A key take-away for many guests at the Pritikin Center is that they can make big changes in their health with only small tweaks to their diet. Food preparation or one ingredient can add considerable salt and fat to your diet. Simply substituting baked fish for fried fish could help prevent a stroke.
By contrast, people who ate a lot of fried fish or fish sandwiches (more than once per week) had a 44% higher risk of stroke compared with people eating the fare less than once per month.
Stroke Prevention
What makes baked and broiled fish so healthful – and fried fish and fish sandwiches so troublesome? One key reason is that fried varieties can contain quite a lot of saturated fat, a well-known artery-clogger. One fast food chain’s fish sandwich, for example, has even more saturated fat than the restaurant’s regular hamburger.
For both your brain and your heart, concluded the researchers, forgo fried fish and fish sandwiches. Instead, order broiled, grilled, or baked varieties that are rich in omega 3 fats. Numerous studies have found that omega 3 fatty acids, found in abundance in many types of seafood, make the blood less “sticky,” and, as a result, less likely to form clots, which could lead to both heart attacks and strokes.
There is also growing evidence that omega-3 fatty acids lower blood triglyceride levels, enhance the immune system, decrease inflammation, and play a role in maintaining good blood pressure – all factors that can decrease stroke and heart attack risk.
Seafood varieties that are high to moderately high in omega 3s include herring, salmon, sardines, trout (farmed), mackerel, and tuna. Plant sources that are good sources of omega 3s are walnuts, flaxseed, legumes (black beans, pinto beans, lentils, etc), and tofu.
Try This Baked Fish Recipe
Peaches and fish for dinner? Yes! You’ll love this masterpiece. It’s one of those “eat with your eyes first” dishes that’s so good you’ll want to serve at a dinner party, but so easy – it’s ideal for a weeknight meal
| Servings |
| 4people |
| Servings |
| 4people |
- 4 four-ounce halibut fish fillets (fresh)
- cooking spray
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 2 peaches pitted and diced (leave skin on)
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- pinch allspice ground
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce low-sodium
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Ingredients
Servings: people
Units:
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place fish fillets in large glass or ceramic ovenproof baking dish.
- Lightly spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.
- Sauté the onion until golden brown; then add the peaches, orange juice, allspice, and low-sodium soy sauce. Bring to a boil and cook briefly, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the sauce over the fish and place in the oven.
- Bake the fish until done and fork-tender, about 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately with the sauce spooned over the top of each fillet.
Lose Weight at the Pritikin Weight-Loss Retreat
Take life to the next level, and be all that you can be. That’s what a vacation at Pritikin is all about. Live better. Look better. And best of all, feel better.Sources
- * Archives of Internal Medicine, 2005; 165: 200.
