Are fish what they used to be?
Once upon a time in our Beautiful world, fish were abundant, each with distinct health properties. So what happened?? why don’t we see those who are pescetarian superhuman?? I’ll ask a better question, Why do we see those who consume fish regularly with compromised health?? How is this possible?? didn’t God create fish?? Aren’t we supposed to eat it on Shabbos?? Hashem wouldn’t recommend us to eat it if it was bad for us?? Our bubbies and zaidies ate fish with no issues??? No??
What I’m going to do for you Now is answer all these questions with solutions you wished you heard earlier but thank God you’re seeing them now. I address everything, with healthy, practical, And affordable solutions. I’m not going to tell you to stop eating fish, and not because I know you won’t listen anyway, but because when you eat fish — the right kinds of fish, it does have tremendous benefits. I was speaking with a young man about how he can get rid of his brain fog by improving his diet. He told me impossible, it can’t be food can affect the brain as it goes through the digestive tract ??. Others have a hard time believing food makes any difference at all. Honestly, I have a difficult time understanding their thought process, but I’m assuming anyone reading this knows how what we eat affects our physical health, and my job is to surprise you, that this is truly more than you ever imagined.
In the same way, what we eat and our environment affects our health, we know that what the fish eat and their environment affects their health as well. For those that aren’t familiar with how toxic today’s oceans are and why they can watch SEAspiracy on Netflix or read the book called killer fish. I’m going to focus more on the solutions in this article.
I love Tuna, but my body doesn’t. Mercury poisoning is very real and applies to much other large fish as well such as swordfish. (The truth is people don’t love plain Tuna, they like Mayo. Just like a lot of people don’t like ketchup, they like the high level of high fructose corn syrup it has. I’ll discuss in a different article how to make a healthy mayo.)
You may be thinking, is tuna so bad??? Just to put it in perspective, the amount of mercury in one can of tuna, can be a hundred times the amount found in a can of sardines. And No, it wasn’t always that way. When your great grandparents ate it, it was much cleaner. And when Hashem tells us to enjoy it on shabbos, that means when it doesn’t poison you at the same time.
if you feel you need to taste tuna here are some healthy simple mock recipes I’ll share with you …..
When I share recipes I never give exact measurements, because you can never get it exact and people are discouraged if they don’t have ingredients, I just want you to make it….
Simply soak sunflower seeds overnight, put them in a blender, add lemon, salt, and celery – and your good…. But if you want the real thing There is a company called Safe Catch that tests the mercury content of many fish and only cans only those with little mercury.
Now before you go buy this brand, even if you don’t mind the price, realize it’s still isn’t recommended because the mercury you would be getting is still relatively high to other fish, and mercury accumulates in the body over time.
Another brand low in mercury is Vital catch.They sell young tuna , that has been in the water for a shorter period, hence they accumulate less mercury. Whenever eating tuna, eat it together with a food that is high in selenium. When I say that, people think of Brazil nuts. A better source is mustard seeds. You’re probably not going to buy seeds, grind them up to eat them- as they are unpleasant to eat – very bitter. So buy healthy mustard, and use that. The reason why this is important is that selenium will bind the mercury preventing it from absorbing in the body.
Next…. sardines, As we all know sardines is a tiny fish and it’s a saltwater fish as well. That’s two very special qualities, #1 smaller fish are in the water for less time and accumulate fewer toxins, #2 if you’ve heard of a saltwater pool as an alternative to the toxic chlorine – saltwater buffers toxins.
Now there are some cleaner sources of sardines than others, and there are a lot of amazing companies. However in some locations, it’s very difficult to find sardines that are in high-quality olive oil, or water. Sometimes it’s only available in soy, canola, or other terrible oils. If you know the sardines are in a high-quality olive oil, then that is preferred over water, because it preserves the omega’s from the fish.
Now that I convinced you to try sardines I want to give you directions on how to prepare them. Because although some people like myself, enjoy it straight out of the can,(especially when it’s in tomato sauce), or eat it simply plain on bread, others wouldn’t eat it that way. I understand where you’re coming from. Here’s a simply delicious recipe that masks the taste and makes it delicious…. sardines, techina, onion, garlic lemon, salt pepper, just mash it up and you’re done. – Delicious!!!
