Healthy Food Choices for Fish

Fish and seafood have long been considered staples of a healthy diet. Learn how to make healthy fish food choices from a licensed dietician and nutritionist in this health and nutrition video.

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Avoid fish with mercury
Preparation is key
Fry with canola oil

About this Author

Christine E. Marquette is a registered and licensed dietician with the Austin Regional Clinic in Austin, TX. She conducts nutrition therapy for ages 2 and up for all dietary needs.

The vast majority fish and shellfish are very healthy for you, but there are a few types that you want to avoid due to the possible high levels of mercury contamination. The fish that you want to avoid are shark, tilefish, and king mackerel. Those particular fish are very large and they have a higher possibility of accumulating mercury in their fatty tissues. For other fish, a very good choice would be salmon. But, again, virtually any type whether its sardines, tuna fish, tilapia, cat fish, they're all very healthy for you. They do all contain some amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, very little cholesterol, and very little saturated fat. The main thing that you want to focus on with your fish is preparation. Preparation is key. The best ways of preparing your fish will be not adding a lot of extra fats such grilling, baking, and steaming. If you do need to fry, you're better off doing a slight stir fry with a cooking oil such as canola, avoiding putting breading on the fish. Breading is the main problem with fried fish and that when it has the breading on there, it has to be deep fried and a lot of the oil is absorbed into the breading and increases the calories and is typically not the best fat for you.

Healthy Food Choices for Fish Video

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