Clean Eat Education :: Farm Raised vs. Wild Caught Fish

Do you know the difference between farm raised and wild caught fish? Did you even know there was a difference? Check your grocery store's offerings next time you visit the Seafood counter - you will be shocked to see how many varieties are farm raised vs wild caught (warning: the price may shock you too!).

So, what's the BIG deal? Farm raised fish are "farmed" in man-made ponds and pens with thousands upon thousands of other fish, often located near oceans and larger waterways. Instead of eating other fish (as they do in the wild), these fish are fed a diet of fish meal, grains and soy (yes, I said SOY!). The grains they are fed are farmed on land; therefore, you can't be sure that these grains are free from pesticides or other harmful chemicals.

Moreover, farm raised fish are susceptible to ingesting PCB's (Polychlorinated biphenyl) and dioxins since they often encounter run-off and harmful chemicals from large manufacturing plants and facilities before their fellow wild fish do. What do the farms do to combat this? They pump your fish full of antibiotics to try and "kill" off any bad bacteria. 

Are all farm raised fish at risk for these conditions and chemicals? No. However, how can you tell? Most packaging doesn't specify. Therefore, when in doubt, I go wild-caught - EVEN for my canned fish (tuna, salmon, etc). 

Have a great day and don't forget to make sure you are buying wild-caught fish at the grocery! 

Sources Used in This Article:

• Scientific American
• CNN

Eliminate Excuses - Clean Eating and Hypothyroidism

My friends and family that know me well, know much about my struggle with the metabolic disorder, hypothyroidism and thyroid disease.

This is a guest post written by Tiffany.

For those of you that do not know what thyroid disease is, let me break it down for you in an incredibly basic (you can read more about the disease if you want, this is just an overview) sort-of way:

Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the front middle of your neck that secretes hormones, specifically T-4 (or thyroxine), among others. These hormones influence your metabolism, overall growth, and development, as well as your body temperature. There are two types of thyroid malfunction:

• Hyperthyroidism is the increased (high) production of thyroid hormones, including T-4. Often individuals with hyperthyroidism have a very fast metabolism, are underweight, often warm/hot to the touch, have an increased heart rate and may even feel nervous or jittery.
   
• Hypothyroidism (the much more popular of the two) is a decreased or low production of thyroid hormones, including T-4. Individuals with hypothyroidism tend to feel cool often, have slow metabolic reaction to foods (metabolism), gain weight or find it hard to lose weight, may experience bouts of sluggishness, lack of energy, hair loss or thinning and even problems with regular hormonal and reproductive function.

Both of these diseases MUST be controlled with medicine for your body to function normally and the only way for you to find out if you have either is to get a blood test administered by your doctor's office.

Now that we are clear... I wanted to share a little of my experience with you just in case you are going through the same thing. I am hyperthyroid and was originally diagnosed with the disease when I was 19 years old (I am 28 now). I have been taking medicine on and off (yes, I know the off part is bad - that never should have happened) for 9 years now. I originally began on thyroxine, the drug used to treat hypothyroidism, my dose was 25mcg. Today I take 135mcg. A huge step, huh? I attribute A LOT of that to my previous dietary habits (and heredity, but since my mother only takes 50mcg daily, I don't think that's mainly it).

Prior to eating clean, my body would react to my new medicine dosage doing exactly what the doctors wanted it to do and then BANG! All of a sudden, it was like I hit a brick wall and the medicine would no longer work... they would increase my dosage and the cycle would start again. Since I have been eating clean consistently (6 months), my dosage has NOT been altered and I can see gains in my energy levels. I no longer crawl back into bed at 10 am in the morning, my hair no longer falls out and I have faith that this will continue! Nourish your body correctly and with aid from the right dosage of medication, your body will begin to heal itself.

DO NOT let people tell you they are overweight because of a thyroid problem (unless it is untreated)! And don't think that is the reason you are either (if you have a thyroid problem). There are NO excuses HERE - just hard work! I work EXTREMELY hard and watch everything that goes into my body and I am 5'2'' tall, 120 lbs, and 19.5% bodyfat. It CAN be done! I am living proof! You can do it too - don't fall into the trap of excuses.

Good luck on your journey! Even if my story touches one of you today, it's worth it!

Tiffany

Toxic Eat Clean Skeptics - Handling Friends and Family

It's weird that you eat six meals a day, right? What???? NO SUGAR!! Huh? One can exist like that? How do you do it? Can you help me even though I will never really take your advice? You don't really want to look like that do you?

If you have started your journey to a Clean Eating lifestyle, I'm sure you have heard these questions and comments, among others. It's not easy, but you are not alone!

"Toxic" friends and family are a large problem when switching over to eating clean. A problem that you are going to have to overcome if you want to be successful. I have put together a quick list of things that are helpful to remember as you become healthy and look forward to the future.

Toxic Eat Clean Skeptics - Handling Friends and Family

1. This is your decision - NOT theirs. You are choosing right now to eat this way. Try not to complain about how long you are spending in the kitchen cooking or chopping veggies - it will only make your situation worse by giving them something negative to "battle" with you about and turn them off of eating clean if they were ever to consider it. Eliminate excuses!

2. Let them know how much this means to you. Ask for their support, but assure them you are not trying to convert them or in no way, shape or form are you going to judge them for what they are eating. In fact, shortly after Jim and I started blogging, we had a birthday celebration for him. I went out of my way to make  clean treats (you can find many of the recipes on the blog!) and treats that were not-so-clean for other members of our family. I didn't want them to feel ostracized because they had come to our house. It's their decision what they eat - I made sure that Jim and I were taken care of with our healthy treats and that's all that matters! At the end of the night, I packed up what they wanted to take home and trashed the rest (I know, shame on me for wasting food, but sugary food isn't good for anybody anyway!)

3. Give them a little insight into how to eat clean so they know what to expect. Both mine and Jim's families are great when it comes to our lifestyle (although don't let me fool you - we took a LOT of flack in the beginning). They know we eat six meals a day and now think nothing of me bringing my own food to a family meal (now they even try to cook something we can eat!) or popping a pack of grapes and almonds out of my purse for a midday snack. The more they understand that food doesn't consume your life and that you are just as normal as them, the more they will become comfortable with it.

4. Give it time. You are a pioneer of sorts to them if they are not knowledgeable about eating clean. Let them observe you and how your lifestyle fits with theirs. Two things could happen - they could get it and realize you aren't much different OR they could flip out and never want to talk to you again (this sounds nuts, right? Let's hope that doesn't happen).

4. People are by nature, insecure about their appearance/weight. In my experience, this is the answer to why people will snub you or mock you for eating clean - RIGHT HERE! I wish we could change this, but when most people see someone succeeding, they begin to question their own success. If you are mocked, or snubbed by a friend or relative, it's 99% of their own insecurity. Why wouldn't someone want to feel better, look better and enhance their health?

I really hope this helps. Please know you are not alone, Jim, myself, Whitney and Scott have all experienced this. We would love to hear your stories about "toxic" friends and family - it would be great to prove we are not alone!