Thai-style steamed fish with vegetables!

Try this low fat, low calorie and extremely flavourful recipe for dinner!

Mmm... I can't wait to try this recipe! It's easy and fast and packed with flavours of the far east! The recipe gives you the amounts to make a meal for two but I'm sure it can be easily adapted for more people. Serve with rice and you'll have a meal made from three food groups!

Without further ado, Thai-Style Steamed Fish with Pak-Choy and Jasmine Rice, courtesy of BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

• 2 trout fillets, each weighing about 140g/5oz
• a small knob of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, chopped
• 1 small red chilli (not bird's eye), seeded and finely chopped
• grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• 3 baby pak choi, each quartered lengthways
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

• Nestle the fish fillets side by side on a large square of foil and scatter the ginger, garlic, chilli and lime zest over them. Drizzle the lime juice on top and then scatter the pieces of pak choi around and on top of the fish. Pour the soy sauce over the pak choi and loosely seal the foil to make a package, making sure you leave space at the top for the steam to circulate as the fish cooks.
• Steam for 15 minutes. (If you haven't got a steamer, put the parcel on a heatproof plate over a pan of gently simmering water, cover with a lid and steam.)
• Try serving with Thai jasmine rice, and if you've got some sesame seeds, toast a handful and toss them into the rice just before serving.

Visit the BBC Good Foods Thai-Style Steamed Fish page for the nutritional facts for this recipe.

Image source: BBC Good Food

Part VI of Dr. Quinn Hand's Series, Understanding the Vegetarian Diet!

Don't Forget These Other Important Nutrients (see chart below for more information).

Iodine

Iodine is a very important nutrient when it comes to thyroid function.  Iodine is the primary mineral used to make thyroid hormone.  The thyroid is the driving force behind metabolism and without iodine it can become sluggish. 

Calcium/Vitamin D

Some vegans may become concerned that due to lack of dairy, they will become calcium and vitamin D deficient. The good news is, that many vegetarian foods are rich calcium sources – think tofu, almonds, green leafy veggies. Also, there is some evidence to suggest that animal protein may cause calcium loss in the urine. So, by not eating meat, vegetarians and vegans may preserve calcium in the body.  However, this research is inconclusive and other studies suggest protein intake is required to promote calcium absorption. As such, vegetarians/vegans should try to achieve calcium adequacy of 1000mg per day in adults 19-50 years of age and 1200mg in women over the age of 51 and men 70 years and older.

While many products are vitamin D fortified, the reality is that naturally occurring food sources of vitamin D are limited. Fatty fish is the best dietary source of vitamin D and even then it isn’t abundant. Thus, omnivores and vegetarians alike are best to head out in the sun or take a vitamin D supplement. In particular, those of us that live in the northern hemisphere where we don’t get enough sunlight eight months of the year to allow adequate vitamin D production in the skin, can benefit from vitamin D supplementation.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Anything labeled “essential” means that the human body can’t make it and it must be obtained via diet. This is true of our EFAs – we require Omega-3 and Omega-6. Sources of Omega-3 include: flax, hemp, canola, soybean, walnut, safflower, sunflower, dark leafy greens and fish oil. Sources of Omega-6 include: safflower, sunflower, hemp, soybean, walnut, pumpkin, flax and sesame. EFAs are critical to cell membrane function, improving cell communication, and they play an important role in the balance of inflammation in the body. They confer cardiovascular, neurological, eye and skin health benefits. Two of the more critical omega-3 fatty acids are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), found preformed in fish and fish oil. Many of the health benefits attached to EFAs are a result of these two long-chain fatty acids. If humans aren’t ingesting DHA and EPA, preformed in fish or fish oil, the body needs to convert the omega-3 in vegetable sources. Unfortunately, we are not very good converters. However, for vegetarians, it is still critical to use sources of omega-3 such as flax seed oil, evening primrose oil, walnut, hemp, and pumpkin. Vegetarian algae sources of omega-3 can also be purchased. Algae oils provide high amount of naturally occurring DHA (that’s what the fish eat in the first place) and can be converted into EPA in smaller amounts.

