.blogspot.com/

If you're a foodie…a New York Times lover…or a Twitter junkie, you likely saw the article last week about the strong possibility that genetically engineered salmon may soon make its way to our marketplace. These salmon can grow twice as quickly as natural salmon, therefore making salmon more available to the growing market of people who have been educated to believe that this fish is the only one providing a significant source of omega-3 fatty acids. (An important note: These fish will not grow to humongous size, they will merely reach their mature size more quickly than natural salmon…a"body builder fish," so to speak.)

Essentially, this new type of salmon is an Atlantic salmon with genes spliced into its DNA from the Pacific Chinook salmon and the pout, another salmon-type of fish. The genes allow the new fish to produce growth hormone year round, and therefore grow year round, instead of just during the summer.

Aqua Bounty, the company that created this fish, has to provide seven sets of data to the FDA, proving that this new fish is the traditional equivalent of natural salmon; they've already submitted five of those sets.

This is what happens when we get overly enthusiastic about one type of fish and recommend it to the exclusion of all other possibilities in the sea. Greed sets in.

What is of concern to me is that these fish, according to current labeling laws, would not even be required to be labeled as genetically engineered. (The FDA to date actually opposes mandatory labeling on a food"merely because it was genetically engineered"). The CEO of Aqua Bounty, Ronald Stotish, has already absolved himself of responsibility in this area, claiming that since his company would only be selling eggs to fish farms, and not fish to markets, they would not be the party in the production chain to regulate. His take?"If there's no material difference, then it would be misleading to require labeling."

It seems as though this would be a great way to tank the entire salmon industry, given the fact that people tend to be all-or-nothing in their consumer choices and would likely shift away from all salmon"just to be safe".

If this technology is approved, it will still take 2 to 3 years for these salmon to show up in your stores.

For those of you reading this blog who know how much we love to recommend fish for your health, here are some questions to ask yourself and points to remember when making your own seafood choices.

1. ALL seafood contains omega-3 fatty acids. You don't have to eat just salmon! The benefit is double, as every ounce of fish you eat replaces an ounce of a more saturated type of meat. So whether it's bass, tuna, scallops, or shrimp, your choice is perfectly fine.

2. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, the go-to place for fish recommendations, lists Atlantic salmon, farmed and wild, as a type of seafood to avoid in their seafood watch program.

3. To help increase the total omega-3 supply, consider trout! Farmed trout, which is genetically and nutritionally slightly higher in omega-3's than salmon*, is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Best Choices List. You can buy it boned if that is a deterrent. I've been experimenting with trout and many of my salmon recipes work very well. It's a bit more fragile as far as cooking methods, but the flavors you cook with can work just fine.

4. In addition to trout, there are numerous farmed fish options getting the Monterey Bay green light, including: char, clams, cobia, mussels, oysters, striped bass, and tilapia.

4. If you're an adventurous eater…why not just eat the pout? It's plentiful and edible.

5. Speak up! Don't let this issue fall through the cracks. The only reason this kind of technology can even survive…is if consumers create a market for it.

*Trout contains 1.6 grams omega-3's per 100 grams
Salmon contains 1.4 grams omega-3's per 100 grams

In going with my theme of"I hate top ten food lists", I thought I'd write about trout. I love salmon, it's one of my favorite fish, but I have two really big problems with the fact that 99% of health professionals giving omega-3 diet advice either never considered or simply ignore:

1. There is not enough wild Alaskan salmon on the planet to make it the primary omega-3 source for everyone on the planet. It is unhealthy for the salmon, and the ecosystem surrounding them, for us to only recommend that fish as an omega-3 source. Anyone who presents this as their only option for increasing omega-3's is providing you with advice that may be immediately healthy for you, but given its effect on planetary health, may hurt all of us in the long run.

2. Salmon is seasonal, and regional, and it is not a budget-friendly choice for many people.

The truth is, ALL fish and seafood contain omega-3. Sure, salmon is a very dense source, but it is not the ONLY source. I'd like to write a little bit today about salmon's"kissin' cousin," or as this past weekend's Los Angeles training group came to call it,"poor man's salmon".

I have a freezer full of trout because my parents spend their summer days in Arizona's White Mountains fishing and catching their limit. I have learned from all my omega-3 research that trout are nutritionally similar to salmon. In fact, there is even one type of fish that, depending on if it heads back to the ocean or stays in the river, is labelled a salmon or a trout. It makes sense, the flesh is pink like salmon and it lives happily in cold water.

I think part of the reason trout is not popular is that it is traditionally eaten in its skin, with bones intact. If that's your issue, find a local grocer that bones the fillets. It makes a huge difference.

For awhile, I had trouble with trout because I didn't know how to cook it. Then it occurred to me that if it's practically a salmon, then my salmon recipes would likely work pretty well on trout. And that has proven to be true.

Gretchen Kubacky shared these trout recipes that are popular in her home. I am sharing them because they're yummy…and so that all you readers can see that you don't just have to be a nutritionist to love healthy food and tasty cooking! Thanks Gretchen!

Here's a great website on trout if you'd like to learn more.

Grilled Trout

Can use any quantity of trout – for each trout:

1. Wash and dry the trout, inside and out.

2. Slash both sides of the trout at approximately 1” intervals, being careful not to slice all the way through.

3. On both sides of the fish, open the slits, and, with a teaspoon or your finger, rub your favorite Cajun spice rub into each slit, and inside the cavity of the fish. Trial and error will determine the correct amount of spice rub. However, start with about a tablespoon for the entire fish, as a guideline.

4. Let the fish sit for 20 – 30 minutes at room temperature (or the refrigerator, in Arizona!) so the spices penetrate the flesh.

5. In the meantime, heat the grill to medium-high/high.

6. Put the trout on the grill for four minutes, turn it, and grill for four minutes on the other side (depending on the heat and size of the fish). It will char and the skin should be easy to peel off.

7. Remove from the grill. Serve with or without skin/bones/head/tail, as desired.

Chinese Steamed Trout

Again, this is good for any quantity – whatever your microwave’s capacity is.

1. Wash and dry the trout, inside and out.

2. Slash both sides of the trout at approximately 1” intervals, being careful not to slice all the way through.

3. Thinly slice (1/8” or so) approximately a 1” chunk of ginger (approximately ½” to ¾” diameter).

4. Sprinkle a little sugar and a little salt in each slit, both sides of the fish (again, trial and error). Both will contribute to softening the flesh, and developing the complexity of flavor.

