Farm-raised catfish flavorful, inexpensive and a healthy source of protein: You Docs

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on May 26, 2009 at 5:45 AM, updated May 26, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Dr. Michael Roizen, right, and Dr. Mehmet Oz.

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Question: So many restaurants are serving catfish, and people keep telling me it's healthy. I thought it was considered a dirty bottom feeder and that you had to be careful with it. Which is it -- healthy, or not?

Answer: If you're ordering catfish at a reputable restaurant or buying it at the store and not catching it yourself out on a lazy river somewhere, the humble catfish is OK to eat. In fact, U.S. farm-raised catfish is a good fish choice: One 3-ounce serving has about 25 percent of your daily protein needs, it's flavorful and inexpensive, and it's even considered eco-friendly and sustainable.

The disparaging "dirty bottom feeder" slur pertains primarily to wild catfish, which generally feed in shallow, muddy river water, which exposes them to toxins such as PCBs and pesticides that have accumulated in the sediment. These pollutants can get stored in fish fat for years -- a primary reason to avoid wild catfish.

Farm-raised catfish, on the other hand, really don't deserve the name-calling. They're raised in clean, fresh water and are typically fed soybeans, corn and rice. The disappointment: They contain less of the valuable omega-3 fat than they once did. A recent study of fish purchased in the United States shows that only farmed salmon and trout contain appreciable omega-3s.

What happened with catfish, we don't know, but it could be fish-farming techniques. In any case, catfish is a good source of non-saturated-fat-laden protein. If you do reach for this fish, make sure you're getting the good stuff: Look for a package label that says, "U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish."

Question: I've heard that frozen vegetables can be even healthier than fresh. Is that true for fish, too?

Answer: Frozen fish isn't any less nutritious than fresh, and actually has some advantages if the fish was "fresh frozen" (or "flash frozen," "frozen fresh" or "quick frozen"). That means it was frozen as fast as possible, usually on the fishing vessel within hours of the fish being caught and cleaned. Fresh-frozen fish has its nutritional goodness "locked in." And because bacteria can't multiply quickly in a frozen state, frozen fish are better protected against decomposition and spoilage -- so there's less chance of it making you ill.

What to watch out for: any signs of frost or ice crystals. They suggest a previous thaw and refreeze or too much time in the freezer, and your fish dish simply won't taste its best.

Health Tip of the Week: B vitamin folate levels may affect allergy symptoms

Being out of your allergy meds can leave your eyes itchier than a wool sweater in July, your nose vying for an Olympic running win and you with that fuzzy, out-of-it feeling. New research suggests that being low on something else can leave you that way, too: the B vitamin folate.

For the first time, the itchy, sniffly, wheezy feelings that come with allergies have been linked to low levels of this nutrient.

In this new study, researchers saw that people who got the most folate had a 31 percent lower risk of allergy symptoms like watery eyes, runny nose and eczema (what we docs call "atopy"), and a 40 percent lower risk of wheezing, than did people who had the lowest folate levels.

Running low on this vitamin already has been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and arthritis. What does that have to do with allergies? Inflammation is a common-denominator bad guy in all of these diseases, and folate may help tie its dangerous hands behind its back.

While this vitamin does all kinds of important things for you, including reduce the risk of neural tube defects in developing babies and reduce your risk of Alzheimer's, more is not better. In fact, it's likely that too much of it from supplements can make allergies worse. Worse than that, high levels are associated with faster growth of existing cancers.

So choose naturally folate-filled foods -- such as fortified cereals and grains, and green vegetables, including asparagus, broccoli and spinach. And get no more than 400 micrograms from your supplement.

Then see if you save on tissues.
