That's Fit

Because of possible food allergies, it's usually recommended to not feed babies common food allergens such as peanuts, eggs, wheat, dairy, and seafood until they're at least one. Waiting until they're three is even better. What's more, certain varieties of fish have high levels of mercury which children shouldn't be exposed to.

New research is challenging those old beliefs. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently revised their recommendations and now states that children as young as 4-6 months could have certain foods including fish. Further research shows that babies who eat fish before reaching 9 months have a reduced risk of eczema.

So what are new parents to do? As always, it's important to introduce new foods slowly. And speak to your child's doctor before introducing any of the foods that were previously off-limits for babies. When it comes to your child's health, it's better to be cautious.

Fish is brain food -- right? It certainly might be.

Experts typically recommend eating fish twice a week because of the omega-3 fatty acids that make it a heart-healthy source of nutrition. Now, it seems fish might be brain-healthy too.

Preliminary studies suggest that the wonder of omega-3 (docosahexaenoic acid or DHA, to be more official) also boosts brain power. Makes sense since DHA comprises much of the cell membranes in our brains. Food folks love this news and are busy adding DHA to foods like yogurt, soy milk, and eggs, while marketing their products with clever slogans. Do their food items really enhance mental performance, though?

Salmon is by far my favorite type of seafood. Not only is it delicious, it's good for you, too; it's rich in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D, selenium, protein, and vitamins B3 and B12.

While it's important to me to serve healthful meals for me and my son, I'm not the world's most innovative cook. That's another reason why salmon is tops on my list. It's so easy to cook ... you really can't go wrong. My favorite method is to drizzle it with just a tiny bit of olive oil, sprinkle some paprika on top, and grill it. The same method works in the oven, too. I usually pair it with some seasoned brown rice and steamed asparagus.

Real Simple has eight salmon recipes that are much more creative than my stand-by preparation method. The Dill Salmon Burgers sound awesome as does the Blackened Salmon.

If such a thing existed, I'd be a card-carrying member of SLA -- sushi lovers anonymous. I'm addicted to the stuff. In fact, I could probably eat it every day. I don't, but I could.

There are worse addictions, of course. Sushi is low in fat and high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, so it's no wonder the Japanese are some of the healthiest people in the world. But we Westerners have a tendency to take healthy things and and 'Americanize' them -- also known as doing whatever we can to make them tastier and more marketable.

Sushi is no exception. What started as rice, fish and seaweed now comes in hundreds of different flavours and colours. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not complaining about those spicy mayo-laden tuna rolls I love so dearly, but I can't help but wonder what we've done to the nutritional value of sushi.

I have a favorite salad I make at home. It's healthy. It's easy. It's something you might want to add to your at-home menu.

It all starts with a bed of baby spinach leaves. Then I add a handful of red grapes, sprinkle on some shredded carrots, mix in some dried cranberries, and toss in a few shaved almonds. For a dose of good protein and a serving of essential omega-3 fats, I top with salmon, which is always a leftover from a previous dinner meal.

No dressing for this salad. The juice from the grapes and the moist fish do the trick all on their own.

We keep telling you here on That's Fit to eat salmon. Full of the the right kind of fat, salmon is good for your heart and blood pressure. It can reduce your risk of stroke, prostate cancer, even macular degeneration. It keeps the brain sharp, inflammation down, and can ward off Alzheimer's. Yep, we want you to keep eating salmon, even though you may be hesitant after reading the story that follows.

One man -- Anthony Franz is his name -- claims salmon gave him a nine-foot tapeworm. The salmon came from a place called Shaw's Crab House and so Franz is suing the Chicago establishment for $100,000. Why so much? Topping the list are: Pain, suffering, lost time from work, and lost enjoyment in life.

Franz was just trying to eat healthy when he ordered his salmon salad back in 2006. Then he became violently ill and later passed the tapeworm. When a pathologist told him the giant parasite was likely from only one source -- undercooked fish, such as salmon -- the man decided to take legal action. The food safety folks at the restaurant's parent company (Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises) say they are confident the tapeworm did not come from their restaurant.

Not very good publicity for salmon, is it? Still, the fish is a sure thing when it comes to eating healthy. Eating regular servings of fish is one of the following 13 tips for healthy living, in fact. Here's what we suggest: Make sure your portions are fully cooked, then press on.

Apparently, the term Pescatarian is now in the dictionary, according to our friends over at Fitsugar. 'Pescatarian' describes a vegetarian who eats fish, in case you didn't know. And then there's Flexitarians--people like me who are part-time vegetarians. But it got me thinking: What are the other types of vegetarians?

Here's a short list of some other types of veggies:

• Vegans don't eat any animal products, including dairy and honey
• Fruitarians eat only fruits and vegetables that are classified as fruits
• Lacto-ovo vegetarians stay away from meat but eat eggs and dairy
• Raw/Living foodists eat only raw foods
• Macrobiotics eat only unprocessed foods, but sometimes eat fish.

What 'atarian' are you?

I love a good pedicure. Not sure I'd love one if it involved flesh-eating fish devouring my dry skin and callouses. Hey, I guess fish need to eat too -- which is exactly what they are doing is some spas and salons. Ouch.

People are swimming to one salon in Alexandria, Virginia -- the only U.S. salon featuring the feasting fish from Turkey -- and as one reporter notes in this video after giving it a try, it's not all that bad. It's amazing, actually. As for her feet: they are so soft even her husband noticed.