5. Slice/shred a good handful of cilantro (half a bunch per fish, or thereabouts).

6. Insert a ginger slice in each slit, along with some cilantro.

7. Put the rest of the ginger slices and cilantro in the cavity of the fish.

8. Pour soy sauce and rice vinegar in the slits and over both sides of the fish, and in the cavity.

9. Put it in a rectangular Pyrex dish (cut in half if necessary to fit).

10. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

11. Let the fish sit for 20 – 30 minutes at room temperature, turning periodically and spooning the “marinade” over/into the fish.

12. Cover tightly. Microwave 6 – 7 minutes at medium high (1,000 watt microwave oven).

13. Remove from microwave oven; keep covered and let stand for 2 – 3 minutes. Fish is done when flesh is opaque.

14. Optional, for added flair: Heat a little sesame oil and drizzle over fish prior to serving.

15. Serve with your favorite rice, stir-fried bok choy, etc. The best way to eat this is with chopsticks – the flesh just peels off – and watch for bones.

If you've been following the blog over the last week, I've been reporting about interesting products and things I learned at the 2011 Natural Products West Expo. It's a huge exposition where food companies hoping to connect with buyers for health food stores have a chance to showcase their products. There were about 2,000 exhibitors there, and in 3 days I didn't get a chance to see and talk to everyone I wanted to. You can imagine, on the exhibitor end, the pressure there is to create a product, packaging concept, and booth display that catches the eye of the people you came to meet!

Unfortunately, not all concepts were on target. I'm sharing one that is a common example of how omega-3 marketing is not always accurate. It's still not regulated well, so there are lots of variations in how facts are presented that can be confusing to the person who knows they want to eat well but doesn't understand all the facts.

Yesterday I pulled a fish oil bottle out of my sample bag and noticed on the label that it was"extra-virgin" fish oil. This is a concept that I'm familiar with when it refers to olive oil, and it means that it is the olive oil from the first press of olives. It's a stronger oil, with a lower smoke point, and more appropriate for recipes where the oil is not heated. But it's not really a concept that has any relevance to fish. (I joked with my Facebook friends about whether or not it really mattered what the fish were doing before we caught them!) This particular product's label was also busy with breakdowns of omega-3's, 5's, 6's, 7's, and 9's, promoting a"perfect complement of 16 omega's". It all sounded very official, but to the average consumer who is still confused about 3's, 6's, and 9's, it only serves to make shopping for fish oil tedious and painful.

One of the reasons for all of this confusion is that fish oil is Mother Nature's patent. Consumers want their foods and supplements to be as unrefined as possible, but the only way to patent and protect a manufactured product, is to alter it. So it is very difficult for fish oil companies to create products that distinguish themselves from other competing products while keeping their customers happy. What is left to distinguish a product is where the fish is caught, what species the fish is, and the total amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. And lots of pretty, irrelevant marketing words.

Even with all my knowledge and training, I can spend hours in the health food store looking at labels on fish oil supplements and keeping up with new and different products. From my perspective, it's the total amount of omega-3's that matters. If you have a hard time with the flavor or the burps, there are several flavored options and packaged forms that can get you around that problem.

Here is my advice to you.

1. First of all, before you spend a lot of money and time, try taking fish oil to see if it works for the problem you're trying to solve. Be sure you take enough of it. For the degree of inflammation seen with PCOS, you're going to need to take the equivalent of 1000 mg DHA. That can be 2 to 3 times the recommended dose on the bottle. Be sure you do your math. It can even be the Costco brand. That is actually my first recommendation to clients. I'm more interested in whether or not adding DHA to the diet is helpful, not where the fish was caught, what the flavor of the fish oil is, yadayadayada. I just want to establish if there is a DHA deficiency.

2. Make a list of the problems that you have that you're looking for relief with that you know are related to omega-3 imbalance: memory, concentration, mood swings, carbohydrate cravings, skin problems, menstrual irregularity. Keep this list in a handy place.

3. If memory problems are on your list, be sure you have a mechanism for remembering to take the fish oil! I swear, this is one of the biggest barriers to PCOS, memory and forgetfulness keeping you from remembering what it is you need to do! If you need to engage your significant other, or set up an alarm on your phone, or a Google calendar reminder…do whatever it takes to be consistent. If you didn't take it, and it didn't work, it didn't work because you didn't take it, not because it's not the issue.

4. Be diligent about reducing your omega-6 intake: soy, safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed. The less of these oils you have in your diet, the better chance omega-3's have of doing the job.

5. Be sure you're reading the dose right on the label. One of my biggest issues I have with one of the most popular brands of fish oil is that their dose is two capsules, not one. Most people never read the fine print, assume a dose is one pill, and end up taking half of what they were thinking they were taking.

6. At the end of your trial period, look at your list and see what improved. Did it work? NOW, and only NOW that you've established whether or not you were DHA deficient, consider if the type of fish oil you take. Would you prefer a flavored, a gel, a capsule, a liquid? All of them are going to give you what you want, you're just deciding which one fits best with your personal taste and texture preference.

Pretty packaging and fancy words are not what are going to help you to feel better. It's what's inside the package, and in what concentration, that you need to focus on!

This is to address some great questions about fish oil that Katie sent in.

Katie asked:
after reading about fish oil and its obvious benefits, I finally bought some Carlson Super Omega-3 Fish Oil Concentrate soft gels yesterday at Whole Foods.

I have several questions I have tried to get answered via this site and the Internet, but can't seem to find clear answers, so I am throwing them out here, in hopes you can help.

1. The bottle says"Each Carlson Super Omega — 3 soft gel contains 1000 mg (1 gram) of a special concentrate of fish body oils from deep, cold-water fish which are especially rich in the important Omega-3's EPA and DHA." However, the Supplemental Facts read EPA 300 mg DHA 200 mg Other Omega-3's 100mg. I believe that adds up to 600mg. Right? There is no mention of the other 400 mg. Where are they? I'm very confused about this. Can you explain this to me? There is also Natural Vitamin E — 10 IU…incase that means something.

