What Fish Should I Get? Farm Raised or Wild Caught?

Seafood can be extremely tricky to shop for in the grocery store. Many of us are trying to eat more fish as current research shows that it’s a key part of a healthy diet.

But, about 86 percent of marine fish stocks are fully exploited or overfished, meaning our supplies of fish are rapidly dwindling. Farmed fish, called aquaculture, has become more prominent, and you’re likely to see more choices of farm-raised fish at the grocery store. But how does it compare to wild caught?

What’s better: farm raised or wild caught?

It depends on the type of fish.

Farmed or wild, you're likely to get similar nutrient content. But, each type of fish carries different environmental effects and health risks based on fishing or farming method.

From an environmental perspective, the basic rule for knowing which to get is the amount of input versus the output. Vegetarian fish are better as farmed fish rather than meat eaters like salmon. It may take as much as three pounds of feed to grow one pound of carnivorous fish.

Coastal net pens. Photo from NOAA via Flickr.

Farm-raised Fish

Auqaculture means breeding aquatic animals and plants in a controlled environment. Methods of raising farmed seafood include raceways, tanks, net-pens, ponds, and lakes. 

China and other Asian countries are the top producers of farm-raised seafood, and much of the fish sold in the United States is imported from China.

Concerns
As with food animals raised in close quarters, disease and waste management are major concerns. Veterinary drugs and antibiotics are used in fish farms and run the risk of spreading to the surrounding waters and contaminating those fish and drinking water supplies. Having so much fish waste concentrated in one area can harm the surrounding waters. Herbicides are also used in fish farms to reduce algae growth.

Raceways and tanks do not breed fish and aquatic plants in inland waterways and may be more environmentally friendly methods.

Better choices
Mollusks and aquatic plants are the best choices for farmed seafood, along with tilapia and other vegetarian fish. Salmon, shrimp, and other crustaceans require large amounts of inputs and have much higher environmental and health costs.

Third-party organizations have also created certification programs to set standards for sustainable aquaculture. Look for labels from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council or the Marine Stewardship Council. The United States does have high quality standards for aquaculture, but U.S. aquaculture makes up a tiny fraction of the supply.

Wild-caught Fish

Our supplies of wild-caught fish are running out, so paying attention to the fishing methods used and avoiding fully exploited fish are what’s key to leaving decent fish stocks for our kids and grandkids.

Concerns

Salmon fishing. Photo by James Brooks via Flickr.

As far as fishing practices, a major environmental concern is by-catch. This is the amount of fish caught that is not part of the target species. These fish are often thrown back dead.

Large amounts of by-catch, which you get with methods like trawling and dredging, harm the seafloor and reduce the organisms living there.
The primary health concern with wild-caught fish is mercury. Those levels are higher in swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, and others. Salmon, catfish, and trout tend to have low levels of mercury. The general rule is to eat the fish that may be high in mercury less often.

Better choices
When choosing wild-caught fish, look on the package for the fishing method used. Trolling, jigging, and using pots and traps have little to no by-catch and do far less damage to the surrounding ecosystem.

A Note on Interconnectivity

Although aquaculture is looked at as a possible solution to overfishing, it is still heavily dependent on wild-caught fish. Anchovies are the most commonly caught species and are primarily used as fish oil and fish feed.

Sustainability is talked about so often these days it seems to have lost much of its meaning But our food system, environment, and public health are closely related. You can encourage our food producers toward sustainability through your buying choices.

You can find many guides online to help you choose what fish to buy. Most of the ratings for these guides are based on what that organization thinks is most important. This one from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium is a good one.

A Cheap Way to Stay Healthy – Take Care of Your Gut

Photo by Daniela Validimira via Flickr

A happy gut is key to a healthy body. A wealth of research in the past few years has shown how our gut bacteria affect the rest of our bodies.

Your gut bacteria do a lot more than help you digest food and move it through the gastrointestinal system. Your gut bacteria may influence obesity, depression, and diabetes.

