Nutrition

October 16, 2012 — Increased intakes of fish, and the omega-3 fatty acids they contain, may reduce the risk of stroke, says a new study.

Read the full story on Nutra Ingredients

 

 

WELLESLEY HILLS, Mass. — October 16, 2012 — Roche Bros. today announced a seafood traceability program in conjunction with their longtime seafood partner, Foley Fish, a fourth generation seafood processor based in New Bedford and Boston.

The new Sea Trace program provides increased transparency regarding where the seafood at Roche Bros. comes from and validates that the seafood is sustainably harvested and naturally processed. Customers will now be able to scan codes for select species to see a photo of the fishing boat, the location fished and even a description of the fishing gear used.

Leveraging educational materials from Foley Fish, the supermarket will list the fishery management programs associated with each species offered. Laura Foley Ramsden, owner of Foley Fish, serves on the New England Fishery Management Council.

“Fishery management is complex. Just labeling the product red, yellow or green oversimplifies it and doesn’t give the consumer enough information to make a well-considered choice," Ramsden said. “We want to encourage customers to select U.S.-caught fish with good conscience; knowing that the seafood has been harvested sustainably and handled naturally at the Foley plant to maintain its 'just caught' flavor."

Once harvested, fish destined for sale at Roche Bros. are cleaned and filleted exclusively at Foley Fish, without any chemicals or adulteration. Foley delivers directly to Roche Bros. stores.

 

Read the full PR Newswire release at the New Bedford Standard Times

 

 

October 11, 2012 — Americans now eat more seafood than the Japanese, making the country second only to China in fish consumption, according to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Still, 91 percent of that seafood is imported – either wild-caught by crews from another country, caught by Americans but processed overseas or grown in fish farms elsewhere.

Programs like the one run by Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla., may one day change that.

“There is no doubt in my mind that aquaculture is here to stay and that Florida will be a big part of that future,” said John Scarpa, who teaches molluscan classes in the program.

Fishermen face the same question as ranchers and farmers: How do you feed the 9 billion people that will be here by 2050?

“There is no more (additional) food coming out of the ocean,” Scarpa said. “People seem to have a bit of trouble with that concept. We can grow more and more terrestrial animals like chickens. But when we talk about fish, we simply cannot catch more (wild) fish than we are catching now.”

To feed a growing worldwide population, seafood producers have turned to aquaculture, which already supplies half of the fish consumed each year.

Indian River State College has run a program for 15 years in cooperation with Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, allowing studies to get a two-year certificate in aquaculture.

“We are in a great partnership with Harbor Branch and are poised to go in the right direction,” Scarpa said.

Students can get an associate of applied science (AAS) degree or an associate of science (AS) degree, which includes credits that may transfer to a larger school.

But the agriculture school also launched a four-year program in 2008, continuing with the first two years of hands-on ag training but adding two years of business-focused schooling.

“You might think, what does business have to do with aquaculture or agriculture? But anybody with four years or more of education is going to be in management. He or she is going to need management skills and training,” said Ann McMullian, who heads the agriculture department at Indian River.

Even in the first two years, students are required to write up a business plan; that education becomes more in depth as a student pursues a four-year degree.

“You can grow a crop, but if you don’t have any business savvy, you aren’t going anywhere,” said McMullian.

 

Read the full story here 

 

 

October 9, 2012 — The amount of fish a woman eats while pregnant may affect her child's chances of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Eating fish twice a week was linked to about a 60 per cent lower risk of a child developing certain ADHD-like symptoms, according to research from the Boston University School of Public Health.

Elevated mercury levels, which can occur from eating certain types of fish, such as tuna and swordfish, were also tied to a higher risk of developing ADHD symptoms such as a short attention span, restlessness or being easily distracted.

'The really important message is to eat fish,' said assistant professor Sharon Sagiv, the study's lead author.

She added that pregnant women should avoid 'big' fish, such as tuna and swordfish, which typically contain the most mercury. Instead, they should opt for haddock or salmon.

The research was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Past studies looking at the link between mercury and ADHD – a condition estimated to affect up to 5 per cent of school-aged children – have produced conflicting results.