2. How many pills/mg am I supposed to take? I read between 1000 mg and 3000 mg. Which makes me confused again because even though the bottle says 1000 mg in each pill I can only find 600 of them! I want to make sure that I am taking enough, but not taking too much! How much do you take? Also, do I work up to that or just dive in?

3. Last question…is there anything else I should be taking with the fish oil? I know that sometimes if you take something you need to supplement with something else. Is that the case here?

Thank you in advance for your advice and information!

My response:
Katie, these are really great questions and something that I am often asked by my clients. Here's the scoop:

1. The dosage on the ingredient list can indeed be very confusing and frankly I believe it is a way in which some supplement companies try to give the impression that you are getting a better product with higher potency, but it can be misleading. When the label states something like…"contains 1000 mg marine oil", you are not getting the complete information.

The critical ingredients and the amounts you need to know about are — how much EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are contained in each capsule.

EPA and DHA have been shown to support healthy functioning of the cardiovascular, immune, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems. EPA is also an excellent anti-inflammatory and helpful in conditions such as insulin resistance, diabetes and auto-immune related inflammation.

DHA is an important factor for those with PCOS as it supports many aspects of health including pregnancy, fetal development, and healthy neurological function.

The other"marine lipids" are simply the total fat of the fish, where the EPA and DHA are the active portions of that fat. It is the"actives" that are providing the therapeutic value. The vitamin E in the capsules is for preservative purposes and helps prevent rancidity of the fat.

2. Regarding the dosage you should take, that is a harder question to answer because it will depend on what you are trying to target. Those with PCOS should be targeting anywhere from 500 — 1000 mg. DHA. So you need to know how much DHA is in each cap, for example if the capsule has only 200mg. of DHA, you'll need to take 3 of them to get approximately 500mg. You can then work up to a higher dose, always start with the lower dose and work your way up. Sometimes it is easier to get a liquid version that is high potency versus taking handfuls of pills to achieve the same dose.

I do not recommend that you take a liquid fish oil that is derived from Cod Liver Oil as the source as it usually has a high amount of Vitamin A and it is possible to get toxic doses of vitamin A. Another thing to note is that in a combination EPA/DHA cap, the dosage EPA will usually be higher than the amount of DHA, that is no problem. The EPA will only be of additional benefit.

Don't hesitate consulting with a registered dietitian knowledgeable both in PCOS and supplements in order to have your supplementation tailored to your specific health needs — remember we are all different, with unique physiology, medical history and requirements.

3. Fish Oil does not have to be taken with anything else to enhance its function. It can be taken all at once, with meals, between meals — it is very flexible this way.

Here are a couple of additional tips:

- if you tend to"burp" back fish oil, make sure to buy a brand that comes in an"enterically coated capsule", they might cost a few cents more, but it's worth it.
- refrigerate your fish oil to protect it and this also can help reduce"burp back".
- contributes to creating beautiful, healthy skin.

One last fun fact about fish oil. Most of it actually comes from the southern hemisphere not as you might think from the deep waters off Norway!

Here's to fish oil!

Carmina McGee, MS, RD, LE
Ventura, California
805.816.2629
info@carminamcgee.com

One of the most frequent questions women have when advised to use fish oil is whether or not they should be concerned about the mercury content. I routinely hear from clients I've worked with that they feel comfortable taking fish oil to conceive, but then once they're pregnant they become concerned about mercury and stop the supplements.

The FDA has done such a great job of warning us about the potential problems with just four kinds of fish--shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish--that Americans in general have decreased consumption of ALL fish.

With regard to fish oil supplements, the truth is, most brands of fish oil are molecularly distilled, meaning they go through a very strict purification process to remove mercury. Random tests from bottles pulled off of regular drugstore shelves have consistently shown that for the most part…fish oil supplements are safe.

Yet people continue to question the safety of fish and fish oil because they fear the mercury.

Here's an interesting twist in that logic.

Earlier this year, two studies looked at the mercury content of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a ubiquitous and controversial sweetening agent. One study discovered that nine of twenty samples of HFCS contained measurable amounts of mercury. These researchers concluded, "With respect to total mercury exposure, it may be necessary to account for this source of mercury in the diet of children and sensitive populations." I would consider women of childbearing age, including those reading this blog, to be an especially sensitive population.

A second study conducted by the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy found in foods they analyzed in the fall of 2008, nearly 1 of 3 of the 55 foods they sampled contained measurable amounts of mercury. The finding was most common in foods containing HFCS.

So if you're using mercury concerns as an excuse to avoid eating fish…and you're looking for ways to justify keeping sweet stuff in your diet…you may want to consider your perspective. It's the fish that's likely clean and the sweets that may be dirty.

Dufault R, LeBlanc B, Schnoll R, Cornett C, Schweitzer L, Wallinga D, Hightower J, Patrick L, Lukiw WJ. Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar. Environ Health. 2009 Jan 26;8:2.

http://www.iatp.org/iatp/press.cfm?refID=105025

I've gotten a couple of questions about fish oil lately that are very common. Thought I'd put them up in a blog post so that anyone who has these questions now has the answers now, and this post is available for future times when the questions are also asked.

1. Isn't fish oil full of mercury and therefore something to avoid?

Actually, fish oil is very heavily processed to removed the mercury. The technique used by most companies is called molecular distillation. Organizations like Consumer Reports routinely do random checks by pulling bottles off of a typical drugstore and testing the purity of the product they find. And, routinely, the findings are that the fish oil products tested are practically always pure. Of course, there's the occasional issue, but when it happens, the brand tends to be publicized and it takes care of the problem.

Brands I know and trust include: Kirkland Costco, Barlean's, Coromega, Omega 3 Brain Booster, Carlson's, and Nordic Naturals. That does not mean these are the only safe brands, these just happen to be the brands with which I am most familiar.

Look at it this way. The liability associated with not being careful to remove fish oil is so great that it would be a foolish business to not go through the trouble of distilling out the mercury.

Bottom line: Fish oil, especially if has been molecularly distilled, is relatively mercury free.

2. Is there an upper limit to fish oil?

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 4 grams of fish oil per day. I am guessing that the reason this upper limit exists is because fish oil can affect clotting time, cardiologists treat clotting disorders, and they want their demographic to be kept safe.

However…a 4 ounce serving of salmon has about 2 grams of omega-3's. I have never heard anyone, ever, suggest that we should restrict our intake of fish! So there is a bit of an inconsistency in how we disseminate this information.