Here's how it all works: First, you wash your feet. Then, you step into a tub of water, have a seat, and allow the fish to nibble for about 15 minutes. Don't worry, they're only drawn to dead, unhealthy skin areas and won't attack your healthy skin, allegedly. And by all accounts, the whole process is safe. The fish are safe, the water is safe -- it's changed after each use -- and your bank account won't suffer too badly either. The cost of this fishy experience starts at $35.

Sound strange? Does to me. Would you give it a try? Don't think I would.

Eating right is an important way to protect your heart. Many people turn to fish as a low-fat, high quality source of protein. But researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine are now saying that tilapia, a popular species of mild-tasting fish, may not be the best choice for good heart health.

Though many fish, such as Atlantic mackerel, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, tilapia is actually low in these heart-healthy fats. Not only that, they're high in omega-6 fats. Together, that combination makes tilapia an inflammatory food, something people with heart disease shouldn't be eating.

In fact, experts say that tilapia has the same inflammatory potential as a hamburger. Surprising, I know. For more tips on what kinds of fish are both safe and Earth-friendly, check out Monetery Bay Aquarium's seafood guide.

Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Who in the world ever thought of going to Disney and eating healthy? Crazy talk, right? Wrong! Your loving online Fitzness Expert (me) who has extremely high standards on what I put in both my children's mouth and my own can spend a day at the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT and eat as well as I would in my own home. Disney has made grand efforts to improve the healthfulness of the foods they offer, and has even gone overboard with an abundance of fresh fruit stands located throughout each theme park.

I just spent a week at Walt Disney World in Florida and returned home half a pound less than I was the day before vacation. Want to eat right while enjoying the magic with Mickey Mouse? Read on.

• Mickey makes mealtime easy on the fitness fan. Every restaurant I ventured through offered several menu options based on lean grilled meat, veggies, and/or fruit. Even the children's meals come standard with side items like: grapes, carrot sticks, and unsweetened applesauce. They also come with bottled water or skim milk. Sweet! Parents would have to go out of their way to substitute french fries and soda for their children instead of the healthy stuff. Eww! You the fitness fan, certainly wouldn't do that!
• Sit down dining restaurants offer Egg Beaters cooked without oil in lieu of regular scrambled eggs. I enjoyed this perk while dining with Minnie and Goofy at Disney's Yacht Club Resort.
• Resort dining facilities offer endless refrigerators full of fresh fruit, veggies, yogurt, dried fruit, nutritious snack bars and more.
• Seek out healthier desserts. Anywhere they are served, Disney has made efforts to make reduced fat, low sugar or fresh fruit treats available.

Take one look at Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba and it's clear the girl is doing something right to maintain her sleek dancer's body. Whatever could it be, aside from the dancing, that is?

Inaba credits yoga and a diet inspired by her island upbringing for her trim figure.

"I was born on Hawaii and I'm Japanese, so I was raised to eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and protein, whether it's soybeans or fish," says Inaba. Smart girl -- with some smart moves. Check them out in the gallery below.

Besides the different things we do and wear from season to season, the foods we eat vary dramatically as well. The snow keeps hearty stews on the stove and hot drinks in our hands. The summer however, propels us to brew ice cold tea and lighten up a little at mealtime. I found a recipe I like a lot from the book Delicious Disney, The Disney Chefs with Pam Brandon.

The Field Greens Salad with Grilled Salmon just feels right this time of year. It's a delicious dish you can gobble up tonight and not pay the price in your swimsuit tomorrow. I've placed it on page 38 of my recipe book on Fitzness.com. Enjoy!

Fish really is brain food. A recent European study of elderly men and women found that those who regularly ate seafood did way better on cognitive tests than those who ate little or none. The more fish these old folks ate, the better they did on their tests. Effects were more pronounced for non-processed lean fish and fatty fish.

If you can't imagine eating a lot of fish, try to think outside the box. You don't have to consume only fillets and steaks. Try some smoked salmon with your eggs or dose a healthy salad with some canned tuna. Like anchovies? They count too.

Every time I wander outdoors and smell the aroma of BBQ chicken or burgers or sausage wafting through the neighborhood air, I want to slap something on my backyard grill and simulate the smells that send my taste buds soaring. We do grill a lot at our house -- we have the pleasure of doing it year-round here in Florida -- but we don't tend to cook with much variety. We grill chicken, and we grill salmon, but we don't venture out too much more than that. How about you?

If you're feeling stuck this grilling season, flip through that Parade magazine that may have arrived with your newspaper this morning. What you'll find are a few methods for spicing up your tired and predictable outdoor menu. Check out four exciting dishes, including Grilled Whole Trout, Bacon Swiss Burger, Meatloaf in an Onion, and a Banana Boat. Featured in video format, you can watch these items come to life -- with enough time to get to the store, get some ingredients, and get cooking by dinner time.

Bon Appetit!

As far as high quality proteins go, fish is a really good choice. It's low in saturated fat and helps you meet your quota of omega-3 fatty acids. But deciding which fish to eat, these days, is no easy task. Mercury, PCBs, pollution, overfishing -- these are all issues to consider when you choose a fish to put on your plate.

Taras Grescoe, author of a new book titled Bottom Feeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood recently answered some questions for Salon, and there's a lot of really good information for people who care about where their food comes from.

For instance, salmon is wildly popular and many people eat it for its high omega-3 content. But unless it's wild-caught Alaskan salmon, it's not an ethical choice. Atlantic salmon are highly over-fished, the numbers of Chinook salmon are way, way down, and farmed salmon takes an enormous toll on the environment.

Seafood caught in an ethical, sustainable manner is a high quality protein that's a welcome addition to any weight loss plan. Read more about how protein and other healthy living tips can boost your metabolism at AOL Body's Summer Quick Fix.