Recognizing and Addressing Deficiencies in Vegetarian Diets

Deficiency	Possible Signs of Deficiency	Foods to Eat	Possible Supplements
Protein	Key building block for all cells and tissues, thus can affect entire body.  Symptoms include: fatigue, poor wound healing, brittle hair/nails, decreased immune function, swelling, muscle loss/wasting, difficulty building muscle	Lacto-ovo Eggs, dairy   All (vegans/veggies) Beans, legumes, nuts, seeds	Whey protein isolate powder  (lacto and lacto-ovo) or vegan protein powder,   Vegetarian/vegan friendly protein bars
Vitamin B12	Megaloblastic anemia (big red blood cells), weakness, constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss, numbness and tingling in hands/feet, difficulty maintaining balance, depression, confusion, dementia, poor memory, soreness of mouth/tongue	Lacto-ovo Eggs, dairy   All (vegans/veggies) B12 fortified cereals, soy products, beverages	500mcg per day has been shown to stop depletion and adequately maintain stores in vegetarians   A lower daily dose in a multivitamin or B-complex could also be sufficient   Over deficiency may require higher doses ranging from 1000-5000mcg/d
Iron	Anemia, paleness, fatigue, reduced ability to exercise, shortness of breath, frequent infections, brittle nails, decreased appetite, irritability, sore tongue/mouth, thinning hair/hair loss	Spinach and other leafy greens, tofu, beans, dried fruit, iron-fortified breads/cereals	Based on blood tests by your health care practitioner, recommended doses can be anywhere from 10-100mg, depending on deficiency status.   Vegetarian men should get 14mg/d and women 33mg/d to avoid deficiency
Iodine	Hypothyroidism, symptoms of which are fatigue, weight gain, depression, low body temperature, mental slowing, dry skin, hair and nails, and possibly goiter	Sea vegetables - kelp, hijiki, dulse, nori (seaweed)   Salt (iodized or naturally mineralized salts like Celtic sea salt)	Approximately 150mcg is required daily, but I do not typically recommend supplements unless there is overt deficiency. Sea vegetables are a safer more accessible source
Calcium	Bone density loss, muscle spasm	Lacto-ovo Dairy   All Green leafy veggies, almonds, tofu, tahini, fortified beverages/foods	Adults 19-50: 1000mg/d (including diet)   Women 51+/Men 70+: 1200mg
Vitamin D	Bone disease (rickets/osteomalacia), loss of bone density, muscle pain/weakness, increased risk of certain cancers, autoimmune disease, immune dysfunction	Lacto-ovo Fortified dairy   All SUNSHINE! Fortified beverages (soy/rice/almond)	Minimum: 1000IU/d
EFAs	Fatigue, dry skin/mouth/eyes/hair, depression, hypertension, increase risk of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease	Nuts, seeds, vegetable oils	1-2 Tbsp (15-30mL) per day of omega-3 rich vegetable oils like flax seed oil OR 1-2 1000mg flax seed oil capsules   Evening Primrose oil can be added as a gamma linoleic acid source – 1000-2000mg (1-2 capsules)
Zinc (not discussed but included for completeness)	Loss of appetite, reduced taste sensation, impaired immune function, mental lethargy	Seeds, beans, legumes, whole grains, mushrooms, spinach, corn	15-50mg per day

Image source: natural-homeremedies.org, joanmorais.com

Wendy Tao explains how to Shape Up by naturally lowering bad cholesterols.

High levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol signal a need for changes in lifestyle and diet. While HDL cholesterol should be above 40–50mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre of blood); your LDL cholesterol should be kept below 140mg/dL. Eating low cholesterol foods is important but additional factors need to be considered.

Increase:

• Fibre Intake. Cholesterol is used (thus lowered) when you digest fibre-rich foods.
• Garlic and Onions. These provide sulfur, B vitamins and flavonoids and promote lower cholesterol levels.
• Antioxidant intake. Antioxidants prevent damage to artery walls where plaque forms.
• Healthy fat intake. Essential fatty acids from fish or flax can improve heart health.
• Exercise. Even small amounts of regular physical activity have great benefits for cholesterol levels.

Decrease:

• Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates. They contribute to high “bad” cholesterol and lower “good” cholesterol levels.
• Bad” fat intake, including trans fats, hydrogenated fats and rancid fats. These can damage and clog artery walls.
• Smoking. It increases free radicals in the body, damaging cells and artery walls.
• Weight. Fat cells contribute to cholesterol levels.
  

Fibre is Important

Fibre is any type of plant-component that the body cannot absorb or digest. While fibres supply no nutrients or calories, they perform many important biological functions.

There are two main types of fibre,

Soluble and Insoluble:

• Soluble fibre dissolves partially in water and its components include pectin, mainly found in fruit such as apples, in vegetable, legumes and oat products.
• Insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water and its components include cellulose or lignin, the fibre mainly found in grains such as wheat and corn.
  

A high fibre diet offers many benefits:

• Incorporating high-fibre foods into the diet may help lower the risk of heart disease.
• Soluble fibre helps stabilize blood sugar levels by delaying stomach emptying ultimately slowing the rate of carbohydrate absorption, improving regulation of blood sugar and lowering insulin requirements.
• The water-holding capacity of fibre relieves constipation by adding bulk to stool and speeding its transit through the gastrointestinal tract.
• Fibre increases satiety (the feeling of fullness) by adding bulk to foods without additional calories.

Increase your intake of dietary fibre

• Choose whole grains foods such as whole grain breads, pasta and rice
• Choose whole grain cereals for breakfast
• Consume whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juices
• Snack on raw vegetables instead of chips, crackers, or chocolate bars
• Add ground flax seed, chia seeds to cereals, yogurt and baked goods
• When increasing the amount of fibre in your diet, do so slowly, because large, sudden increases can cause discomfort, gas, and bloating. It is also important to drink more water when you increase fibre intake.

Image Source: Profilaxis