Here is the advice I like to give. If you are concerned about getting too many omega-3's, and/or you have a history of blood clotting problems, it's best to be conservative. Start low and increase your dose as you gauge you are tolerating the omega-3's. If you are on any kind of medication such as coumadin, it's best to do this under the supervision of a physician, as your medication dose may need to be shifted as your body accumulates omega-3's. If you notice that you start to bruise more easily after starting fish oil supplementation, this may be an indication that your clotting time has changed and that you should drop back on your dose until you can meet with your physician.

My personal feeling is that in many cases, adequate omega-3 intake may help reduce the need for the medication, but the ultimate decision in each individual case must be one made between you and your physician.

I recently spoke to a gentleman whose lab has developed a test that can ascertain whether or not you have too many omega-3's in your diet. I am not completely versed on how the test works or what it measures, but if you are interested, you can get more information at www.metametrix.com.

Secondary infertility is the inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term after successfully and naturally conceiving one or more children.

Secondary infertility also appears to often be a condition with a significant nutritional cause…and a fairly easy solution.

A developing fetus has no way of obtaining the important omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, that it needs for adequate brain and nervous system development, except from its mother.

And what do we do to pregnant moms? We tell them to not eat the main source of these fatty acids, fish.

Even though the FDA warning limits their advised restrictions to four fish (shark, tilefish, king mackerel, and swordfish), studies have shown that women tend to limit ALL fish consumption while pregnant.

So as their firstborn develops, mom's omega-3 stores gradually dwindle. It's highly likely, given the stressful demands of new motherhood and the continued concern that fish may not be safe while nursing, that omega-3 intake continues to be inadequate.

And since fertility is dependent on adequate omega-3's as well, it makes sense that what it required to conceive and carry the first baby to term, may be exactly what's keeping baby #2 from happening.

We've been pretty successful at inCYST with this type of infertility. It's about getting over the fear of eating fish when you're pregnant.

At this point, pretty much every reputable fish oil on the market is molecularly distilled, meaning it's clean. Random tests of bottles of fish oil pulled off of pharmacy shelves rarely find mercury. Believe me, if they did, with the popularity of fish oil, it would be all over the news.

You can't just take fish oil and expect your problems to be solved. It is important to combine this with a healthy diet free of trans fats, low in inflammatory fats (safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed), and rich in antioxidants.

When you DO dose the fish oil, you'll need to take more than the recommended dose on the bottle; about 1000 mg DHA. You will need to calculate the number of capsules your favorite brand provides.

This issue is actually one of the things that inspired me to create the inCYST Network. When I saw what the fish fear was potentially doing to mother, child, and unborn children, I decided it was time to step up and speak out.

I hope you find this information helpful!

Since we talk so much about the importance of fish oil for women's health, we get forwarded articles and studies from colleagues who'd like to know what we think.

Late last night, Minh-Hai Tran forwarded me an article entitled,"Healthy and Pregnant: Forget the Fish Oil".

The hairs on the back of my neck immediately prickled on seeing this title…knowing the potential for confusion this could cause with readers like ours, who've heard us talk so much about an opposing viewpoint.

Here's a closer look at what the article says and how it fits into our treatment model.

I've always followed the guidelines established by the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) when evaluating studies and formulating recommendations. Here are their recommendations, right off of their website. I comment on the current study's accommodation of these recommendations in italics below each item.

1. Dietary fat intake during pregnancy and lactation, as a proportion of energy intake, should be the same as that recommended for the general population.

I was not able to find if there was any standardization of diet during this study. This is a common error in study design when evaluating the effectiveness of a supplement. Any added chemical in any study is going to respond differently, depending on the biochemistry of the environment into which it is introduced.

The pre-pregnancy weights of the women in the study were not mentioned, either. I would imagine that this would potentially affect the outcome of the study.

2. The n-3 LC-PUFA, DHA, must be deposited in adequate amounts in brain and other tissues during fetal and early postnatal life. Several studies have shown an association between maternal dietary intake of oily fish or oils providing n-3 LC-PUFA during pregnancy and/or lactation and visual and cognitive development as well as other functional outcomes of the infants.Pregnant and lactating women should aim to achieve a dietary intake of n-3 LC-PUFA that supplies a DHA intake of at least 200 mg/d. Intakes of up to 1 g/d DHA or 2·7 g/d n-3 LC-PUFA have been used in randomized trials without occurrence of significant adverse effects.

It appears from the comment of the lead researcher that a dose of 200 mg DHA per day is what was used in the study. Our experience at inCYST is that it can take significantly more DHA than that to see benefit. This is especially true if the diet in which the supplement is included is high in omega-6 fatty acids, which interfere with omega-3 activity. The study size is large--around 2,400 women, which would have given these researchers an opportunity to collect dietary intake data and evaluate if there were different results in women whose diets were high in omega-6 fatty acids vs. those which were higher in omega-9 fatty acids. Huge opportunity lost, and important advice for anyone currently putting together any kind of study regarding omega-3 fatty acids. The entire diet, not just the dosed supplement, is important to standardize and measure.

I would have been interested to see various levels of DHA--200, 500, 750, 1000 mg, to see if the same results resulted. Using the lowest dose possible is going to be the treatment least likely to produce positive results.

3. Women of childbearing age can meet the recommended intake of DHA by consuming one to two portions of sea fish per week, including oily fish, which is a good source of n-3 LC-PUFA. This intake of oily fish rarely exceeds the tolerable intake of environmental contaminants. Dietary fish should be selected from a wide range of species without undue preference for large predatory fish, which are more likely to be contaminated with methylmercury.

I agree, that there may be more to this issue than DHA. For example, much information is coming out about the importance of adequate vitamin D for reproductive health. Is it the fish oil or the vitamin D in the salmon…or the interaction between the two that is important? Future studies need to separate out and explore these questions…in the presence of a controlled diet.

Intake of the precursor, a-linolenic acid, is far less effective with regard to DHA deposition in fetal brain than the intake of preformed DHA.

5. There is no evidence that women of childbearing age whose dietary intake of linoleic acid is adequate need an additional dietary intake of arachidonic acid.

This was not a concern with this study.

