The Hemp Connection [Search results for halibut] 

I just received an email from a client who noticed that every time she added flaxseed oil to her diet, she started to wheeze. We checked online, and sure enough, some people can be allergic to flaxseed. Here are some of the common symptoms of flaxseed allergy.

For anyone who is trying to increase their omega-3's, this can pose a challenge, since the vast majority of foods in the grocery store labeled as omega-3 supplemented contain flaxseed as the omega-3 source. If it turns out you are a flax-allergic person, be extra sure you read those labels!

ALA, the primary omega-3 in flaxseed oil, is not a substitute for fish oil; it has completely different and essential functions. A good way to think of it is that EPA and DHA from fish oil provide the"meat" of the structure of your brain and nerve cells, while ALA acts kind of like"rustproofing", keeping all that DHA and EPA in place that you worked so hard to get in the diet. They both need each other present in order for maximum effectiveness.

Here are some ideas for getting more omega-3's in the diet.

1. Other foods containing ALA include

Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Canola oil
Edamame
Kale
Parsley
Pecans
Pumpkin seeds
Spinach
Spring greens
Tempeh
Tofu

One reason I have not included walnuts, which are typically the first vegetarian food recommended to increase omega-3 intake, is that the omega-6 content is so high that it is mathematically impossible to improve an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio when using them. I love walnuts and think they have some great nutritional benefits for PCOS, but in the rare and special case of a flaxseed allergy, it may not be a food that you would want to eat in large quantities. (I'm working on a pro-walnut post for a later date for you curious types!)
Here are some practical ways to incorporate the foods above into your diet.

1. Know your nuts!
The nuts with (a) the best omega-3 levels and (2) the best overall ratios of healthy to unhealthy fats include: macadamia, hazelnut, pecan, pine, and pistachio. Those are the nuts you should be using with the most frequency in your snacking and cooking. If you like nut-encrusted fish and pesto sauce…you're in luck! You can also throw nuts in your coffee grinder to make nut powders, which can be added to waffles, pancakes, baked goods, smoothies, and salad dressings. They'll give your creations a little bit of a gourmet twist!

2. Use shredded cabbage in your tacos instead of shredded lettuce. That's how they do it in Mexico…and it's the perfect topping for a fish taco!

3. Get in the habit of throwing a handful of dark greens--kale, spinach, parsley--into your smoothies. You won't even taste them.

4. Pumpkin seeds, like nuts, are easily added to trail mix, thrown on salads, soups, and hot cereals, and ground to include in your encrustings.

5. Cook with canola oil.

6. I've included the three types of soybean that are not tough on thyroid--edamame, tofu, and tempeh. Edamame is a fun snack when popped out of the shell, tofu and tempeh can be the basis for a meatless meal.

7. If you like pesto, you may want to try chimichurri, another parsley-based sauce that I call"South American pesto". It is wonderful on grilled meats and easy to make! I've seen ready made varieties in the grocery store.

8. Be extra careful about omega-6 fatty acids. The less of those in your diet, the less omega-3 you will need to counter their inflammatory influence. For review, except for canola, which is ok, minimize your use of oils beginning with the letters"s" and"c"…safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed. (The reason soy as a food is ok while soybean oil is not, is because the ratio of omega-6 jumps up when you extract and use only the fat and do not buffer it with the meat of the soybean.)

Here are a couple of recipes for you, one for chimicurri sauce, and one for a tasty squash/kale/whole wheat lasagna I tested out this week.

It just takes a little creative thinking to find ways around a flaxseed allergy. Hopefully some of the suggesstions I'm providing turn out to be favorites in your home!

Spinach Kale Whole Wheat Lasagna (from Sunset Magazine, February 2008)

Note: I couldn't find whole wheat lasagna noodles in my store so I bought whole wheat egg noodles and layered them with the other ingredients to make a casserole. It was great!
Prep and Cook Time: about 2 hours. Notes: You can assemble and chill the lasagna a day ahead, but add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the lasagna, wrapped well in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month and bake it frozen (add 1 1/4 hours to the oven time).

Yield
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced
3 peeled garlic cloves (1 minced, 2 left whole)
2 cans (14 oz. each) crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
About 1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper, divided
6 cups (about 2 lbs.) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-in. cubes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 pound Lacinato kale (often sold as dinosaur or Tuscan kale)
9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 8 oz.) (Often, whole wheat pastas are made with flax…be sure to read your labels!)1 container (15 oz.) part-skim-milk ricotta cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a 2- to 3-qt. pot over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until thick and flavors are combined, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

2. While sauce is cooking, in a 12- by 15-in. baking pan, sprinkle squash with thyme, remaining olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic cloves and toss squash mixture to coat with oil. Bake until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 3 qts. salted water to a boil in a large pot.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Transfer squash and garlic to a food processor and purée until smooth.

4. Tear kale leaves from center ribs and discard ribs. Boil leaves until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain; let cool. Squeeze out as much water as possible and chop finely.

5. In the same pot, bring another 3 qts. salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water.

6. In a bowl, mix ricotta, nutmeg, 1 cup mozzarella, and remaining 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper.

