Of course eating tainted food will make you sick, but food poisoning in fish works a little differently than it does with other food items. For purposes of argument, we’re not including getting sick from mercury or eating a fish that is obviously potentially dangerous like Japanese Fugu (blowfish).

According to familydoctor.org, there are two ways to get food poisoning from eating fish: Ciguatera poisoning and Scombroid poisoning. Ciguatera can result from eating reef fish or tropical fish that has eaten another poisonous fish and Scombroid poisoning can result from eating fish that became too warm after it was caught.

Ciguatera poisoning symptoms are similar to ordinary food poisoning and include nausea, diarrhea and dizziness while Scombroid poisoning may include trouble breathing and other symptoms similar to an allergic reaction. The symptoms may last up to two weeks and can be treated with medication.

You should avoid eating the internal organs of fish as the organs and the digestive tract in particular are likely to contain the most poison if the fish is carrying poison. Ciguatera is most common in Amberjack, grouper, snapper, sturgeon, king mackerel, barracuda and moray eel; all predator fish near the top of the food chain.

The children were given capsules containing a combination of omega-3 fish oils and omega-6 evening primrose oil. The fish oil capsules were made by a company named Equazen that produces omega-3 and omega-6 long chain fatty acids supplements.

Some of the reports of the change in behavior are nothing short of amazing. One child that had to be restrained 10 times before the trials did not have to be restrained any after beginning the fish oil supplements.

Mele Cotte says

I made a fish stew once before, by accident. I messed up the cooking of a red snapper, so I mushed all the ingredients together.

Now that’s a fish stew I can identify with!

Here are few other great sounding fish stew recipes:

• Dad’s Fish Stew Recipe with the key ingredient of clam juice.
• Mediterranean Fish Stew calling for firm white-fleshed fish, such as halibut, hake, mahi-mahi, shark, cod, or monkfish
• Portuguese Fish Stew with Littleneck clams and perch, cod, or bass fillets

The omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid helps increase levels of a particular protein that is found at lower levels in Alzheimer’s patients.

So how do you get this particular omega-3 fatty acid? DHA, as it is also called, is an essential fatty acid that the body cannot produce on it’s own. DHA is the most prevalent essential fatty acid in the brain but your body must get the acid from outside sources like your diet or fish oil supplements.

Vegans and vegetarians have been shown to have reduced levels of DHA and should consider supplementing their diet with DHA.

Check the International Fish Oil Standards site for more information about reputable fish oil supplements.

Why fish for “La Vigilla”? Although less so now, Christmas Eve was traditionally a day of abstinence in the Catholic Church and not meat is eaten so fish is the logical alternative. Think Fridays in Lent.

The seven fish menu varies from family to family but eel and baccala (salt cod) are usually always on the menu.

If you’ve got time on your hands and seven fish dinner sounds great for Christmas Eve, check out a few delicious La Vigilla Napoletana recipes posted by Phyllis Stein-Novack. My favorite recipe from the list was the for Mussels with Fennel and White Wine:

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 fat cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 2 pounds of mussels, preferably Prince Edward Island

Directions:

• Heat the oil in a five-quart stockpot over medium-high. Add the garlic and fennel and sauté for about five to eight minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the wine and blend well. Add the mussels. Raise the heat to high to bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, then cover and cook until the mussels open, about 10 minutes. Shake the pot once or twice to evenly distribute the mussels in the pan.
  Serves six.

Sounds like it sure beats Chinese food on Christmas Eve.

What’s your favorite fish for the holidays?

Even better than asking your host to accommodate you, you could bring a fish dish to share. That way you have at least one item to eat. Nothing puts people in the holiday spirit, like a Christmas Fish Dish.

So, all fishetarians, make this Christmas a Bring Your Own Fish Christmas.

Those scoring higher on the brain tests ate 10 or more grams of fish per day. The fish could be canned, frozen or fresh and also included other fish products like cod liver oil or fish oil. Processed fish sandwiches even seemed to help some score better on some of the tests and lean fish seemed to be just as good as fatty fish.

This is a fantastic idea started over at BuzzDroid.com by two VT alumni and we encourage all webmasters and bloggers to commit.

Friday, April 20, 2007 has been declared “National Orange And Maroon Effect Day” and is also an official day of mourning in Virginia.

Tommi Tómasson is the man who introduced burgers to Iceland. In less than three years, he sold more than a million burgers to the formally fish eating Icelanders.

Fish consumption in Iceland has decreased by 30 percent in the last 10 years. To combat the decrease in fish consumption, a campaign has been started and aimed at children called “Eat More Fish”. As part of the campaign, brochures with 20 fish receipes will be distributed to every home in Iceland. The “Eat More Fish” campaign hopes to get every household in Iceland to have fish for dinner at least twice a week.

GotMercury.org has a Mercury Calculator to help determine how much mercury you may be consuming from fish. Users input weight, the type of fish to be eaten and the amount of fish that will be eaten in a week. Results are reported against the EPA mercury limits.

Mercury in fish is a problem for everyone but is of particular concern for women and children. The FDA has warned that pregnant women, nursing mothers, women who might become pregnant, and children should not eat swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel because of their high methylmercury content.

If you are taking your fishetarian lifestyle seriously, make sure you are eating a wide variety of fish and are aware of your mercury intake levels.