6. Some studies have shown that maternal intake of fish, fish oils or n-3 LC-PUFA results in a slightly longer duration of gestation, a somewhat higher birth weight and a reduced risk of early preterm delivery. The clinical importance of such effects with regard to infant health has not been fully elucidated.

This finding was confirmed in the new study. I look forward to future studies understanding why.

7. Screening for dietary inadequacies should be performed during pregnancy, preferably during the first trimester. If less than desirable dietary habits are detected, individual counselling should be offered during pregnancy as well as during lactation.

It does not appear that individual omega-3 fatty acid status was evaluated in the women in the new study. So if the women were deficient, a low DHA dosage likely would not have been enough to elucidate a treatment response. If the women had adequate DHA in their tissues before coming pregnant they likely would not have experienced a treatment response.

All due respect to the well-intended researchers, some important aspects of study design were not incorporated, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from this study. I hope they include a dietitian in future studies.

All due respect to MSNBC, please consider the damage and suffering you potentially inflict on women who could drastically benefit from a simple dietary intervention, on behalf of titling an article purely with SEO (search engine optimization) in mind. Post partum depression is a serious disorder, hurting many others in addition to the woman whose biochemistry produces it.

Ten percent of women with PCOS will be type II diabetic by the time they are 40. One of the primary risks of pregnancy with PCOS is the same problem, diabetes. It is very important to understand that choices you make regarding food, activity, stress, and sleep, affect whether or not this problem…becomes YOUR problem.

Fortunately, in many cases, it is not necessary to do anything different than we already recommend in this blog. One study looked at four different ways diet could be manipulated to encourage weight loss: (1)calorie restriction without any seafood included, (2) calorie restriction with lean fish included, (3) calorie restriction including fatty fish, and (4) calorie restriction including fish oil pills. It didn't matter if it was lean fish, fatty fish, or fish oil pills…the more fish oil consumed, the better the insulin function.

I'm not one of those nutritionists who focuses entirely on salmon when advising to eat fish. First of all, it's simply not eco-expectable that there are enough salmon on the planet to feed everyone who needs omega-3's. Secondly, it's a seasonal fish and it's expensive enough to price itself out of the food budgets of many people I work with. A few years ago I looked up the omega-3 contents of many kinds of seafood, and discovered that whether it was salmon, shrimp, clams, tilapia…or bass…if it lived in the water, it had omega-3's in its flesh and it was a proactive health choice.

Don't like"fishy" flavor? Try halibut or tilapia. Or look for one of the many flavored fish oil supplements available in your local health food store. There's a way for anyone who has the will, and if you're at risk for diabetes…there's NO way you want to miss out on this wonderful dietary opportunity.

Ramel A, Martinéz A, Kiely M, Morais G, Bandarra NM, Thorsdottir I. Beneficial effects of long-chain n-3 fatty acids included in an energy-restricted diet on insulin resistance in overweight and obese European young adults. Diabetologia. 2008 Jul;51(7):1261-8.

I'm going to send you to the Green Mountain at Fox Run blog for this post. It's awesome! It has wonderful detail about the nutritional value of maple syrup, and WHY it has the antioxidants it has…fascinating! Mother Nature really knows what she's doing. Bottom line, yes it's a carbohydrate, but in moderation it can be beneficial.

Here are some recipes from Green Mountain's kitchen--enjoy!

Apple Cider Dressing
Serves 16

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
4 tablespoons apple cider
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup maple syrup — b grade
2 tablespoons Calvados
1 pinch salt and pepper
- — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - -
Apple Salsa
Serves 8
------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 large Apples — diced
1 tablespoon red onion — diced
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon cilantro — minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
to taste salt and pepper

Honey-Dijon Dressing

Serves 8

¼ cup honey
¼ cup dijon mustard
¼ cup cider vinegar
3/8 cup canola oil
½ dash salt
½ dash pepper
½ teaspoon oregano

Whisk all ingredients together.

Replace the Dijon with Maple Syrup for Maple Dijon

Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Makes 1 ½ cups

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil

Blend vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup together.
Slowly add oil until incorporated.

Replace maple syrup with honey for honey-balsamic vinaigrette.

Another great marinade!

Raspberry Maple Poppy Seed Dressing

Makes 1 ½ cups

1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
½ tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

salt and pepper to taste
Mix it up and adjust seasonings.
Your slaw may never be the same.

Maple-Glazed Salmon

¼ cup Vermont Maple Syrup
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. light soy sauce
1 tsp. Dijon or stone-ground mustard
½ tsp. finely chopped gingerroot, if desired
1 ¼-pound salmon fillet
2 tbs. thinly sliced scallions

Method of Preparation

1. Mix all ingredients except salmon and scallions.

2. Cut salmon fillet into 4 serving pieces. Place fish in shallow glass or plastic dish. Drizzle marinade over fish reserving about ¼-cup marinade to serve over cooked fish. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.

3. Heat oven to 400© F. Remove fish from marinade; set aside marinade. Place fish in baking dish. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade, until fish flakes easily with fork.

4. To serve, drizzle reserved ¼-cup marinade over fish; top with scallions.

Variation:

Grilled Maple-Glazed Salmon: Instead of baking, place on grill rack, cover and grill fish 5 to 6 inches from medium coals 4 minutes. Turn fish; brush with marinade; cover and grill about 4 minutes longer or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with fork.
Red Beet Vinaigrette
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1/4 cup beet powder
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup
black pepper — to taste
3/4 cup canola oil

Add beet powder, vinegar, & mustard to blender. Blend until all powder is incorporated into the vinegar. Add syrup & blacck pepper, blend again to mix. With blender running, slowly add canola oil.

I've been working on my home study course for the past week, and one of the topics I spent quite a bit of time on…was my frustration about the misinformation we spread about fish. (I guess you could say"fish" is something I have a"beef" about…)

We have this tendency as nutritionists to create the perception that the only fish that has any omega-3 content…and therefore worth eating…is salmon.

I live in Phoenix. We love salmon here as much as anyone, but it's not a local fish. It's seasonal. And it's expensive. It's not the greatest choice if you have trouble with the"fishiness" of fish. And for many of the people I work with, it's simply not an affordable option.

And this idea that you have to eat salmon to get your omega-3's is simply not based in fact.

