All About Seafood

When I visited Halifax a couple of months ago, I attended the annual Seafood Festival at the Cunard Center on the waterfront. In addition to feasting on seafood and wine, I also sat in on Leslie Beck's presentation: Seafood: Why it's good for your health. Leslie Beck is one of Canada's leading nutritionists and writes a weekly column in the Globe and Mail.

Here are a few highlights...

• The average Canadian eats only 2/3 of a fish serving per week.
• 50% of all North Americans do not eat any fish.
• Beck recommends that we eat two servings of fish, especially fatty fish twice a week. That can reduce the risk of dying from heart disease by 36%.
• Studies have shown that older adults who eat fish once a week are 60% less likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease.
• Cook fish at a high temperature (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for a short period of time.

Beck also pointed out the four most common excuses that people give for not eating fish:

1. I can't get the rest of my family to eat fish.
2. I don't know how to cook fish.
3. Cooking fish makes that house smell.
4. Buying fresh fish is inconvenient.