That pain in your neck? Another case of nutrition whiplash, I’m afraid. Earlier this year, the USDA’s new Dietary Guidelines for Americans made the need to reduce sodium intake one of its primary messages.
Then, just last week, a new Cochrane Review concluded that “cutting down on the amount of salt has no clear benefits in terms of likelihood of dying or experiencing cardiovascular disease.” Continue reading “Forget Salt. Focus on Potassium.”
Q. In a recent interview, you mentioned cutting back on added sugar as one of the most important things you can do to improve your diet. I noticed you didn’t mention the importance of limiting sodium. Do you think the concerns over sodium are over-blown?
A. In a word, yes. In the recently released 2010 Dietary Guide for Americans, they really came down hard on salt, stressing the need for all Americans to reduce their sodium intake. Given all the things about the typical American diet that could use fixing, I thought it was a little odd how much emphasis they put on this. (Obviously, the salt lobby was asleep at the switch during the hearings…)
The rationale for universal sodium restriction rests a string of loosely related statistics:
The USDA and Department of Health and Human Service have just released the long awaited 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Get my take on the new guidelines and what they mean for you in a special edition of the Nutrition Diva podcast.
This coming Monday, the the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services will unveil the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans–the government’s official take on what and how we’re supposed to be eating. Obviously, Americans need guidance. We are literally killing ourselves with food. But are the government’s Dietary Guidelines making us any healthier?
Continue reading “2010 Dietary Guidelines: Will Science Prevail Over Politics?”
Q. Is imported frozen fish from countries like India and Vietnam safe? I avoid buying any food imported from China but I bought frozen Swai Basa Fish (farmed) from Vietnam and frozen Squid (caught wild) from India. They tasted really good and they were cheap, but I’m wondering if we can trust those imports or they may be full of some toxic stuff.
A. Theoretically, the safety of fish being sold in U.S. markets is monitored by federal agencies such as the FDA, whose job it is to be sure that the fish sold for human consumption in the U.S is “safe, wholesome, and not misbranded or deceptively packaged.” (Institute of Medicine on Seafood Safety)
But as we’ve seen lately, the ability of the FDA to effectively police the food supply and enforce its regulations is in serious doubt. Just a few years ago, for example, there was a scandal in which salmon being sold for a premium as “wild-caught” in both wholesale and retail markets turned out to be cheap farmed salmon. ( Story from New York Times)
To make things even more challenging, fishing and farming practices are changing rapidly around the globe as demand for seafood increases. New restrictions and best practices are being implemented. But loopholes and work-arounds are also constantly being discovered and exploited. It’s a moving target!
The best resource I’ve found to keep up with these issues is Seafood Watch. These guys are working hard to stay on top of all of these issues and to provide up-to-date resources for consumers trying to make safe and responsible choices.
I scanned Seafood Watch’s reports on both the fish you mentioned. In terms of toxins or contaminants, I didn’t see too much to worry about with the wild-caught squid, but these comments on farmed swai basa got my attention:
“Commercial aquaculture for finfish in Viet Nam continues to use relatively low technology and many operations continue to use homemade feeds…[with] little or no management of aquaculture operations…”
The safety of these fish as food obviously depends primarily on the water they’re raised in and the food they are fed. They might be perfectly fine, but it doesn’t look as if anyone is paying too much attention.
From a sustainability perspective, which is more about the long-term health of the oceans than the safety of the food, both wild-caught squid and farmed swai basa are considered “good alternatives” but not “best choices.”