A few years ago I did an analysis of all seafood. And it turns out, whether or not you eat clams, shrimp, salmon, catfish, or mussels, you're getting omega-3's in your diet. So eat what you can get locally at an affordable price, and enjoy it!

I have a particular fondness for tilapia because it is a mild fish, it's affordable, available in most locations, and very doable for someone who's not a big fish lover. Secondly, I love this fish because it is farmed, which means it has the potential to feed a lot of people yet be a sustainable resource.

Have you considered what we do to the poor wild salmon population when we all quit eating other fish and eat this one and this one alone? It's not really logical or rational to assume that there are enough wild salmon in the Pacific to feed every person on the planet.

If you're not a tilapia fan, do take the time to visit this website: www.montereybayaquarium.org. They have a great list of seafood choices that are sustainable and therefore the ones to gravitate toward in the grocery store and in restaurants. I was surprised at what popular species are overfished and my shopping habits have changed to reflect what I learned.

Even though you may want to follow our recommendations to eat more fish…you may not be confident about how to buy or cook it. I just spent the afternoon catching up on my magazine pile, and I found this great seafood guide in the September 2009 version of Sunset magazine.

It covers:

3 tips for choosing well
Buyer's guide to fresh fish
Best time to buy (yes, fish have seasons!)
The salmon dilemma: wild or farmed
Buyer's guide to shellfish
Frozen fish basics
Canned fish basics
What to look for on a can label
Top smart fish shops
Favorite fresh fish recipes

Have fun!

I nagged you about fish oil a couple of days ago. Here's why.

One of the places where inflammation, the underlying cause for PCOS, does its worst damage, is the brain. It destroys neurons. Wondering where your motivation, your memory, your focus and concentration went? Out the door with inflammation.

Think about a piece of rusted out metal. That's the result of oxidation. Inflammation is the process that is trying to repair oxidation. But if you're burning through brain cells faster than you can repair them, you create holes. They've even shown it on brain scans. Where depression exists, (and depression is the result of so many brain cells being scavenged that the brain is literally moving in slow motion), there is inflammation.

There is one, and only one chemical known to man that can repair those holes. That chemical is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or one of the two things you get when you take fish oil. If you're vegan, you can get it in marine algae. If you've ever been vegan at any time in your life, or you hate or are allergic to fish, chances are it's a major factor in your PCOS. You can't repair your brain holes, and if you have holes in your brain, your brain can't regulate your hormones.

It is that simple. Really.

I had a client once who said to me,"This fish oil stuff works wonders. That is, when I remember to take it."

I don't care what you have to do — program your smart phone, post it note your computer monitor, ask your spouse to nag you — take fish oil.

The dose you're going to need is higher than what's recommended on the bottle. You're going to need 1000 mg, or 1 gram, of DHA per day. Not 1000 mg of total fish oil, of DHA. It's about 4 times what you see on many bottles.

Oh, and just so you know. That repairs the damage, but it doesn't protect you from new damage. For that part, you're going to have to change your eating and lifestyle. It really isn't going to work to take a ton of fish oil with the belief that it's cancelling out the damage done by that donut, by not working out, or not getting to bed on time.

I have clients who keep a rusty can next to their computer. It's a reminder. For some reason, when they hear that this PCOS thing is totally messing with their BRAINS — it gets their attention. If that's what you need to do, go find a rusty can. Yup, that could be your brain if you don't start getting that fish oil.

It's the first, most crucial step in the road to balancing your hormones. It's simple. And if you go to Costco, it's not really all that expensive.

Just do it. You'll be amazed at how quickly you start to notice little signs that inflammation is peeling away.

I've been pretty vocal about the fact that we need to diversify our recommendations for seafood so that we don't deplete entire species in our quest for omega-3 fatty acids. In a search for options to replace the ever-popular salmon, I've learned some interesting things that we'll share on the blog. Today, I'd like to introduce you to a prehistoric Amazonian fish called paiche (pronounced pie-EE-chay). This fish is so new to culinary tables, the first one only appeared in the United States in the summer of 2010.

Fully grown, this fish can reach lengths of almost 7 feet and weights of over 200 lbs. Once overfished by natives to the point of near-extinction, the Peruvian government had placed a ban on its harvest. However, aquaculture specialists have been working to develop a means to sustainably raise this fish. Not only is this effort creating an industry beneficial to a financially disadvantaged part of the world, it is helping to replenish local waters with a vital component of the food chain that had been depleted with non-sustainable practices.

This fish is low in fat, and marketers are promoting it as a high omega-3 fish. I am working to find the exact values; this fish is so new on the market that data is not readily available. I'll update you here when the numbers actually do come in. One additional selling point of paiche is that it is farmed in the rainforest, in water that is free of mercury, antibiotics, and other toxic compounds.

Paiche's flavor has been described as subtle, like Chilean sea bass (on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's overfished list) or Atlantic cod.

Bottom line, it's good for you, it's good for the people who work to bring it to you, and it's good for the planet. When you see it in you store or on a menu, give it a try!

I have heard the following recommendations made by the American Heart Association repeatedly for years now. And I hear them parroted everywhere by well-intended medical experts who, it seems, did not stop to check the math on which the recommendations are based:

Population Recommendation
Patients without documented coronary heart disease (CHD)
Eat a variety of (preferably fatty) fish at least twice a week.
Include oils and foods rich in alpha-linolenic acid (flaxseed, canola
and soybean oils; flaxseed and walnuts).

Patients with documented CHD Consume about 1 g of EPA+DHA per day,
preferably from fatty fish. EPA+DHA in capsule form could be
considered in consultation with the physician.

Patients who need to lower triglycerides 2 to 4 grams of EPA+DHA per
day provided as capsules under a physician's care.

Patients taking more than 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids from
capsules should do so only under a physician's care. High intakes
could cause excessive bleeding in some people.

Evidence from prospective secondary prevention studies suggests that
taking EPA+DHA ranging from 0.5 to 1.8 grams per day (either as fatty
fish or supplements) significantly reduces deaths from heart disease
and all causes. For alpha-linolenic acid, a total intake of 1.5–3
grams per day seems beneficial.

I couldn't sit back anymore. Ellen Reiss Goldfarb, RD, a member of this blog's inCYST Network for Women With PCOS collaborated with me on hopefully setting the record straight. We hope it helps, especially to get a mathematically-correct set of recommendations out to the public so they can go grocery shopping with a better sense of empowerment.