7. Coat the bottom of a 9- by 13-in. pan with 1/3 of tomato sauce (about 1 1/2 cups). Lay 3 noodles in a single layer over sauce. Top noodles with squash, spreading evenly. Sprinkle 1/2 of kale evenly over squash. Arrange 3 more noodles on kale and top with ricotta, spreading evenly. Top with remaining kale and noodles. Cover noodles with remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

8. Bake lasagna until juices are bubbling and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri Sauce from Epicurious.com

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallot
3/4 teaaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 (6- to 8-ounce) halibut steaks (3/4 to 1 inch thick)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
print a shopping list for this recipe

Preparation

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic, shallot, red-pepper flakes, and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper until salt has dissolved. Stir in parsley. Let chimichurri stand 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium heat for gas).

Pat fish dry, then brush with vegetable oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper (total).

Oil grill rack, then grill fish, covered only if using a gas grill, turning once, until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total.

Serve fish drizzled with some of chimichurri; serve remainder on the side.

Cooks' notes:
·Halibut can be cooked in a hot oiled large (2-burner) ridged grill pan over medium heat.
·Chimichurri can be made 1 hour ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

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.

Way back when I first started studying omega-3 chemistry, I put together a list of DHA contents of a variety of seafoods. I was recently asked for a copy of that list, and since the list was not complete the first time I did it, I decided to update it.

I noticed when looking at the latest list that there were two significant changes: Over half of the seafood given the"green light" are farmed. Meaning we need to be more open to eating farmed fish and better manage our ocean farming habits. Secondly, as a consumer it is also important to know what fishing method was used. Some are sustainable, some are not.

The list below is based off of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list, most recently updated January 11. As much as I advocate for all of you to eat more fish, I want to be sure that I do my part to encourage responsible use of the ocean's resources. So the only options included on this list are the"green light", or most sustainable options. If you don't see it there, it didn't get a green light. The (F) in front of an item denotes"farmed".

I'll update this from time to time so you all can keep current. I used the national list, but you can also find more specific regional lists at the same website. The downloadable wallet cards or iPhone application are great to keep with you so that you can always make better choices when you're grocery shopping or eating out.

Bottom line, any seafood has omega-3's. Even if they're not as high as what is found in salmon, every time you eat fish, you're not eating a meat higher in saturated fat. There's a"double whammy" benefit over and above that simple DHA.

Hope this inspires you to think when buying or ordering your seafood!

Milligrams of EPA/DHA/total omega-3 per 100 gram (3.5 cooked ounces)

(F) artic char 600/500/1100
(F) US barramundi 900/600/1500
(F) US catfish 200/200/400
(F) clams 100/100/200
(F) US cobia 383/418/801
(F) Pacific cod, bottom longline fished 100/100/200
Dungeness/stone crab 100/200/300
Pacific US halibut 300/100/400
Pacific US spiny lobster 100/100/200
(F) mussels 300/200/500
(F) oysters 200/400/600
Alaska sablefish/black cod 100/100/200
Alaskan salmon 575/500/1075
(F) off-bottom scallops 100/100/200
Pink shrimp 100/200/300
(F) striped bass 600/200/800
*striped bass 200/600/800
(F) US tilapia 130/50/180
(F) US rainbow trout 400/100/500
US/British Columbia albacore tuna (canned white) 100/300/400
Skipjack tuna (canned light) 300/100/400

If you're a frequent traveler, chances are you have already had an opportunity to experience the new security measures at the airport, which include the new full body scanner.

One of the biggest concerns about this scanner has been the radiation exposure these scanners emit. Because radiation can affect fertility, a concern of many readers of this blog, I did some fact checking.

What is interesting to note is that before these scanners were even in existence, anyone stepping on an airplane was already increasing their exposure to radiation! In a 1998 study published in Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, scientists concluded that an airline captain is exposed to 37% more radiation per year (219 millirem) than a nuclear power plant worker in the same period of time (160 millirem). For the pilot, that is the equivalent to 22 chest x-rays, for the power plant worker, 16 chest x-rays.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, in an independent study, reported that the average scan with the TSA backscatter x-ray scanner provides 0.0024 millirem of radiation exposure. Meaning, you would have to have 4,000 TSA scans to equal one x-ray. The people at greatest risk for increased radiation exposure from these machines is most likely the TSA workers themselves, who conduct their work in the presence of the scanners for hours at a time.

Bottom line:

1. Your biggest dose of radiation exposure is actually coming from the time you spend on the airplane at altitude, not the short amount of time in the scanner.
2. If you are a pilot, flight attendant, or frequent flyer with concerns about fertility, it certainly is a good strategy to start being more diligent about your intake of antioxidants. I've listed the important ones below that are consistently recommended as cancer fighters.
3. If you are a reporter researching the scanner issue, instead of scaring travelers, perhaps the more relevant issue is why TSA is not requiring its employees to wear dosimeters to be sure their own exposure over time is not an occupational risk. It might also be a very quick way to identify a machine that is malfunctioning and exposing flyers to unnecessary additional radiation.
4. Flight crews and TSA employees might want to consider packing their bags with more fruits and vegetables. Especially since these are not items commonly available in airport food courts.
5. In addition to the standard security questions TSA members should ask for your 24 hour diet recall to be sure you're sufficiently protected for your flight. (Couldn't resist that one…just KIDDING!)
6. For our specific population most likely reading this post, I strongly recommend you discuss your travel strategy with the appropriate caregiver if you have a history of cancer, are in the middle of infertility treatment, or have a history of sexual abuse. It's best to know what choices are most appropriate for your personal situation before standing in the TSA line.

