Organic Salmon Dishes Ocean City NJ
Housecalls—Organic Salmon, Kicking the Habit, To (body) Scan or Not to Scan
Fish Tale
Q Is organic salmon any healthier than other types?
A Though you can buy salmon that’s labeled “organic,” there’s actually no such thing. The National Organic Standards that were put in place by the FDA in 2002 don’t cover salmon or any other fish.
Fish vendors may use the term “organic,” but that can mean any number of things: that the fish have been raised on organic feed, that they are free of pigments and antibiotics, or that they have been caught in nets that are free of cleaning chemicals. Or it might mean none of the above. You really don’t know what it signifies unless you ask a lot of questions at the fish counter. Some retailers have found the term so misleading they’ve stopped allowing its use.
You do want to pay attention to whether your salmon is farm-raised or wild; the wild type is likely to contain far fewer chemicals such as mercury, and is more environmentally friendly. You should also choose wild salmon according to where it came from; studies have found huge variations in the levels of pollutants in fish from different parts of the world. A new U.S. federal regulation going into effect this month will make this easier, by requiring that all salmon sold here be labeled by country of origin. The cleanest salmon comes from the U.S.; runner-up countries include Canada and Chile.
Help for Smokers
Q I’m trying to quit smoking. Are there any alternative therapies that can help?
AYour best bets are hypnosis and acupuncture. Hypnosis puts the power of your subconscious mind behind the intention to quit; one recent study showed that 48 percent of smokers who’d tried it were still smoke-free a year later. And acupuncturists say that both traditional and newer laser methods, by triggering the release of endorphins, can ease withdrawal. A Swiss study reported that after just two sessions, 41 percent of participants were still off the smokes one year later.
Certain herbs also have a reputation as helpful. Martin Milner, a physician at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, recommends 50 milligrams of lobelia (chemically similar to nicotine), as well as 25 to 50 mg of calamus root, three times a day.
Whichever alternative you choose, it’s likely to be more effective if you combine it with behavioral therapies. A study in the American Journal of Public Health found that smokers who combined acupuncture and support group sessions fared better than smokers who used either method alone.
Scan Scam?
Q Are full-body scans worth the $1,000 to $1,500 cost?
A No. At first glance, these scans would seem like a great idea. Using computed tomography (CT) technology to take X-ray “slices” of the body, they’re supposed to help healthy people detect problems like kidney stones or cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage than standard tests do.
But experts say they most often find ambiguous images that can only be clarified through further testing or even surgery. Both the scans themselves and th...
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