Asian Fish? page

[whitegirlinasia]

So I've been eating vaguely paleo for about 6 months, and have lost some weight. I read Why We Get Fat, which led me to The Paleo Solution which led me to Primal Blueprint. I'm trying to take this all a little more seriously, and I'm about halfway through the Primal Blueprint.

Here's my question. At several points in the book it's said that we shouldn't be eating Asian caught fish with little follow-up as to why. Is this about the pollution or the carbon foot print do you suppose? Because, well, I live in Asia, and they don't do organic / hormone free/ etc etc the way health obsessed America does. So it's eat what's available or starve. But if Asian fish are particularly polluted, I'll shy away from them. If it's the carbon foot print, then I'll eat up, because there isn't much of one in my case.

Thanks in advance for any advice. ^_^

[afsjesse]

I lived in Korea for almost two years and regret not eating more fish and other seafood while being there. I'm not sure why the book says not to eat Asian caught fish, but I know that in places such as the Mekong Delta, where it is quite polluted, fish may be contaminated, thus the warning.

I see that you're located in Japan. Aside from being a bit concerned about radiation from the quake a couple years ago, I wouldn't worry about fish in Japan. In fact, I'd be gobbling down some sort of fish, mussel, seaweed, urchin, etc.... every day. Why not? Get that iodine and protein. Get those Omega-3's up and running. Throw in some rice if you can handle it and you're in an optimal Primal zone.

I'm quite envious now.

[Damiana]

Some Asian farmed fish are packed with various pollutants that come along with mass fish farming, but I think that's generally for exporting to western countries. If you're in Asia, Japan in particular has extremely high standards for their fish, I wouldn't worry too much. Many of my relatives still live is east Asia, living on a diet of primarily rice and fish, and living well into their 90s. Hope that eases your mind.

[peril]

Go for it

[whitegirlinasia]

Excellent. I'm happy to hear I haven't been poisoning myself these last four years. Thanks for the answers.

[BurritoJimmy]

How do you tell if a fish is asian?

[sakura_girl]

How do you tell if a fish is asian?

If its eyes are slanted.

[Cryptocode]

I have no idea why it says that. Farmed fish anywhere has problems.

I've bought frozen packaged fish in Asian markets and I notice that they have a lot of nitrates and other processing chemicals within. It might be for that reason. If you eat wild, non-processed fish it should be fine.