10 unexpected foods on TIME’s 50 Healthiest Foods’ list

Sardines on TIME's 'healthiest foods' list? iStockphoto

TIME Magazine recently published its list of the 50 healthiest foods we all should be eating. With the help of registered dietitian Tina Ruggerio, author of The Truly Healthy Family Cookbook and the folks at Cooking Light, they have provided not only why these foods are so healthy, but also offer simple recipes to make incorporating them into your diet easy peasy.While most of the food items on the list won’t surprise you (We all know eating more fruits and vegetables is important), there were 10 items that seemed a little unexpected. From sardines to household spices like cumin, there are some surprises on this list.SardinesThese tiny fish show that size doesn’t matter when it comes packing a nutritional punch. They are a good source of calcium as well as improve blood flow and help with inflammation. One can of sardines is only 191 calories and has 22.7 grams of protein. Try Cooking Light’s Fennel-Sardine Spaghetti recipe.

AnchoviesAnother small fish, the anchovy, can be an acquired taste for some, but they are a great source of protein, vitamin B, calcium, iron and omega-3 fatty acids. Even better, they are low in mercury. Only two drained and minced anchovy fillets are required for Cooking Light’s Spicy Anchovy Broccoli.KefirKefir is a fermented milk drink that has actually been shown to improve lactose intolerance and to fight cavities. It is chock full of good microbes. Simply add to a smoothie instead of milk or yogurt.Rooibos teaThis red tea can help protect you from chronic and degenerative diseases and is a great source of calcium and iron. Other plus points? No calories and easy to make. Just add to hot water.TurmericApparently the phrase “spicing up your life” should refer not only to your sex life, but to actual spices as well. This orange color spice derived from the root of the Curcuma longa plant can help your body fight viruses and inflammation. Some research also points to its ability to prevent Alzheimer’s and cancer as well. Just one teaspoon in a dish like an Omelet with Turmeric, Tomato, and Onions by Cooking Light can make a positive impact in your health.CuminIt definitely might surprise you to know that a common kitchen spice like Cumin can improve your heart health as well as fight infection. According to TIME, you get twice as many antioxidants in a one-half teaspoon of ground cumin than in a carrot. Lightly sprinkle salmon fillets with cumin and other mixtures for this heart healthy recipe by Cooking Light: Cumin-Dusted Salmon Fillets.TunaThe tuna, especially canned tuna, tends to be an underrated compared to the glitzy salmon, but our budgets might not always be able to afford a salmon fillet so it is nice to know that a tuna fish sandwich can also help boost our brain health and reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease. Just remember that there is the risk of mercury poisoning so be careful how much of it you eat on a weekly basis. Pregnant women, breast-feeding women and young children have to be especially careful. This week make a simple tuna fish sandwich or add Cooking Light’s Arugula, Italian Tuna, and White Bean Salad to your menu.Hemp seedsWhatever your stance on marijuana, the cannabis sativa plant has other uses. Its hemp seeds are a good source of protein and will provide you with all nine essential amino acids as well as vitamin E. If you like pine nuts, you’ll love the taste. A simple way to add hemp seeds into your diet is to add a handful to a smoothie or your morning oatmeal; you can even sprinkle some on your salad.MushroomsPeople tend to either love or hate these fungi, but what can’t be denied is that they are the highest vegan source of vitamin D. Eating mushrooms can also help you fight cancer, and contains riboflavin which is important for the body’s ability to detox. Don’t like eating mushrooms raw? Cooking Light has a Penne with Sage and Mushroom recipe that you might find more appealing.GarlicBesides fighting off vampire and over amorous kissers, garlic also is very good for our health. Improve your immunity and protect your joints by adding garlic to your diet. Garlic-and-Herb Oven Fried Halibut by Cooking Light requires only 1 large garlic clove.Were you surprised by any of the other items on TIME’s list?