 

Function of Gut Microbiota

Your gut is pretty cool and extremely powerful. It even has its own independent nervous system. The gut microbiota is found in the intestine, where there are tens of trillions of microorganisms.

The microbiota start forming as soon as you’re born and evolves throughout your life based on your diet and environment. We each have our own unique composition of around 1,000 species of bacteria.

Here are a few things your gut bacteria do for you:

•  Aids in the production of some vitamins, such as B and K
• Works as an important part of your immune system to fight off illness
• Creates 95% of the body’s serotonin, which helps regulate mood
• Helps you digest food and move it through the GI tract

What the Research Shows

A lot of current research into the gut microbiome has shown its powerful effects and ways in which our diet can alter it — for better or worse.

Here are some highlights:

• A positive balance of good bacteria in the gut could treat depression. This is leading doctors to look more closely at treating mood disorders with probiotics.  
• Gut bacteria may influence anxiety, depression and autism. It could even have an effect on the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
•  A high-fat diet may change the gut microbiome, leading to mood disorders and depression. 
• The gut plays a role in the development of diabetes and obesity. Artificial sweeteners may play a role in altering the gut microbiota and inducing glucose intolerance — the first step toward diabetes.

Build Up Good Bacteria

Pre and probiotics are the most common ways to promote good gut health.

Photo by Mike Ortega via Flickr

Probiotics are live microorganisms often in foods like yogurt or offered as supplements. These may have a health benefit in some cases, but the research isn’t definite. There are many strains of probiotics and different strains have different effects.

Prebiotics are nondigestible food components used by gut bacteria for fermentation.

You can get prebiotics and probiotics through diet, and the more diversity you have, the better.

Fermented foods and drinks are usually good sources of probiotics:

• Kefir (yogurt or water)
• Tempeh
• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Yogurt
• Kombucha

Garlic and Jersusalem artichoke

You can get prebiotics from:

• Jerusalem artichoke
• Bananas
• Oatmeal
• Asparagus
• Legumes
• Garlic

Taking care of your gut may be one of the best – and easiest – ways to keep yourself healthy and happy.

Do you try to get prebiotics and probiotics daily? How?

2014 Year in Review

Sharing personal information is still a little uncomfortable for me, but I feel like I need to record this year for posterity. It has probably been the craziest year of my life (just sliding past the year I graduated college, officially left home, got married, changed my name and started my first job).

We've had good times and bad. Triumphs and emotional breakdowns. Every member of the family has had new experiences, and, although things weren't always easy, I feel like we have grown so much.

The Summary
My husband walked out on his job and started a contract job 3,000 miles away. My oldest started kindergarten and my youngest started preschool. I began seeking out new freelance writing clients and have begun building a sustainable writing business.

As most of you know, in the middle of the year my dad passed away. That has been extremely difficult, and I still miss him every day as I try to include some of the silly things he used to do with me with my kids.

The good, bad, unbelievable, and exciting

• My youngest walked solo
  
• Daughter built first snow fort
• Husband quit his job
• First time being unemployed since he was 15 years old
• Preschool graduation
• Said goodbye to Buddy, our cat of 13 years
• First kayak ride for the kids
• First carousel ride for my oldest (5 might be a little late for this, but she's cautious)
• Husband took his first contract job
• Our first time living 3,000 miles apart
• Put our first house on the market (I guess selling will have to wait til 2015)
• Son started speaking in sentences
• Daughter started kindergarten
• Son started preschool
• Oldest turned 6
• First and second pet fishes for the kids and me
• First Ferris Wheel ride for the kids
• First time on an airplane for both kids
• First time for kids seeing and dipping feet in the Pacific Ocean
• First trip to LA
• Daughter got her ears pierced
• Son turned 2 and had a birthday party for the first time
• Record for most illnesses in one season
• Husband finally got that 1/2 sleeve tattoo 

Thank you to everyone who has helped us out so much this year. It has meant a lot, and we love you all.

Here's to 2014 and all the uncertainties ahead in 2015.

