Is fish oil really beneficial, safe and environmentally friendly?

Depending upon whom you ask, fish oil is both wonder supplement and health menace. It protects against heart disease, but it can contain mercury. It’s linked to lower risk of breast cancer and diabetes, but it can be contaminated with PCBs. Fish oil is fraught with contradiction, and we haven’t even had dessert yet.

As the number one, most-purchased health supplement even over multivitamins, fish oil flies off shelves around the world for that greasy substance procured from the flesh of cold-water fish like sardines, anchovies and herring. Hailed as the best natural source of omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, these vital substances are necessary supplements our bodies can’t synthesize on their own.

These long-chain essential fatty acids work wonders on our health. We’ve known for years that fish oil promotes heart health, but recent studies seem to crown it king of all health tonics – it may lower the risk of developing breast cancer or diabetes, protect against blindness and even aid in the treatment of mental disorders. Beyond that, it’s considered to be possibly effective for high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, menstrual pain, kidney problems and a host of other health issues.

But for every study touting the miraculous effects of fish oil, there’s another warning of hidden dangers in the form of toxic contaminants. The presence of mercury in seafood is a well-known concern, and a lawsuit filed in 2010 against eight popular fish oil supplement manufacturers alleges unsafe levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are carcinogenic.

Then there’s the sustainability issue: we can’t ignore the fact that fish populations are plummeting around the world due to overfishing and environmental contamination. Are we contributing to this problem when we buy fish oil?

Google all of these issues and it’s easy to see that straight answers aren’t easy to come by.  But among all the studies, recommendations, glowing reviews and dire warnings, a few things seem clear:

Worldwide medical bodies agree that benefits outweigh the risks. They key is moderation; most people don’t need more than 500 milligrams per day. Warnings about mercury content in fish are aimed at high-risk groups like pregnant women, young children and the elderly. Plus, mercury is more often found in large, predatory fish – not the small fish used to produce fish oil.

Some brands of fish oil are healthier and more sustainable than others. The Environmental Defense Fund has a handy color-coded guide to fish oil supplements indicating which brands conform to the strictest standards for safe levels of contaminants. Look for supplements made from 100% wild fish, which contain fewer contaminants than those made with farmed fish. You can check the sustainability of particular fisheries at fishsource.org and the WWF.

Eating whole fish may be more effective than taking fish oil supplements. Most dietitians recommend getting vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids from nutritious whole foods – including fish. One study comparing absorption of omega-3’s in fish oil versus whole fish over six weeks found that levels of DHA were nine times higher in those who ate the fish. The Environmental Defense Fund has a chart listing fish that are both high in omega-3 fatty acids, low in environmental contaminants and easy on the environment.

Plant-based sources of omega-3’s are available, but may be less effective. Flax seed, walnuts, spinach and other ‘green’ sources of omega-3’s contain short-chain fatty acids, which must undergo a relatively inefficient conversion process in our bodies. Marine-based omega-3’s are more potent, but some people – especially vegetarians – may prefer the veggie source nonetheless.

Image: vintagedept

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We’ve been trolling around for news and netted some doozies. From fish oil, to updated Seafood Watch recommendations, here’s a sampler platter of recent food news morsels.

Restaurant Greenwashers: We are watching you

Developed by intrepid journalist Charles Clover, who brought us the film End of the Line, Fish to Fork is a spanking new online rating system and interactive website that rates restaurants according to their seafood sourcing policies.

You may be surprised by what you find. There’s a lot of assuming going on out there and I’m guilty, too. Just because your favorite tower of gastronomy serves artisan meats and organic produce from local farms doesn’t mean you can assume their seafood sourcing policies are anything to brag about. And yes, it’s pretty disturbing that there is a restaurant named Bluefin on the list. It reminds me of the subdivisions all over California named after the orchards that once stood in their places.

You can send in information about any restaurant you frequent as well, making Fish to Fork a growing and valuable resource.

Fish Oil Is a Fishy Business

As part of your resolution to eat more sustainably, you’ve downloaded those little seafood wallet cards and now you carry them around and refer to them religiously at the fish counter and in restaurants. Good for you!

You may also have stopped eating certain types of fish due to overfishing concerns and begun taking fish oil pills instead. Whoa there, Nellie! Do you know where that fish oil comes from? There’s no wallet card for that, now is there?

Recently, Time Magazine reported on a little known fish called menhaden that is being overfished for the burgeoning fish oil supplement market. Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for the heart, brain, joints, and other important body parts.

Though menhaden is a tiny fish, it is nonetheless important for two reasons: It’s a source of food for larger predators (many of which are already endangered) and it’s a filter feeder. It eats algae and can help prevent dead zones caused by algae blooms. Scientists have been working on algae-based Omega-3 supplements that have the same properties as fish oil. It’s my understanding that they don’t have all the same components. My advice: Eat more sardines.

New Salmon and Shrimp Rankings from Seafood Watch

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program released new wallet cards this month and there are some important changes you should know about.

If you’ve diligently given up farmed salmon and shrimp due to environmental concerns, you might be happy to know that a certain type of farmed shrimp and a specific type of farmed salmon have been added to the “Green List.”

Responsible aquaculturists have been working hard to improve their practices and the new rankings are proof. US Farmed freshwater Coho salmon is now produced in closed systems that don’t pollute the environment and producers have gotten the feed ratio down to a point that is acceptable to scientists.

Similarly, U.S. farmed freshwater prawns are raised in small-scale operations inland where they cannot escape or pollute the ocean environment. The prawns consume plants and insects rather than large amounts of fish and the water is recirculated for extra green points.

But you still have to do the hard, dirty work of asking questions. Make sure you ask your server or fishmonger if the salmon or shrimp you’re ordering is US freshwater farmed and make sure the salmon is Coho. If you ask those questions and the answer is no, and then you don’t order it, restaurant and store owners will take notice. Remember your power as a consumer.

Pressing the Flesh

You know that pink stuff called krab that you find in cheap sushi? What about fish sticks? Did you ever wonder what that was? It’s pollock, most likely. And pollock is having the certification equivalent of an existential crisis.

On the one hand, The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has just recertified pollock the pollock fishery as sustainable. On the other hand, the Seafood Watch program has downgraded it from “green” (Best Choice) to “yellow” (Caution). Seafood watch is concerned about bycatch and damage to the ocean floor caused by the fishing methods used.

What should you do? Think about what you’re eating. If you’re going to eat fish, know what it is and appreciate it. Wild foods like fish should not be turned into protein pucks and eaten mindlessly.

Image: SauceSupreme

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

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