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Read the original post: Philly.com | by Tracey Romero

Cyclical sardine stock decline sets off efforts by greens to suspend West Coast fishery

GRANTS PASS -- Concerned sardine numbers may be starting to collapse, conservation groups are calling on federal fishery managers to halt West Coast commercial sardine fishing to give the species a better chance to rebound.“If they continue fishing them hard, they will go down a lot faster, and it will take them longer to recover," said Ben Enticknap, of the conservation group Oceana, that wants a suspension through the first half of 2014.The fishing industry counters that while there are signs sardines are going into a natural cycle of decline, fishery management has taken precautions to prevent overfishing, which was common in the past.Stock“Today’s precautionary management framework cannot be compared to the historic fishery, which harvested as much as 50 percent of the standing stock," said Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, which represents sardine fishermen and processors. She is also vice chairman of a committee that advises the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council on sardines and related species.Current harvest rates range from 15 percent to 25 percent, depending on the size of stocks.The council plans to vote Sunday in Costa Mesa, Calif., on an interim harvest quota for the first half of 2014. The council has no specific proposal before it, council staffer Kerry Griffin said.The latest sardine assessment prepared for the council says that stocks at the start of 2014 are expected to be 28 percent of their peak in 2006, when they hit 1.4 million metric tons. The current management plan for sardines says a decline of another 60 percent, to 150 metric tons, would require halting fishing off the West Coast.Landings in Oregon, Washington and California have been valued at $9 million to $15 million a year. Most of the fish are exported to Asia, where some are canned and others used for bait for tuna.Read the full story here.

A convenient truth: 90% of the tunas are gone!

Last week, I had the privilege of presiding over the defense of the Ph.D. dissertation of Maria José Juan-Jordá in La Coruña, Spain. Maria José is a bright young researcher and has already published several chapters of her dissertation in the peer-reviewed literature.The first chapter in her dissertation(1) is the last in a series of peer-reviewed scientific papers that demonstrate that the combined biomass of large oceanic predators (mostly tunas) has not declined by 90% as stated in another scientific paper ten years ago.The 90% decline figure came from an analysis published in 2003 which concluded that “large predatory fish biomass today is only about 10% of pre-industrial levels” [Myers and Worm, 2003(2)].  Those analyses relied heavily upon catch rates from a single fishing gear type (longline) and aggregated catch across species to estimate trends in “community biomass”. The paper quickly became high-profile in the tuna world. Many environmental groups embraced it as proof that all tunas, not just the bluefins, were in serious trouble. On the other hand, tuna scientists who were actually conducting stock assessments, especially for tropical tunas knew immediately that the 90% number was totally wrong.Over the next few years, a number of peer reviewed publications(3,4,5,6,7,8) showed that the conclusions in Myers and Worm (2003) were fundamentally flawed. Two of the most important reasons for this are: The aggregation of data, and the use of data from a single fishing method. The end result is that the 90% decline is an overestimate. This process of rebuttal is a natural part of the way science develops. Sometimes scientists reach conclusions that are wrong, for whatever reason, and other scientists discover flaws and point to them. A paper, once published, is not necessarily immortal.Nevertheless, the notion of 90% global demise of tuna populations is still out there. It is repeated in many consumer guides published by various environmental groups that want to influence market preferences. It also pops up elsewhere: Earlier this year, I visited the web site of a newly-formed commission that aims to improve governance of ocean resources, and I was surprised to see the 90% number mentioned there. A colleague of mine who also noticed it said he was “disappointed that one of the most rebutted fisheries paper of all time continues to raise its head.”Read the full story here.

Harvard study finds eating tuna, mackerel, swordfish boosts memory

Eating tuna could boost memory and slow age-related mental decline, say researchers from Harvard Medical School.They looked at the diet of 6,000 women with an average age of 72 and monitored them for nearly ten years, measuring their memory and mental ability at different points.The women who ate tuna, mackerel or swordfish once a week had significantly better verbal memory compared to women who did not regularly eat the fish. There were no links between memory and consumption of light-meat fish or shellfish. It's thought the benefits are down to the high omega-3 content in tuna and mackerel — other studies suggest this may help boost memory.Read the full story here.

