While the benefit of any food depends on a person’s overall diet, the evidence that food provides specific health benefits and reduce the risk of certain diseases is something.  The easiest way to gain the many health benefits from food is to eat a balanced diet that emphasizes fruits and vegetables.  It is important to remember that there is NO single magic food that can cure or prevent most health concerns.  An effective way to gain as many health benefits as possible is to, “Eat the Rainbow.”  The more colors and variety of fruits and vegetables on your plate the better! The chart above describes health benefits you gained from eating certain foods. 

**This table is not all encompassing. Research continues to identify potentially beneficial components in food. **

You may be asking yourself, “But I thought that fat should be refined from my diet?” Let me explain, there are three major categories of fats: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated.  Saturated fats, in general, have been shown to increase LDL Cholesterol (“Bad Cholesterol”).  Elevated levels of LDL cholesterol are a major risk factor for heart disease.  In contrast, diets high in monounsaturated and poly unsaturated fats lower LDL cholesterol.  Can you guess what type of fat is coming from cold-water fatty fish?  You guess it, polyunsaturated fat.  One of the specific types of polyunsaturated fats that we already mentioned is Omega-3’s.  Omega-3’s can be found in other sources as well such as canola oil, deep-water fish and ground flaxseed.

So by now you are wondering, “Enough with the science, how much is safe to eat?”.  The American Heart Association recommends eating at least 2 servings (3 ounces each) of fish weekly to help reduce the risk of heart disease.  To simplify things, think of 3 ounces of fish as the size of a deck of cards. 

Finally, there is a reason why the American Heart Association puts a limit on the amount of fish you eat.  It’s the amount of mercury found in fish.  The 4 types of fish with the highest level of mercury are: King Mackerel, Swordfish, Tilefish, and Shark.  So if you are going to eat one of these varieties of fish do so sparingly and make sure to keep it in moderation!