Regarding the omega-3 recommendations recently discussed, you all may want to consider that there are several contradictions within that make it very difficult (maybe even impossible) for the average American to follow them. As dietitians, it is important that we understand this math so that we help, not confuse or hurt, people who look to us for advice.

First of all, we are telling people that they are not to eat more than 3 grams of omega-3's per day unless they are under a physician's care. However, if you try to get 1.8 mg of combined EPA + DHA combined, in the form of food first, 3 ounces of Alaskan salmon, which contains 384 mg of EPA plus DHA, would have to be eaten in a DAILY QUANTITY OF 14 ounces in order to get there. Are you really saying that if you're eating enough fish to get the amount of omega-3's we recommend, that the MD has to manage it??? You are unnecessarily putting yourself out of business if you are!!!

Secondly, given those numbers for salmon, the densest seafood source of omega-3's, there is no way eating fish just a few times a week is going to get you to the level of omega-3 intake these recommendations are making. It is so frustrating watching colleagues parrot these recommendations and wondering if we're the only ones who've actually sat down and done this math.

We also went to three popular fish oil brands and calculated out how many pills you would need to get the upper level of DHA + EPA recommended. Two of those, Nordic Naturals and Carlson's, if taken at the level needed to get there, would also place your client at levels you say a physician needs to manage.

Realistically and honestly, how many of you are really doing that?

With regards to bleeding, in all of our collective years actively recommending fish oil, only one client encountered a bleeding problem. The people at greatest risk for that are people who are on medications such as coumadin…and if you work closely with a physician who"gets it"--the dose of that medication can be dropped as EPA levels rise and help normalize blood clotting function. Always start low, titrate up, look closely for symptoms in people not on contraindicated medicatoins and let the MD check blood levels in people who are…and work very hard to minimize omega-6 intake. You'll get a lot more bang out of your omega-3 buck if you focus on the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio than if you only think about one.

If you don't know how to use omega-3's to promote health, you may actually CREATE health risks for your clients, which I don't think any of you want to do.

Here are the numbers from our calculations for your reference.

EPA + DHA, total mg
3 ounces salmon 384 mg
Nordic Naturals 550 mg
Carlson's 500 mg
Barlean's 600 mg

Total omega-3 content
3 ounces salmon 3250 mg
Nordic Naturals 690 mg
Carlson's 600 mg
Barlean's 780 mg

Amount needed to meet n-3's needed to meet upper DHA + EPA recommendation/total omega-3 content of that amount
3 ounces salmon 14 oz DAILY/15.2 total gms n-3
Nordic Naturals 3.27 capsules/3.6 gm total n-3
Carlson's 3.6 capsules/6.0 gm total n-3
Barlean's 3.0 capsules/2.3 gm total n-3

Monika M. Woolsey, MS, RD
Ellen Reiss Goldfarb, RD

Last night I settled in to watch the evening news, in time to see an ad for Country Crock's Omega 3 Plus brand margarine. With my reputation as somewhat of an"omega 3 queen," I figured I'd better pay attention. And by the time the ad was over, I knew I had today's post.

This label is a perfect example of why consumers are confused, and why they can have a hard time achieving the benefits of good nutritional choices.

First, the good news.

The margarine has no trans fats, because it contains no hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. For fertility, this is a huge plus--with as little as 2% of your total calories per day coming from trans fats (about 2/3 tsp for the average woman), fertility can drop by as much as 73%.

Secondly, one serving provides 500 mg of omega-3's in the form of ALA.

Now for the confusing and potentially detrimental news.

When the professionals on this blog talk about what we're doing to enhance fertility and reduce inflammation, and we refer to omega-3's, we are primarily referring to EPA and DHA, the omega-3's that, except for omega-3 eggs and foods supplemented with algal DHA, contain either fish or fish oil. (Menhaden oil, which is what is found in Smart Balance Omega 3 Margarine, is a type of fish oil.)

Any other type of omega-3 is likely to be ALA. This type of omega-3 is found in canola oil, and flaxseed oil, among other things. In this margarine, the ALA source is canola oil.

But there is no fish oil or marine algae to provide a similar nutritional feature.

There are some things that flax and canola can do, and there are some that flax and canola simply cannot do.

Many people, nutritionists included, operate on the assumption that since the omega-3 found in canola and flax can be converted into EPA and DHA, that you can get enough of the latter two without having to eat fish. Most respected omega-3 chemists will tell you this is highly unlikely.

On a good day, when your diet is as perfect as it can possibly be (which, even in the case of the person writing this post is never), only about 2-3% of your flax and canola can be converted into the other omega-3's.

Bottom line, it's pretty non-negotiable, you are highly unlikely to get the amount of omega-3's your body needs, especially if you are trying to conceive, if you are assuming you can do it without fish.

Secondly, the primary oil in the margarine appears to be liquid soybean oil. Remember the rule about"S" and"C" oils? Soybean is one of those"S" oils with a tendency to be pro-inflammatory. It was impossible to tell from the label what the ratio of soybean to canola oil was, and I would suspect that it was higher than you're going to want if you're trying to choose fertility-friendly foods.

I immediately became suspicious about this Country Crock product when I went to the website and nowhere, I mean absolutely nowhere, could I find a plainly stated ingredient list. Sure, there's a label to look at, but it's strategically posted in a way that all the nutritional information is there except for the ingredients. Hmmmm…

…so I went to the FAQ section. Couldn't find it there either. I found a lot of long-winded explanations of trans-fat labeling, and that was my second red flag.

Since I had to go to the grocery store anyway, I stopped in and looked at the label. Here, for the benefit of the rest of the people on the Internet, is the list of ingredients from the side of the container of this product:

Vegetable oil blend (liquid soybean oil, canola oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, water, whey, salt, vegetable mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin (potassium sorbate, calcium disodium EDTA), citric acid, artificial flavor, vitamin A (palmitate), and beta carotene.

For more information on healthy fats, go to http://www.zingbars.com/science-of-zing.html, where my Zing Bar friends describe why they did--and didn't--include certain fats in their new product.

Any fat that is going to be solid at room temperature is going to have to have some saturated fat in its formula. Otherwise, it would melt. So even though the total saturated fat content is low, the type of fat being used to provide the solid quality is not one you want to get much of in your diet.

