Trading Up Downtown

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a wonderful event called “For the Health of It,” which included a lecture, cooking demonstration, and Yukon River Salmon tasting. I wrote about the event in detail on my personal blog, but here are some highlights from it:

The main event kicked-off with a fascinating lecture from Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH about what consumers need to know about seafood, omega-3’s, and health. Dr. Mozaffarian said a lot of interesting things, including:

• Eating 1-2 servings of fish per week significantly reduces your risk of coronary heart disease
• Salmon has the highest omega-3 content of seafoods; it has 5.2 g compared to 0.3 g in canned tuna (per 100g serving)
• Omega-3’s are extremely beneficial to the brain development of infants
• One should avoid shark, swordfish, tile fish, and king mackerel since they have high levels of mercury

During the live cooking demonstration, we learned how to prepare two salmon recipes: Brown Bag Salmon and Salmon Ceviche–  each of which looked so simple to make. I can’t wait to try cooking them myself!

Even since the “For the Health of It” event, I have been obsessed with eating salmon. It’s just so good for you! Atlantic salmon, for instance, scores an 87 on the NuVal scale. But, when I dug deeper into the NuVal scores for salmon, I got a little confused.

There were so many different varieties of salmon (i.e. King, Chum, Pink) and ways to eat it (i.e. fresh, frozen, canned), no wonder I was confused! So, I asked Rachel Rodek, Registered Dietitian and NuVal’s Nutrition Communications Manager, to help me make sense of some of the salmon scores. Here’s what she said:

Because each type of fresh salmon contains a different amount of omega-3 fatty acids, this becomes the score’s primary driver.  One reason for varying omega-3 quantities is the fish’s diet, which differs depending on its origin.

For example Atlantic Salmon (NuVal score 87) which are primarily farm-raised, have a tightly controlled diet and can be fed to increase their omega-3 content.  On the other hand, Pacific Salmon are primarily caught wild and include King/Chinook (Score 56), Chum/keta (Score 69), Coho and Pink (Score 72), and Sockeye (Score 82).

When salmon is then smoked or canned, sodium is added in processing which drives the score down dramatically.  However, canned salmon does contain omega-3s and if minimal salt is added, can be an example of high nutrition quality for low cost per ounce.  Demings canned Wild Pink Salmon scores an 81!

Instead of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day last week like everyone else, I celebrated it yesterday. Better late than never, right?

My mom offered to make a traditional Irish boiled dinner, so, of course, I jumped at the chance to enjoy her famous meal. Every year, she makes a huge pot of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, turnips, and carrots. It’s such an easy meal to make and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.

So, how does my mom’s boiled dinner stack up on the NuVal scale? Check out the scores below:

• Corned beef: 23
• Green cabbage: 96
• Carrots: 99
• Purple turnip: 100
• Potatoes: 93

Minus the corned beef, my mom’s boiled dinner scores pretty high on the NuVal scale. Corned beef is actually one of the lowest scoring meats out there. (Only bacon and spare ribs score lower.) Good thing I only eat corned beef once a year at my mom’s house!

Dinner concluded with a frosted, shamrock-shaped butter cookie. I couldn’t think of a better way to end such a wonderful meal!

I absolutely love trying new foods! My recent food kick– well, technically drink kick– is trying new non-dairy beverages. I drink iced coffee with a splash of milk or a non-dairy beverage almost every morning, so I’m always looking for fun, new ways to trade-up its nutrition.

Here’s a sampling of non-dairy beverages with their NuVal scores:

• Pacific Organic Almond Non Diary Beverage Low Fat Chocolate: 45
• Eden Soy Carob Soymilk: 49
• Eden Light Low Fat Original Soy Milk: 49
  
• Rice Dream Original Rice Drink with Enhanced Vitamins and Calcium: 82
• Soy Dream Original Soymilk Enhanced with Vitamins and Calcium: 88
• Blue Diamond Smooth & Creamy Unsweetened Organic Almond Beverage: 90
• Blue Diamond Smooth & Creamy Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Beverage:90
• Silk Organic Unsweetened Soymilk: 91
• WestSoy Organic Unsweetened Soymilk: 94

If you’re looking for a specific score for your non-dairy beverages, don’t hesitate to ask!

Recipe Contest

Don’t forget about the Trading Up Downtown Recipe Contest. You only have a few more days to enter!

Calling All Nurse Practitioners!

Are you a Nurse Practitioners with a blog? If so, drop me an email at thaupert@nuval.com. I have something that might interest you!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered yesterday’s contest!

Here’s your winner: 17

17. Lauren, on March 18th, 2010 at 12:23 pm Said:

I’m not on twitter, but I love adding garlic to any veggies I’m cooking that are usually used to “bulk up” a dinner. Like last night I made gnocchi with sauteed onions, carrots, broccoli, garlic, and mushroom tomato sauce. Did you know garlic has amazing healing properties too? I guess it needs to be fresh, but I’ve read it can do wonders.

Congrats, Lauren! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.