Should You Give Your Kids Vitamins?

The answer to that question is not a clear yes or no. It all depends on your kids' needs, lifestyle and willingness to eat certain foods. My answer is yes, occasionally.

I've always debated whether my kids need vitamins, and I often feel like we fall short with food. But the general consensus seems to be that for normal, healthy kids with no dietary restrictions, multivitamins are not necessary. If your child follows a restricted diet (i.e., vegan, vegetarian, no dairy), you may want to talk to their doctor about what nutrients could be missing and take individual supplements.

When to give vitamins 
Most research shows that young kids particularly get what they need from diet alone. In one study, children were not getting adequate calcium and vitamin D regardless of supplement use. And some kids taking supplements were getting too much iron, vitamin A, zinc and folate.  

Sometimes our kids may be especially active or we've just had a busy week and haven't been making great food choices. Those times and during cold and flu season are when I tend to give my kids vitamins. I usually do half the dose to avoid overdosing them on certain vitamins such as Vitamin A, zinc and niacin.

Types of vitamins

To get the best vitamins, sometimes you may feel like you have to go out and spend a lot of money, but it's likely not worth it. Our body's absorption of vitamins and minerals is complex, and nobody really knows how much of a multivitamin gets absorbed. Naturally derived vitamins are likely to work with your body better than synthetic vitamins, so they are probably worth a little extra money.



For more reading, here's what webMD has to say about kids and vitamins.

Do you give your kids vitamins or other supplements? What do you use?

Tips to Hide the Healthy from Your Kids

Before going too far into this post, let me just say that it's best to continue to introduce your kids to fruits and vegetables with the hope that one day they will like at least some of them. But sometimes you just get tired fighting, and you need them to get the nutrients.

Mac & cheese with carrots, celery,
onion, nutritional yeast hidden
;

Smoothies are probably the easiest way to hide vegetables and extra fruits, but you have many more options.

Cooking at home is the best way to ensure your kids get a balanced diet, and it's much easier to hide healthy foods inside home-cooked meals rather than packaged meals. Everything listed here is quick and easy to make. Things like macaroni and cheese, applesauce, chili, even burgers and meatloaf, you can make in large batches and freeze for later. All you really need is a blender or small food processor.

Tips to Hide Veggies 

Meal/Food	Veggies	Tips
Ground beef meals (meatloaf, burgers, chili, sloppy joes, meatballs)	Carrots, celery, squash, mushrooms, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, your favorites	Saute and dice or puree the veggies. Mix them in before you pat out the loaf or patties
Mac and cheese	Carrots, onions, celery Spinach (if your kids don’t care about color)	Stick to sweet vegetables with little color or add a dash of paprika and turmeric to turn everything a cheesy looking orange. Saute, puree, and add to homemade cheese sauce.
Spaghetti	Spinach, onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, olives, and more	Saute and puree to hide the best and mix in with homemade or premade sauce
Brownies	Avocado, pumpkin, sweet potato	Replace egg and oil with 2/3 cup pureed avocado and 1/3 cup water.
Scrambled eggs	Cauliflower Carrots, spinach, mushrooms	Puree the cauliflower and blend in to hide. Add other cooked, chopped veggies if your child doesn’t mind.
Grilled cheese & quesadillas	Carrots, squash, sweet potato, pumpkin	Puree and add to grated cheese, then melt.
Baked goods	Zucchini, carrots, avocado	Mash, chop or puree and add to batter.
Applesauce	Carrots, berries	Cook and puree

 

Want more ideas? Check out these chefs:

The Sneaky Chef
Deceptively Delicious

What else can you add to this list?  

Facing Obstacles

I was originally going to give this post a title about organizing my thoughts or something, but I've started listening to some motivational content at night, and tonight's was about overcoming obstacles. That's when I realized that that's what I really should be focused on.

A quote from tonight was "look at your obstacle and give it the appropriate value, enough to make you productive." That may not make sense without context, but it basically means not letting your obstacles overwhelm you and stop you.