With the next fish, I need to be careful, because it’s the most stereotyped fish I know. It’s so sad because not only is the stereotype not true, but this is the healthiest fish on my list. Caught in Iceland, in waters protected from most pollution, there’s a liver of a fish that when prepared correctly is so delicious, affordable, and a powerhouse of nutrition. You’re used to it being sold as just the oil, and when it is sold in that form it tastes awful, and then people think it always tastes that way. Even worse as a child it’s forced down our throat with a teaspoon, and we never want to taste it again. So for starters, I know that pain, I feel like it’s one of the traumas that we all grew up with. I can tell you this, If you follow my recipe, not only will you see it’s delicious, but your body will thank you, so don’t forget to give it a try.
It’s called cod liver- with oil. Guys not just the oil, but the liver -with the oil. Here’s the recipe so you can see how easy and delicious it is … Cod, eggs tahini, garlic, onion, salt eat it with rice cakes.
Now it’s time to share the benefits… This is the highest source of natural vitamin D known. Vitamin D is amazing for overall health especially for people with autoimmune diseases. it’s also high in a very important antioxidant vitamin A, aside from being full of other vitamins. The high vitamin D and A content make it stand out, as it’s in a Whole Food form which makes it so much more powerful and absorbable.
I’m not going to cover the dangers of farmed fish here. it’s well known, and I want to focus on solutions. But tilapia and salmon are farmed unless it’s verified that it’s wild. I say verified because just because it says so, doesn’t mean it’s true. But if you can get your hands on wild salmon, it’s a very tasty and healthy choice (a bit pricey for my liking). If something is too good to be true, research because it’s very possible that it’s too good to be true. Someone told me they found a reliable source for cheap wild salmon. I was getting excited, and I did research and you wouldn’t believe it. Yes, it was wild, caught in radioactive waters. I want to find a reliable source to order wholesale to sell to you guys but so far I haven’t found anything just yet.
Two fish are uncommon for people to eat, but I’ll mention them because they are small, saltwater fish, and are healthy options when canned in healthy oils. #1 - sprats, they are very soft and taste like mild shardines. #2 Achovies, which can have an overwhelming flavor if you don't balance the taste, it does have that 5th taste we all enjoy - Umami. Granted that there are no added ingredients or unhealthy oils, Herring and Mackerel are small saltwater fish as well and are healthy options. What about smoked fish?
Smoked fish are usually cured with table salt, and nitrites to allow longer preservation time or room temperature storage. Processed Salt and unhealthy fat have detrimental cardiovascular effects (no wonder farmed salmon is so damaging). Nitrites and polyaromatic compounds from smoke are thought to be carcinogenic as well. Therefore unless the fish is wild, preserved with a non-processed salt, and nitrite-free… I would recommend avoiding it.
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What about the fish that swims with the carrots on top? Oh, Geflita fish? That doesn't exist. Gefilta fish is a mix of many ingredients. Although it consists of Pike and Whitefish, (wild fish)which aren't bad choices, as they are low in contaminants, many added ingredients are terrible for health. If you'd like to eat Gefilta fish on Shabbos, you may want to consider making it homemade. A simple recipe- Pike,cod,whitefish,oat flour,salt,pepper,onions. If you buy a cod fish and would like to serve it flayed it can taste really good. Take note, it's just a bit boney. Here's the recipe- olive oil, garlic, ginger, lemon juice n cayenne. In conclusion, when people think of fish, they think of Tuna, farmed Salmon, Tilapia, and Gefilta fish. These fish are very common because they are very cheap and taste great!. Unfortunately, people innocently eat this daily in the name of health, but in actuality, it can be the most inflammatory food you put in your body. I know people that removed these fish from their diet and replaced it with healthier options we mentioned above and have seen tremendous benefits.
Some healers believe all fish is bad (and I understand where there are coming from, as ocean pollution and farmed fish is no joke ).Understanding that, I know from experience with clients when people consume the right kinds of fish it has those omega’s, that are very Anti-inflammatory, as well as many other vitamins. and it can assist the healing process very much.
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