Benefits of Wild Alaskan Salmon

While many types of meat are continually vilified by the media, salmon is hailed as a nutritional powerhouse for overall health and well being. Salmon contains all-too-important omega-3 fatty acids -- a fatty acid that is virtually missing from the western diet. Omega-3s are important for everything from healthy skin and hair to mitigating serious diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

But don't think that just any salmon will do. Farmed and so-called organic salmon is very poor in omega-3s. These fish swim in cages consuming, well, each other's feces as well as pellets made of corn and soy -- not the natural diet of fish. Corn and soy in any animal population serves one purpose -- to fatten them up. Furthermore, the corn and soy is likely to be genetically engineered because organic would be too expensive. Genetically engineered corn and soy have been linked to a myriad of disorders including asthma, allergies and infertility, but I'll leave that discussion for a future hub.

Only wild salmon has the health benefits you're looking for. Fish eating their natural diet of plankton and other sea creatures produce a high omega-3 content as evidenced by their deep red flesh and lean texture. Note that the farmed stuff is more orange in color and has a greasy slick to it as well as a fishy (i.e. rotten) smell.

In case you didn't know, the orange hue comes from dye pellets that are fed to the fish shortly before scooping them out of the cage. Purveyors of farmed salmon actually order their fish with a specific color in mind. "Oh I'll have the dark orange today, please!" Before that the flesh is gray. Don't we all get a little gray and greasy when we don't move around enough and eat a lot of junk food?

But choosing your salmon doesn't stop there. Many of the wild populations are contaminated with heavy metals. In many areas off the coast of the US and increasingly around the world, pollution has reached epidemic proportions, making these fish poisonous -- particularly the larger fish.

Yet there is one small enclave off the coast of Alaska that has been spared thus far. That's where (perhaps) the world's best salmon comes from. These fish are delicate, dense and tasty. And of course, they are loaded with beneficial omega-3s.

Yes. Not only is this fish safe for pregnant women to eat, but it is necessary in an age where what qualifies as food increasingly has less nutrition that it did even 20 years ago. I don't want to get political about the government stance on this issue, but suffice it to say that the source does matter. No. I would not advocate women eating massive amounts of farm raised salmon during pregnancy, but they can safely eat wild Alaskan salmon a few times a week, particularly if it has been tested to ensure low heavy metal and PCB load.

Heavy metals (particularly mercury from fish or vaccines) are one of many reasons for escalating rates of autism in the US. Aluminum has a high association with Alzheimer's. Soy, by the way, organic or not is tends to have very high aluminum levels. And high amounts of omega-3s will ensure that our children don't end up with asthma and allergies as they will feed the gut lining from the nose and mouth all the way down blocking spasms brought on by processed foods. So we can safely say that true wild Alaskan salmon will help protect your baby's brain, skin and gut.

Canned salmon in particular is of value because of the soft bones it contains. Remember, you're growing a baby and these tasty bones translate into highly assimilable calcium for your baby's bones and teeth. Just make sure you mix it up with some fresh too, as the omega-3s will suffer during the canning process. Canned is aslo great for travel or at the office.