To be honest, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed lately, which makes it hard for me to get focused on any one thing. I'm also very introverted, and I pull back inside my shell when I feel like this. So, in facing up to the feeling of being overwhelmed, I am blogging about it so as not to hide from the world.

My Plate Is Full
I wrote previously about all the changes happening. I've now got to handle all the housework and maintenance inside and out, which is a lot. I also have two freelance businesses -- one as a writer and one as a Beachbody coach -- that I have to figure out how to manage my time between. I'm also anxious (nervous? sad? excited?) about sending my first child to kindergarten and my youngest to preschool in the coming weeks. I hope to increase my freelance writing business, and I even have a phone interview for a job tomorrow, and I'm incredibly nervous.

The kids are not helping, either. Although individually they are sweet, loving, playful, funny little people, together they are loud, screaming, fighting little monsters. They are also confused and anxious about all the changes going on. My daughter has said repeatedly that she doesn't want to sell the house, and I have to reassure her again and again that all our stuff will go with us, that it doesn't matter where we live or what we have as long as we're all together.

After tonight's audio about overcoming obstacles, I realize that none of the things going on is a bad thing. I'm lucky to have the family I've got. I love them all dearly on their wonderful days and in the midst of their dysfunction. Yes, there's a lot going on, and it's overwhelming. It's also a good time for me to get scheduled and organized. With a daily routine and building up better, more productive habits, I can more easily see where and when I need to ask for help.

What do you do to get centered and maintain a positive focus when life gets overwhelming?

Starting a Family Budget - Tracking

Now that my husband is working again, we are looking for ways to save money. It's tough for everybody to find that extra little bit every month to put into different accounts. With both of us being 1099 employees, my husband and I have to also manage our own healthcare savings and retirement savings as well as emergency savings and college funds for the kids. Contract work varies, so you have to have a long view of income. One month may be great, and the next may be nothing, so saving becomes extremely important to cover the months off.

I read articles all the time about ways to save money, and most of them we already do. Starbucks is a problem for us, but we're working on it. Other than that, we don't buy a lot of extras when we go out. We eat probably 90% of our meals at home. So where do you find money to save when you're already following the financial gurus' advice?

Goals
I would love to answer that here, and I hope to be able to offer some advice in the coming months. For now, I'm setting goals for how we want to live and where we want to put our money. We've talked a lot about traveling and exposing the kids to different cultures. But I don't want to get into the trap of constantly chasing more money to be able to do that. Instead, I realize that we have more stuff than we need, and we don't need all these cheap, disposable things that are advertised to us. It's just a matter of limiting those impulse buys and conveniences that add to every grocery store or Target bill (or, this week, Ikea. Oops. The kids department is so hard to resist!).

To begin our journey to better household budgeting, I've set goals for where we want to dedicate any extra we can create:


1. Replenish our savings from the time out of work.
2. Start saving in an HSA.
3. Make regular contributions to retirement accounts.

Creating a budget
In the past, I've added up what we've spent at the end of every month to see where all our money is going. I've reduced every bill I possibly can over the past few years, so there's not much more we can do with fixed expenses.

With my husband just having started his job and having a lot of new expenses, I've got a few preliminary steps to do before I feel like I can set a true budget.

1. Track all expenses from August to determine our current spending.
2. Keep all receipts and add up impulse buys, unnecessary purchases, and one-time expenses (i.e., school supplies).
3. Develop realistic numbers to fill in spreadsheet.  

Because we're not together and, in essence, supporting two households during this contract period, we're sharing a spreadsheet that we both update. It is very detailed because the highly variable and semi-variable costs are the primary places we need to look to find extra money. That's also where most people don't realize how much they spend (according to advice I've read online).

Yes, this is detailed. My husband is an engineer and a whiz with Excel. We have many spreadsheets like this.

I'm hoping to be able to get a positive number in that bottom row that can then be applied toward my goals.

What do you do to budget? Where do you find the best ways to cut costs?