That's Fit

Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Curried tuna, carrot and hummus couscous. The mouth waters just thinking about it.

But wait -- there's more. This healthy recipe's got a couple of sources of lean, complete protein: tuna and hummus. Its overflowing with nutrition from veggies too, like carrots, garlic, red pepper, onions and greens (rocket or arugala). And the health benefits of the turmeric in curry are plentiful.

The fun begins, though, when you start imagining all of the ingenious substitutions you could make to boost the nutrition and healthfulness of this recipe. Join me after the jump for some specifics.

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.

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.

Unless you want to ingest a hefty dose of mercury, you should not be eating swordfish, says the current issue of The Oprah Magazine (September 2008). But for most other fish, the benefits of moderate consumption outweigh any risks. This from a landmark study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which also makes these recommendations.

• Canned albacore (white) tuna contains more mercury than canned light tuna, which is why the EPA urges women of childbearing age to eat no more than six ounces of albacore a week.
• Salmon does not contain too much mercury but it does harbor some PCBs -- these are industrial compounds -- so you'd be wise to limit servings of farmed salmon to one per month. You can enjoy wild-caught salmon four or more times per month.
• To learn more about the merits and cautions of other seafood options, check out oceansalive.com.

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!

Time for another installment of Sample-6, where I offer an easy combination of meals and healthy snacks. In case you haven't heard, eating 5 to 6 small, healthy snacks/meals per day is the optimal way to increase your metabolism and lose fat through diet alone. What happened to 3 squares, you may be wondering? Gone the way of the dinosaurs.

With that, here's a great Sample-6:

BREAKFAST: Bowl of steel-cut oats; 1tbsp of almond or all-natural peanut butter; 1 glass of milk

MID-MORNING SNACK: Plain yogurt mixed with fresh berries; a handful of almonds

LUNCH: Tuna mixed with mashed avocado, olive oil and spinach, spread on toasted wholegrain bread

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK: Sliced cucumber, celery and peppers dipped in hummus

DINNER: Grilled salmon; steamed broccoli; small portion of brown rice

EVENING SNACK: 1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese mixed with 1tsp of horseradish and a dash of pepper

For more great ideas for healthy snacks and meals, visit AOL Body by clicking here.

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.

Who says you can't eat healthfully and still have a burger? Burgers are standard Memorial Day fare -- and treats throughout the summer. But, with some tasteful substitutions, you can have your burger and eat it too. Shape Magazine has a list of their five top burgers:

• Barbecued Tofu-Potato burgers have 351 calories and 6.6 grams of fat.
  
• Curried Pork Burgers with Mango Chutney have 364 calories and 6.9 grams of fat.
• Grilled Portobello burgers have 394 calories and 12.9 grams of fat.
• Spicy Wasabi Salmon burgers have 209 calories and 8 grams of fat.
• Tuna Burgers with Horseradish Mayo have 294 calories and 4.9 grams of fat.

You can also try modifying the traditional burger by using ground turkey instead of beef, opting for whole-grain buns, trying a veggie burger, loading up on veggies, and choosing healthy condiments.

Let's say you head out to a restaurant for lunch with your co-workers. Depending on the situation, you might not have a say in what restaurant you end up going to. And you don't really have a say in how the restaurants prepare the food. In fact, the only thing you do have control over is A) What you order, and B) how much of it you eat.

So let's say you end up going to a Asian restaurant like P.F. Chang's. Chinese food is notorious for being high in calories, sodium, carbs and fat, but surely there must be some healthy options. You browse the menu and come across one dish that that sticks out as healthy: The Citrus Soy Salmon Lunch Bowl. Heck, they even let you choose whether you want it with brown or white rice! So let's analyze this choice. Salmon is healthy. Citrus is healthy. Brown rice is healthy. Soy is high in sodium but low in calories and fat. Overall, for a restaurant meal, it sounds pretty good, right?

You tell me ...

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.

Fish can make for a tasty meal, but there exists a wide range with respect to which varieties are healthier than others. Fortunately, the folks at Men's Health offer up a simple, single-serving explanation of which fish should make it onto your dish, and which should be tossed back into the water.

Wild Alaskan Salmon: 1,253mg of Omega-3, 18g of protein, Low level of contaminants.

Rainbow Trout: 838mg of Omega-3, 18g of protein, Low level of contaminants

Pacific Halibut: 444mg of Omega-3, 18g of protein, Low level of contaminants

Farmed Catfish: 391mg of Omega-3, 13g of protein, Moderate level of contaminants

Yellowfin Tuna: 207mg of Omega-3, 20g of protein, Medium level of contaminants

Farmed Salmon: 1,705mg of Omega-3, 17g of protein, High level of contaminants

Mahi Mahi: 104mg of Omega-3, 16g of protein, Low level of contaminants

Swordfish: 701mg of Omega-3, 17g of protein, High level of contaminants

Atlantic Cod: 166mg of Omega-3, 15g of protein, Medium level of contaminants

**Contaminants level based on Environmental Defense's analysis of mercury and PCB data

It makes sense. We already know that our health is connected to what we eat. It stands to reason that our hair can be effected by our diets too.

Bethany has posted about the ideas Keri Glassman shared on the Today show about a healthy diet for hair. Now, Web MD has created a list of the top ten foods to eat for healthy hair, written about on DIY Life.

Salmon, legumes, dark green vegetables and more make this list. What do you mean, you are eating these already? Chances are, if you follow a healthy diet, you have shiny, bouncy hair. But everyone needs a little reminder, or maybe some motivation.

Check out the list, add the foods to your diet and watch your hair grow long and strong.

It wasn't long ago that the prevailing wisdom for protecting your heart was to eat a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. That's not to say that this advice was wrong; rather, it fell somewhat short only because it focused on what you shouldn't be eating instead of what you should be eating.

To keep your ticker ticking, there are many foods that can provide protection against such threats to your heart as inflammation, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure.

WebMD recently listed 15 foods you can eat to help protect your heart. Click HERE to read the full article, or just breeze through the list below.

1. Swiss Chard

2. Fresh Herbs

3. Low-Fat or Non-Fat Yogurt

4. Garlic

5. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6. Almonds

7. Barley

8. Cayenne Chili Pepper

9. Carrots

10. Broccoli

11. Oranges

12. Lean Pork

13. Salmon

14. Black Beans

15. Dried Cherries

For several years now, seafood has become one of the most popular dishes for the heart healthy eater. Its high protein, low fat combination make it a choice meal, as does its high Omega-3 content. But, not all seafood is created equal, and I don't mean the difference between fish and fish sticks.

Aside from the health benefits that should be factored in when choosing seafood, you should also consider the amount of mercury each kind contains. Taking into account the good and the bad, I've created my All-Star roster for seafood:

#1) Salmon - Be sure to get wild salmon, as the farmed kind may contain chemicals from polluted water. This powerful fish contains three times the 250mg the recommended dose of Omega-3 (a whopping 1.6g), while its mercury content is kept to a minimum (0.01ppm).

#2) Rainbow Trout - Unlike salmon, you should opt for the farmed kind with this fish. Containing 1g of Omega-3, as well as a healthy dose Niacin - which is known to reduce bad cholesterol - and Vitamin B12. Mercury content is also rather low, typically in the 0.07 range.