Small fish...

For those of you who have been reading my posts start-to-finish, you understand my catchphrase "small fish." I use it when referring to fish like sardines and anchovies, which are itty-bitty fish, commonly available canned and generally associated with a yuck factor.

Of course, as I discussed in my last post, there is a term umame which describes a taste that is appealing in its yuckiness. Sardines and anchovies don't have a umame quality for most of us, but you can combine them with other flavors and their yuckiness is an essential part of the umame you can create. For instance, in my Caesar salad dressing, the anchovies are an essential part of the saltiness, tanginess and sheer yumminess.

Bottom line, I have to re-assert this: eat your small fish.

Why? Because the only true quality source of complete Omega 3 fatty acids is fish. There's fish oil and krill oil but you have to worry about environmental sustainability and whether the supplement is made from contaminated fish or is a quality sourcer of fish oil. Whereas, you can look at your sardines and anchovies to know if they are quality. Because of their size, sardines and anchovies aren't in the ocean long enough to build up contamination. They are our perfect--and cheap and environmentally sustainable--source of Omega 3s.

Walnuts and flax oil and all kinds of alternatives are touted for providing Omega 3s but they are not complete and don't provide essential Omega 3s in a useable form and your body has to do some conversion (which in our unhealthy bodies doesn't always happen).

Our deficiency in omega 3s is huge in this country and an equally huge part of our declining health. Notice I use the word huge repeatedly. Omega 3 deficiency--and especially our imbalance between Omega 3s and other omegas like Omega 6s (bad for us)--is helping to keep us fat. It's all tied in.

Don't use Omega 6 oils if you can help it (and you can!). Don't use vegetable, canola or corn oils from the grocery store. Our imbalance of too much Omega 6 and too little Omega 3 is a huge part of the problem.

Focus on using coconut oil, avocado oil, ghee, grass-fed butter and if you use an Omega 6 make it organic sunflower oil or pumkin seed oil refined in a healthy way. Olive oil is fine but alot of it is fake and it doesn't have a high smoke point and if you cook with it, it just might turn out to be bad for you (when you bypass an oil's smokepoint--which is easy to do with olive oil--it develops carcinogens), not good. Avocado oil has become my go-to oil. I use it for everything.

Back to small fish. Find a way to get them down...and get them down.

I get my anchovies in my olive tapenade or in my Caesar dressing. I eat my sardines straight out the can. Never have found a recipe that makes sardines palatable. But sardines are soooo good for you that you should choke them down if you have to. Not only are sardines an amazing uncontaminated source of Omega 3s, they are high in other hard-to-get nutrients like Calcium, B-12 and Vitamin D.

Do you know a way to make sardines and anchovies tasty as well as good for you?