Confused!

Dalas

Hey guys,

I am pretty confused about a few things. I am trying to eat healthy for the last couple of years but it’s gone so difficult so I was really hoping for some advice. For the moment I am trying to lose weight (I want to give up smoking but I want to leave room for putting weight on when I do).

So few questions:

I generally try and eat quite a bit of fish. But - smoked salmon that’s farmed how badly is it?
Mackerel - I usually eat the smoked peppered one and I eat LOTS of Tuna. But now how bad is mercury content in that?
I try not to eat too much meat - unless it’s the likes of corn fed chicken stuff. Are there any cheaper alternatives?
Now for the most frustrating one: Fruit and Veg. I am a healthy eater but I try not to get too obsessed with shopping for food, I try and make sure that its not VERY time consuming (is farmers markets for one item, organic food shops for another etc) So I try and buy organic fruit and vet which is really difficult in likes of Tescos. But a few times I bought organic apples and I cleaned one of them on my jeans - the white 'dust' thing took 4 washes to come out. So my question is: are we better just to go with frozen fruit and veg, is this organic thing just a yummy mummy marketing ploy? I think my main concern is where to get fruit and veg be it frozen or otherwise. Would so appreciate feedback on this.
Also one more thing - brown pasta why in the health shops is it somewhere between 4-5 euro and in tescos its 1.90 or so? I tend to go with whatever is brown is pretty good within reason (brown bread, brown pasta etc) I am wrong?

EileenG

Stop worrying so much and just eat your fish and fruit and veg. As a general rule, mercury is not an issue except in some of the very large fish like tuna, and even then, it's still worth eating. Tinned tuna is likely to have a lot less murcury than fresh steaks.

Salmon, whether fresh, frozen or smoked, is fine.

If you can get it, then organic is great, but any fruit and veg is good. You are definitely better eating non-organic veg than no veg.

My sister is a farmer, and she reckons that for practical purposes, all lamb is almost organic, as it is killed before it can be dosed or messed with.

Brown pasta is better than white, but you'd be better with extra veg and less pasta. Even brown is low on fibre and general nutrients and high in caloires. compared with broccoli or spinach.

Oh, if you are going to buy organic, I'd spend the extra money to buy leafy green vegetables. Root veg or things with skins will be less affected by spraying.

Dalas

Thanks a mil for clearing that up - Very helpful and I really appreciate it. Dont suppose your sis sells organic??