From a Registered Dietitian’s Point of View: Healthy Heart Pledge Testimony
Alyson Fendrick R.D. L.D., Homeland Grocery
As a Registered Dietitian and Together Counts™ partner, I love teaching people about seafood. My favorite thing is educating them on how to select and prepare seafood from the Homeland meat counters. A lot of shoppers are scared of seafood because they believe it is difficult to cook. I love giving them the confidence they need to add it to their shopping cart.
I try to incorporate seafood two times a week into my diet because I know it’s an important source of Omega-3 fatty acids that help keep my heart healthy.
One thing I love about seafood is that it’s so versatile! You can eat it for any meal and can make it taste different every time because there are so many amazing flavor profiles. Not to mention that it’s super-fast and easy to cook—convenience is a huge plus in my book!
- Tips for buying seafood:
- For a delicate, light fish, choose something lean, such as striped sea bass, cod, flounder, grouper, haddock, halibut, yellowfin tuna or whiting
- For a rich, meatier taste, move up to a fatter fish, such as herring, mackerel, opah, sablefish, salamon, sardines, trout or tuna
- If you’re budget-focused, try frozen and canned seafood as they just as nutritious and delicious as fresh
- Seasonal or local options offer great value at your fresh counter. Both farm-raised and wild fish are good nutritional choices – if you have questions while shopping, be sure to talk to your seafood counter expert to help you decide the right choice for you
- Tips for cooking seafood:
- You’ll know when raw shrimp is done cooking once it turns pink and becomes firm
- For live oysters, clams and mussles, the shells will open once ready to serve
- When finished cooking, shucked oysters, clams and mussels will become plump and opaque
- Crab and lobster shells will turn bright red, and the meat will become white or opaque, once cooked through
- Get started tonight:
- Love grilled chicken or steak? Try grilling a tuna steak, scallops, shrimp, snapper or salmon
- Looking to revamp your family’s favorite chicken parmesan recipe? Try subbing in tilapia instead
- Need to spice up your go-to salad? Mix up your go-to salad meat and try it with tuna or give our Apple Harvest Salad with Popcorn Shrimp a try
Seafood helps me lead a balanced lifestyle by giving me a lot of ‘bang’ for my nutrient buck. Seafood provides my diet with protein rich foods, healthy fats and low calories—what more could you ask for? It also helps me reach my protein goal of 30 grams per meal, which helps aid in muscle recovery and growth following workouts.
Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to inspire a healthier America through partnerships that raise awareness about the essential nutritional benefits of eating seafood. SNP, a member of the NCD Roundtable, leads education efforts to help Americans gain the skills to select, order and prepare fish and shellfish, and to inspire a healthier America by promoting a nutrient-rich diet that includes seafood. In October 2015, during National Seafood Month, SNP is launching a three-year national public health education campaign. For more information, visit SeafoodNutrition.org.
For more ideas on healthy dining options, check out these blogs from Together Counts!