I'm not really a butter or margarine person so giving those up was not an issue for me. But I did start my career in the Chicago area, and I remember how people used to look at me like I was purple-polka-dotted if I even hinted that dairy intake might need to be adjusted. So I know it's an issue for some of you.

Bottom line--if you choose to use the product, do so only once in awhile and sparingly. I'd rather see people use olive oil-based dipping sauces for breads and cook with either canola or olive oil.

If you're interested in learning more, the authors of the study below also wrote a recently released book in plain English entitled, The Fertility Diet. I'd check it out.

Chavarro JE, Rich-Edwards JW, Rosner BA, Willett WC. Diet and lifestyle in the prevention of ovulatory disorder infertility. Obstet Gynecol. 2007 Nov;110(5):1050-8.

Something I am committed to with this work is making sure that every mother out there who plans to get pregnant or who is pregnant understands, is that they need marine oils in their diet. I don't care if you get them from algae, I don't care if you get them from fish…I care that you get them.

We've gone so overboard in steering women away from fish that we're creating more problems than we're solving.

Our brains and nervous systems are in large part made of marine oils. When pregnant, especially in the final trimester, a significant percentage of those oils are given to our developing babies. That is the time during pregnancy when the brain and nervous system develop. In one study, between the 28th week and delivery, blood DHA levels were measured and found to decrease. It didn't matter if the baby was born prematurely, to term, or late, the trend persisted. It happened even in women who were eating what they considered to be a lot of fish.

It bothers me greatly that a population that may actually need to be supplemented with fish…is encouraged to stay away from the very nutrient they need larger quantities of. And then we wonder why problems such as autism are epidemic.

I am hoping that the pregnant and future pregnant readers of this blog use this information to their benefit, and share it with anyone who could use it. We just aren't making sense with our recommendations when it comes to this crucial nutrient.

Bonham MP, Duffy EM, Wallace JM, Robson PJ, Myers GJ, Davidson PW, Clarkson TW, Shamlaye CF, Strain JJ. Habitual fish consumption does not prevent a decrease in LCPUFA status in pregnant women (the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study). Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2008 Jun;78(6):343-350. Epub 2008 Jun 26.

Many of the women I work with are vegan vegetarians. Which means when it comes to increasing omega-3 intake, they tend to want to go heavy on flax, hoping it will make up for not eating fish. It simply doesn't work this way…in ways that are very important to PCOS.

When different groups of rats are given ALA (the primary omega-3 in flax), EPA and DHA (the primary omega-3's in fish oil), EPA and DHA lowered glucose and insulin levels about 35-38% greater than did ALA. Insulin sensitivy improved by 60% in the fish oil groups compared to the ALA groups.

Bottom line, if you really, really want to get better, and you're not currently eating fish, or using a fish or marine algae supplement, you may want to seriously consider adding one of those to what you're doing. It's pretty non-negotiable, we need DHA and EPA to properly function as human beings.

Andersen G, Harnack K, Erbersdobler HF, Somoza V. Dietary eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid are more effective than alpha-linolenic acid in improving insulin sensitivity in rats. Ann Nutr Metab. 2008;52(3):250-6. Epub 2008 Jun 19.

We know that most of you who originally come to inCYST are looking for help with your infertility, your acne, your weight, and/or your depression. We take that seriously and we hope you find our information helpful, meaningful, and relevant.

That is our immediate goal.

We also have a much bigger picture in mind. One reason we believe you're having so much trouble with your hormone balance, is that you're living on a planet that has been so badly mistreated that it has trouble supporting healthy balance within all of you. Because of that, one of the most important things we hope to communicate through our mission, is that our choices have effects far beyond us, and those choices that best benefit the earth, have the most potential to resolve the more personal concerns that initially introduced you to us.

From the very beginning, I've believed that to the best of our ability, our recommendations for food and lifestyle are consistent with what you might see on a green living website. I've also been very aware that, with PCOS affecting 1 in 10 women, the shopping habits we culture have potential to collectively influence what kind of food is available for everyone on the planet to eat.

Because we are so pro-omega-3, we cannot ignore that the type of seafood we recommend must be sustainable. Earlier in the week a Huffington Post article reported that 40 species of fish (including one that is very popular in sushi) are on the verge of extinction, largely due to overfishing and pollution…reinforcing how what we do at inCYST needs to keep all of you healthy and keep the planet healthy enough so that goal #1 is even possible.

So I was super excited to receive an email yesterday, Earth Day eve, from our inCYST contact in Nashua, New Hampshire. I've come to know Pat Hunter and her counterpart Kristen Rioux through planning events to promote their new PCOS support group.

We had planned an event which was to occur on April 1, but which we have since rescheduled to the fall. The problem was, we had received a generous donation from Australis, producers of the high-omega and sustainably farmed barramundi, which we had intended to serve at lunch so that the women coming to our event would have an opportunity to try this fish. We didn't want to waste the food and we wanted to be sure that Australis was happy with their inCYST experience, so Pat and Kristen arranged to have two barramundi promotions in their employee cafeteria.

We thought Lent might be a nice time to try this, since most people are eating more fish then anyway. But we knew that New Englanders love their cod and wondered if they'd be open to something new and different. (We even joked around that a fun marketing tag line might be"Give up cod for Lent!")

I heard from Pat and Kristen yesterday and it turns out the fish was so well accepted they are now working to make it a regular menu item for their employees.

This is a change with potentially far-reaching effects. Anyone eating barramundi at work is more likely to think of it to prepare at home. The more demand for this fish increases in local stores, the more likely it is to start showing up on restaurant menus. And the more barramundi that is bought, the less stress and strain on other fish populations that may not be healthy enough to provide our demand for more seafood.

So thanks to Pat, Kristen, and especially Australis for making it so easy to give a new audience an opportunity to try a new, sustainable (not to mention tasty) food choice, and encourage its popularity to take hold, we are very enthusiastically celebrating Earth Day at inCYST.

If we've gotten your curiosity up, please check out the Australis website. Farmed seafood has a terrible reputation, but this operation has a whole lot of thought put into it. They have gone to great pains to describe their farm in detail to answer any questions you might have. You might be surprised at what you learn.

Happy Earth Day to all. Be kind to yourselves and the world around you…you depend on each other for survival!