So if you're heading home at altitude for Thanksgiving, consider that the broccoli, cranberries, and sweet potatoes (even a small extra sliver of pumpkin pie) aren't all that bad if you're going to have seconds. Enjoy them, as well as your family.

BEST ANTIOXIDANTS FOR COUNTERING RADIATION

Vitamin C parsley, broccoli, bell pepper, strawberries, oranges, lemon juice, papaya, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts.

Vitamin E mustard greens, chard, sunflower seeds, turnip greens

Vitamin A carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, beef, collards, kale, turnip greens, beet greens, winter squash

Lutein and Zeaxanthin kale, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, garden peas, Brussels sprouts

Proanthocyanadins apples, cinnamon, cocoa, grape seed, grape skin, red wine, cranberry, black currant, green tea, black tea, and chokecherry.

Selenium button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, cod, shrimp, snapper, tuna, halibut, calf's liver, and salmon.

Lycopene tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon, and guava

Over the weekend, I had the honor and pleasure of training the newest members of the inCYST network. I'll share more about them in another post!

I realized while doing that training that there is something I always share in professional presentations, that I have yet to post on this blog. It has to do with my perspective about the fact that walnuts consistently show up on every blog post and in every interview about increasing the omega-3's in your diet…and when you do the math…it turns out there may be some other great choices, potentially even better choices, than walnuts for doing this job.

TRUE Walnuts have the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids per gram of nut than any other nut, about 2.5 grams per ounce.

TRUE Walnuts also have a very high amount of omega-6 fatty acids per gram of nut, about 10 grams per ounce.

TRUE Walnuts have an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 4 to 1. If this was the only food we ever ate, this is actually a decent ratio.

HOWEVER…The problem is, when people are trying to use diet for help with inflammatory diseases like PCOS, their ultimate goal is to simultaneously reduce omega-6 intake and increase omega-3 intake. Every time you eat walnuts, you increase both omega-3 and omega-6 intake.

NUTTY STRATEGIES FOR BALANCING OMEGA-3'S AND OMEGA-6'S
1. Don't eliminate walnuts! They still, in moderation, have a lot of great health benefits.

2. Eat a variety of nuts. I like to shop at a store that has bulk food bins. Every week they have a different nut on sale. I went to IKEA and bought a bunch of see-through canisters. Every week I purchase a pound of whatever is on sale and add it to my collection. That way I can snack on almonds, cashews, macadamias, pecans…and always have them on hand for cooking or salads. That way I get the best each nut has to offer, while minimizing potential problems that might arise from getting too much of one kind of nut.

3. Know your anti-inflammatory nuts. If correcting your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is your current most important goal, get friendly with the following nuts: macadamia, hazelnut, pecan, pine, pistachio. I ranked them in order of which ones have the highest ratio of omega-3 and monounsaturated fats compared to omega-6 and saturated fats. (Thanks to friend and colleague Johanna Roth for helping with that analysis).

Each of these types of nuts, has an anti-inflammmatory benefit related to its fat profile. Peanuts, peanut oil, and old-fashioned style (no trans fat) peanut butter are pretty neutral, won't hurt your ratio, but won't really improve it. (Peanut butter is a great and inexpensive choice, and is perfect when eaten in an overall diet that also includes fish, flax, and other omega-3 balancing choices.)

(Monounsaturated fats are mathematically neutral and healthfully beneficial. They are the type of fats also found in olive oil and avocados).

Most people who recommend walnuts as part of their Top Ten List of Foods have not taken the time to do all of the math. They simply stopped at the basic analysis.

Hazelnut-encrusted halibut, anyone?

I think one of the reasons people don't eat more fish is because it intimidates them. They don't know how to buy it. To cook it. So they don't prepare it.

I stumbled on an answer to that at Safeway Stores tonight. They have come up with a series of frozen, vacuum-packed seafood entrees that are the perfect basis for a healthy, easy weeknight meal.

Waterfront Bistro is the name of the product, and there are about 10 different varieties: Alaskan Cod, Halibut Steak, and Sockeye Salmon are plain and easily dressed up with fruit salsas or healthy sauces after grilling or broiling.

Want it to be easier than that? Try the Garlic Lemon Pepper Sockeye Salmon, Sesame Teriyaki Pacific Salmon, Toasted Black Pepper Tilapia, Tuscan Roasted Garlic Pacific Cod, Lemon Dijon Pacific Salmon, or the Sesame Chili Tilapia.

There are a couple of breaded varieties I'm not listing because some of the oils on the label were pro-inflammatory. But this still leaves you with a lot of choices for quick and easy seafood meals.

I challenge you to find these difficult or inconvenient ways to include more seafood in your life!