ADHD is the most common behavioural disorder in the UK.

Most children are diagnosed between the ages of three to seven, with boys more commonly affected.

Many people with ADHD also have learning difficulties and sleep disorders.

For the new study, the researchers followed 788 children born in Massachusetts between 1993 and 1998.

They used hair samples taken from the mothers after delivery to test their mercury levels, and food diaries to see how much fish they had eaten.

Then, once the children were about eight years old, the researchers asked their teachers to evaluate the children's behaviour to see how many exhibited ADHD-like symptoms.

After taking all of the information into account, the researchers found that one microgram of mercury per gram of a mother's hair – about eight times the average levels found in similar women's hair in another analysis – was linked to a 60 per cent increase in the risk of their child exhibiting ADHD-like behaviors.

But there was no link below one microgram of mercury per gram of a mother's hair.

 
Read the full story in the Daily Mail
 

 

 

 

 

October 6, 2012 — Eating fish from time to time may reduce risk of stroke, particularly ischemic stroke, according to a new study in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 P Xun of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC and colleagues conducted the study and found people eating fish 5 times a week, compared with those eating fish less than once a month was associated with 13 percent reduced risk of stroke.
 
Included in the study were 16 cohort studies, found in databases MEDLINE and EMBASE, of 402,127 individuals with 10,568 incident cases of stroke who were followed up for an average of 12.8 years.

Compared with those who never ate or ate fish less than once per month, those who ate 1 to 3 times per month, once per week, 2 to 4 times per wee, and 5 times per week were at 3 percent, 14 percent, 9 percent and 13 percent reduced risk for stroke, respectively.

The association varied from location to location. An inverse association between fish consumption and stroke incidence was found in studies conducted only in North America. The modest inverse associations were stronger for ischemic stroke than hemorrhagic stroke.

 

Read the full story here

 

 

October 5, 2012 — It seems there’s a never-ending see-saw battle in scientific research about certain consumables. Red wine will decrease incidence of cardiovascular disease! No it won’t. Dark chocolate will lower your body mass index! Or not.

Seafood is no different. For every report that Omega 3 fatty acids are the fountain of youth, there’s another study warning seafood lovers about looming poison from excessive quantities of heavy metals, especially mercury. But are Omega 3s really that beneficial? And what to make of reports that selenium in fish can counterbalance the negative effects of mercury? And just what the hell is selenium, anyway? What’s the truth about fish?

Of course, there’s no black-and-white answer, but I’ll try to sort through a few of the bigger issues and provide a bit of guidance about what to look for at the fish counter to maximize the benefits and reduce your risk.

First of all, a disclaimer: I’m an ocean policy wonk, not a doctor, so take all this info with a grain of salt (figuratively, people, watch that blood pressure!) and ask your doctor if you have deeper questions—particularly if you’re pregnant.

Here’s what the Mayo Clinic has to say about Omega 3’s. (I’m using the Mayo primarily because my mother-in-law treats it like an oracle. And if there’s one lesson from this column that has nothing to do with fish it’s that you should seize every chance you get to make nice with your mother-in-law.)

There is supportive evidence from multiple studies that suggests the intake of recommended amounts of [fatty acids] DHA and EPA in the form of dietary fish or fish oil supplements lowers triglycerides; reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease; slows the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques (“hardening of the arteries”), and lowers blood pressure slightly.

Omega 3s from fish are considered superior to Omega 3s from other sources such as eggs or flax seeds because they contain the fatty acids DHA and EPA (let’s go ahead and skip the multisyllabic mouthfuls that make up these guys’ actual names), which are the gold standards when it comes to proteins.

Or are they? Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal wrote about a study that found no evidence of benefits from use of Omega 3 supplements. Yet the article goes on to describe various ways in which this study was potentially skewed, and it notes that:

Thousands of studies since the 1970s have shown that people with high levels of omega-3s have lower triglycerides, lower blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, less inflammation and a lower risk of heart disease. Those with low levels of omega-3s are more likely to be depressed, to commit suicide and have memory loss and brain shrinkage as they age.

