grilled wild alaskan sockeye salmon with miso

Tonight's dinner: grilled wild alaskan sockeye salmon with miso. Served with brown rice.

The choice of wine for the evening was Red Bicylette French Rosé. A brilliantly rosy blend with a healthy touch of dryness. It's brimming with the fresh flavors of ripe red fruits - strawberry and raspberry. Perfect for summer meals!

I'm crazy about fish and seafood. But I am cognizant of the high levels of mercury found in some fish so we tried to limit to eating fish twice a week.

Fish are great sources of protein and low in saturated fat. Cold-water fish, like salmon, mackerel and herring are also excellent sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids. These are fats our bodies can’t produce, so it’s essential we include them in our diet. Omega-3s many benefits - they reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, they minimize the syptoms of arthritis and inflammatory diseases, they contribute to healthy hair and skin and they help with depression.

Wild salmon is a better choice than farm raised salmon. Because farm raised salmon contain more PCBs than wild salmon. The average level of PCBs in salmon is 0.027 ppm (parts per million). The current FDA limit of PCBs in all fish is 2 ppm.

Also, farm raised salmon are generally bigger in size and contain more fat than wild salmon. PCBs are stored in fat and remain there for an extended period of time, therefore farm raised salmon contain more PCBs.

Regardless, the benefits to heart health may outweigh the risk of getting cancer from eating farmed salmon. So don't give up fish and salmon completely. Just make sure you trim the skin and the visible fat as PCBs are store in the fat portion, prepare your salmon to reduce a significant portion of fat such as grilling and broiling and try canned salmon as most of them are wild salmon.