Eating Fish While Pregnant Halves the Risk of ADHD

The amount of fish a woman eats while pregnant may affect her child's chances of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Eating fish twice a week was linked to about a 60 per cent lower risk of a child developing certain ADHD-like symptoms, according to research from the Boston University School of Public Health.But the type of fish eaten is key.Elevated mercury levels, which can occur from eating certain types of fish, such as tuna and swordfish, were also tied to a higher risk of developing ADHD symptoms such as a short attention span, restlessness or being easily distracted.'The really important message is to eat fish,' said assistant professor Sharon Sagiv, the study's lead author.Read full story here. 

PG&E tests bad for sea life and also for fishing industry

 Written By Brian StacyFOR much of the 20th Century Southern California was a world leader in seafood production. The once-thriving tuna fishing fleet, based at the Port of Los Angeles and in San Diego, plied distant waters for months at a time returning to local canneries that employed thousands of people.Today, the U.S. tuna industry is a distant memory, the victim of subsidized foreign competition, unfair trade practices, government over-regulation, and in some cases under-regulation.Historically, California's commercial fishing industry once employed tens of thousands of people in fishing, fish processing, boat building and boat repair and allied industries. Recreational fishing has been a staple of the coastal tourism. Both have been a vibrant part of the California coastal economy, from Eureka to the Mexican border.I fish the waters of the central California coast. Those of us who remain, men and women who work at sea and harvest many of the types of fish we find in the supermarkets and in restaurants, have to be creative, nimble, and able to adapt to a sometimes harsh natural and political environment.It is infuriating when yet another hurdle is erected making it nearly impossible for us to practice our trade. But this time it isn't Mother Nature, imported farm-raised fish, or some government edict. This time it is a public utility - Pacific Gas & Electric, the energy behemoth whose aged gas lines exploded and ravaged the San Bruno community in 2010.PG&E also owns the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, on the San Luis Obispo County coast. Diablo Canyon now threatens the central coast fishing industry, the local marine environment, and the livelihood of both commercial and recreational fishers.Read the rest of the article on Los Angeles Daily News.  

Endangered species listing for Atlantic bluefin tuna not warranted

After an extensive scientific review, the NOAA announced last week that Atlantic bluefin tuna do not currently warrant species protection under the Endangered Species Act. The entire NOAA press release follows below:After an extensive scientific review, NOAA announced today that Atlantic bluefin tuna currently do not warrant species protection under the Endangered Species Act.NOAA has committed to revisit this decision by early 2013, when more information will be available about the effects of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, as well as a new stock assessment from the scientific arm of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the international body charged with the fish’s management and conservation.NOAA is formally designating both the western Atlantic and eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stocks of bluefin tuna as “species of concern” under the Endangered Species Act. This places the species on a watchlist for concerns about its status and threats to the species.“NOAA is concerned about the status of bluefin tuna, including the potential effects of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill on the western stock of Atlantic bluefin, which spawns in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “We will revisit the status of the species in early 2013 when we will have a new stock assessment and information from the Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the oil spill. We will also take action in the interim if new information indicates the need for greater protection.”NOAA’s status review, released with today’s decision and peer-reviewed by The Center for Independent Experts, indicates that based on the best available information and assuming  countries comply with the bluefin tuna fishing quotas established by ICCAT, both the western and eastern Atlantic stocks are not likely to become extinct.The status review team also looked at the best available information on the potential effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill on the future abundance of the western stock of bluefin tuna and found that it did not substantially alter the results of the extinction risk analysis.  While the NOAA team found that the presently available information did not favor listing, it also recognized the need to continue to monitor the potential long-term effects of the spill on bluefin tuna and the overall ecosystem. New scientific information is expected in a 2012 bluefin tuna stock assessment and as part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill.“Based on careful scientific review, we have decided the best way to ensure the long-term sustainability of bluefin tuna is through international cooperation and strong domestic fishery management,” said Eric Schwaab, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “The United States will continue to be a leader in advocating science-based quotas at ICCAT, full compliance with these quotas and other management measures to ensure the long-term viability of this and other important fish stocks.”NOAA conducted the status review of Atlantic bluefin after determining on Sept. 21, 2010, that a petition for listing under the ESA from a national environmental organization warranted a scientific status review.To read the status review report on Atlantic bluefin tuna, the federal register notice and other information on bluefin tuna, please go to: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2011/05/bluefin_tuna.htmlNOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Find us onFacebook.