So let’s see, one study saying there’s no discernible positive impact, against thousands of studies over four decades showing Omega 3s can make your heart work better for longer and prevent your brain from shrinking. I know whose side I’m on. Score one big thumbs up for fish.

 

Read the full story at the Center for American Progress

 

 

October 3, 2012 — Hoping to extend your life? Eat more cold water fish such as tuna or salmon and consume less corn oil.

According to new research out of Ohio State University, in the category of omega fatty acids, you’re advised to take more omega-3 and less omega-6, those fatty acids derived from such foods as corn oil, sunflower oil and safflower oil.

Got it? More 3, less 6.

Ohio State scientists are convinced Omega-3 fatty acids, found naturally in certain fishes as well as in dietary supplements have a restorative effect on ever-shortening telomeres — those DNA sequences that are known to diminish as we age.

Shortened telomeres equal shortened life.

Ohio State clinical psychologist Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, lead author of the study says, “I’ve spent many years studying the relationship between stress and immune function. And I became interested in how nutrition might be a factor there. The omega-3 story is one of the most compelling stories in terms of some of the immunological effects — particularly their anti-inflammatory effects.”

While she appreciates the science community comes to different conclusions on the benefits of omega-3, Kiecolt-Glaser believes the anti-inflammatory properties in omega-3 fatty acids help preserve the length of telomeres. Inflammation speeds up cell division which is linked to shorted telomeres.

The ratio of fatty acids in our diet is out of whack, says Kiecolt-Glaser. “Those vegetable oils only really entered our diet in the early 1900s and that’s when the omega-3 and omega-6 ratio which people thought was two or three to one rose to its current 14 or 15 to one. Omega-6 is important but we have so much of it in our diet already,” she says.

 

Read the full story at the Toronto Star

 

 

October 3, 2012 — Smoked salmon tainted with salmonella has sickened hundreds of people in the Netherlands, authorities said, sparking major recalls there and in the U.S.

U.S. health authorities say they are also investigating whether the salmon could be at the root of a multi-state outbreak of the illness.

The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said the salmon was traced to a Dutch company called Foppen, which sells fish to many major supermarkets in the Netherlands and stores around the world.

In the U.S. Foppen said it only supplied the fish to CostCo Wholesale Corp. It did not believe the contaminated fish was sold to any other countries.

The Dutch public health institute said that around 200 people — and likely more — have been sickened in the Netherlands by a strain of the bacteria called Salmonella Thompson.

A representative for the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, Lola Russell, says the federal agency has 85 recorded cases of the same strain from 27 states starting from 1 July. Without an outbreak, she said the average number of such cases over that time would be about 30.

 

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

 

WASHINGTON — October 3, 2012 — Omega-3 fish oil supplements are widely thought to help prevent a variety of ailments including heart disease, Alzheimer's and depression: Assessing the health benefits of an Omega-3 rich diet.

Guests:

Dr. Majid Fotuhi
chair of the Neurology Institute for Brain Health and Fitness, and assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Paul Coates
director of the Office of Dietary Supplements at National Institutes of Health.

Thomas Sherman
associate professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Susan Allport
journalist and author of "The Queen of Fats."

 

Listen to their discussion on the Diane Rehm Show

 

 

WASHINGTON — October 2, 2012 — Eating fish is good, but eating the right kind is even better.

A study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds the health benefits of fish outweigh the negatives, such as mercury consumption.

Researchers concluded that 7 percent of heart attacks in men could be prevented with a change in their diets, one that involved more fish consumption, provided the fish was low in mercury, The New York Daily News reports.

The study involved 361 Swedish men and 211 Finnish men who had heart attacks. It looked at their mercury levels and omega-3 concentrations in their hair and blood samples. Researchers created a risk-benefit model that found the value of the omega-3 fatty acids outweighed the risks of mercury.

All fish contain the necessary omega-3 fatty acids that are valued for their health contributions to heart disease prevention and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids even help improve skin and build-up bones.

The fish to avoid eating are large predatory ones, such as shark, marlin and orange roughy, which the Natural Resources Defense Council lists as having the most mercury.

 

Read the full story at WTOP