lmon with Mustard and Ginger - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
Try this easy-to-prepare recipe not only for great taste but to add an extra boost of those hard-to-find omega-3 fatty acids to your Healthiest Way of Eating. Enjoy!

Salmon with Mustard and Ginger
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

• 8 oz salmon fillet
• 2 tsp + 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp yellow or Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 TBS cilantro
• 2 TBS grated ginger
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. To Quick Broil salmon, preheat broiler and place an all stainless steel skillet (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron pan under the heat for about 10 minutes to get it very hot. The pan should be 5 to 7 inches from the heat source.
2. Rub salmon with 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. (You can Quick Broil with the skin on; it just takes a minute or two longer. The skin will peel right off after cooking.)
3. Using a hot pad, pull pan away from heat and place salmon on hot pan, skin side down. Return to broiler. Keep in mind that it is cooking rapidly on both sides so it will be done very quickly, usually in 7 minutes depending on thickness. Test with a fork for doneness. It will flake easily when it is cooked. Salmon is best when it is still pink inside.
4. Top salmon 1 TBS lemon juice and the remaining ingredients.

Serves 2 Printer Friendly Version of Salmon with Mustard and Ginger
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Salmon with Mustard and Ginger
Healthy Food Tip

Is it necessary to have a balance of saturated and unsaturated fats as opposed to all unsaturated?

Yes, it is necessary to have a balance of fat types if you want to have an optimally healthy diet. But I would go even one step further and remind you that it is impossible to avoid a balance of fat types if you will keep your sights set on a diet consisting of whole, natural foods. All plant foods that contain fat will provide you with multiple fat types. There is not fat-containing plant food that consists only of unsaturated fat. In fact, there is no fat-containing animal food that consists only of saturated fat.
Let me give you a few examples that you might find surprising. Cooking oils made from nuts, seeds, or beans (like soybean oil) are famous for being highly unsaturated. And they often are when compared to animal fats, which are famous for being saturated. But did you know that a widely used plant oil like coconut oil has a chemical composition that is 75% saturated fat? At the other end of the spectrum, let's take an animal fat like chicken fat. Did you know that chicken fat is almost 70% unsaturated? The very best plant oils that you can buy contain saturated fat, and the fattiest animal foods that you can purchase contain substantial amounts of monounsaturated fat and some polyunsaturated fats as well. For these reasons, I believe that a balance of fat types in your diet is not only essential but also natural since it is an unavoidable consequence of consuming whole, natural foods (or in many cases above, the oil products made from them).
It is not possible for me to kn ow what your personal, optimal balance should be. That type of question requires extensive knowledge of your health history, lifestyle, health goals, and other factors. But I can give you some general guidelines that are recommended by several major public health organizations in the U.S.
First would be a recommendation to keep your total saturated fat intake under 10% of your total calories. If you ate 1,800 calories per day, you would have to keep your total saturated fat intake under 20 grams per day in order to meet this recommendation. If you ate 1,500 calories, you would have to keep it under 16 grams. Second would be a recommendation to keep your total fat intake within the range of 20-35% total calories. This recommendation would mean a total fat intake between 40-70 grams if you ate 1,800 calories per day, and 33-58 grams if you ate 1,500 calories per day. If you put these two recommendations together, you are left with a guideline for unsaturated fat intake that is approximately 20-50 grams per day if you were to eat 1,800 calories of food, and 17-42 grams per day if you were to eat 1,500 calories.
Here is a simple table that may make these recommendations easier to understand. Remember that these recommendations are nothing more than general guidelines, and that you are going to need the help of your healthcare practitioner to determine the right balance in your personal health situation. There are many reasons why these guidelines might not fit your personal needs, and I cannot emphasize too strongly the need to determine a correct balance with your healthcare provider based on the true facts of your personal health circumstances.

Guideline	If you eat 1,800 calories per day:	If you eat 1,500 calories per day:
Your total fat intake guideline would be:	40-70 grams	33-58 grams
Your saturated fat intake guideline would be:	20 grams or less	16 grams or less
Your unsaturated fat intake guideline would be:	20-50 grams or slightly higher	17-42 grams or slightly higher

Although not directly raised in this question about unsaturated versus saturated fats, I want to mention the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in our health. These polyunsaturated fats are widely deficient in the U.S. diet and should not be overlooked in terms of their health importance. I encourage you to pay special attention to omega-3s (found in cold-water fish, flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and purslane, among other foods) regardless of the saturated-unsaturated fat balance that you work out with your healthcare practitioner.