Is Smoked Salmon Good For You? (By Lynne Evans )

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Smoked salmon is certainly tasty, and is good in sauces with pasta, or as a canapé, perhaps with a little cottage cheese and toast or crackers. There is a relatively high amount of protein in smoked fish such as salmon, which have the advantage of being low in saturated fat. If you are trying to increase your muscle mass as part of an intensive exercise program, then you could add some smoked fish to your diet. However, the US Department of recommends two portions of fish (not necessarily smoked though) as part of your weekly diet; so if you eat one portion of unsmoked mackerel, for example and one of smoked salmon, that would be acceptable. Both of these fish are considered oily and so have those important Omega-3 fatty acids. These are cardio-vascular protective and we may not be getting enough of them in our usual diet. Omega-3 fatty acids are present in smoked salmon as well as raw; the smoking process doesn't eliminate them.

** Smoked salmon and health 
Pregnant women are advised not to eat smoked salmon or other smoked fish as they could contain parasites. These can cause intestinal upsets and irritation, although food poisoning will only be caused if you consume a contaminated product. Contamination can occur at any time of the food processing and food poisoning can result, although it happens rarely if you consume smoked fish. However, if you buy salmon that was wild, there is an increased risk of its having parasites, but if you buy a farmed salmon, particularly the Atlantic salmon, which has been fed pellets, there is less risk of parasites being present in it.

Nitrates and nitrates are by-products of the smoking process and may be present in high levels in any smoked fish. These have been linked to stomach cancer, so the key here is to eat smoked fish in moderation. You need a balanced diet, so you shouldn't simply eat one kind of food. While fish are good for you, if you eat too much smoked fish this could lead to health problems rather than benefits.

Smoked salmon and other smoked fish contain sodium, so if you are on a low-sodium diet, eating smoked salmon is not a great idea. A one ounce serving of smoked salmon contains 222 milligrams of sodium.

Basically you can eat smoked salmon (if you are not pregnant) as long as you eat it in moderation. However if you ate nothing else, this would, of course, cause health problems over time. Stick to Aristotle's advice: "all things in moderation."

If you have found this article interesting, why not click on the link to find out more about the foods we eat? There are also recipes that are a fusion of Asian and European foods and information about the plants we can use as medicine

 By Lynne Evans