Twice a week is good for you

Why eat more oily fish

Most of us need no encouragement to eat the foods we love and fish are right up there. But there are many more reasons to eat plenty of fish.

White fish is very low in fat when cooked healthily (don’t cook it with any butter or oil basically) but oily fish is rich in fatty acid or Omega 3, which does all sorts of good stuff for us but is something our bodies can’t make.

We have to find it in a food and two portions of oily fish a week is the answer. Each portion needs to be 170g raw or 140g cooked oily fish but the good news is there loads to choose from.

Oily fish include anchovies, carp, eel, herring (and bloaters and kippers), mackerel, pilchards, salmon (tinned, fresh or frozen), sardines, scad (also known as horse mackerel or jack), sprats, swordfish, tuna (although not tinned), trout and whitebait, or fresh crab.

And that’s not all. These oily fish are full of protein and minerals like zinc, iron and selenium as well as vitamins A and D which is especially important for us during the winter months.

Yes of course you can give yourself a boost with a visit to your local health shop but it is so much better to ingest all these fatty acids, minerals and vitamins as food rather than take them as supplements.

And since you can make very delicious meals with oily fish, eating healthily can be a real pleasure not a punishment. Not all are available fresh during the winter months but we have great frozen options for you too so just ask at the counter when you’re next in the shop.