This question was raised by a concerned reader in the national newspaper’s forum recently. The reader is very wary about the negative effects of breeding and consuming farmed or cultured fish in our diet.

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As we all know farmed or cultured fish are bred in crammed and dirty cages thus supplying inadequate oxygen to the fish. In this overcrowding environment, fish would therefore, be prone to stress, infections and sickness. In 1999, millions of fish had to be destroyed when there was an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia in Scotland.
Besides being densely packed, farmed fish attracts sea lice and also those that escaped from the cages would infect healthy wild fish.
Antibiotics and vaccines would be administered to this farmed fish to counter infections, diseases and premature death. Furthermore, when they are killed and cooked, the vaccines and antibiotics will still remain in their flesh!
Not only that, farmed fish also have a much higher level of unhealthy fats so where do you think this fats go to when they are eaten.

Even fishmeal made from industrial-catch fish has been known to be tainted with chemicals which are cancer-causing substances and pollutants and this are being fed to farmed fish. Like in 2002, a well-known pesticide DDT and other toxic chemicals have been found in various farmed fish and prawns by the Veterinary Medicines Director of England.

The ecosystem is also damaged by these fish and shrimp farms because in these highly concentrated farms, a huge amount of waste from uneaten feeds, faeces and discharge are produced. This affects the salinity of the surrounding water,land and the various living organisms.

So how do we check if the fish in the fresh market or supermarket is farmed and is safe to consume? At the moment, I will only know whether am eating farmed prawns or not through their having a metallic taste and there is a certain kind of ‘odour’ in the flesh!

Dr. James D. Lane from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Duke University Medical Center released his findings and stated, “The body acts like it is continuously under stress. If your work day is already stressful, you can take control of it by reducing caffeine. Coffee may temporarily help someone through a work day, but in the long term, heavy coffee drinkers may be damaging their blood vessels or weakening their immune system.”

I drink coffee very, very occasionally now but I still remember the time when I had a hard time weaning off coffee.That was when I learned that my migraines were triggered by the caffeine from coffee. I used to drink about three cups a day, ok…, sometimes more, and I thought it wasn’t much at that time…. when especially it was a must have to start the day going. I was so addicted that if I didn’t have my first cuppa drink by a certain time, I would be moody and headachy, and biting somebody’s poor head off!
The day when I learned that my migraines have started to get worst and in need of more morphine treatment, I decided to quit coffee drinking, that made my GP happy alright. I remembered the terrible effects on me, I had the withdrawal symptoms; blinding headaches, brain fog, depressed, irritable, moody and the feeling of being lousy, to treat all these, I was given more drugs to help me through.

Doctors lay great emphasis on diets considering the non- nutritous food available in markets these days. Fast food and cheese items lead to fat and chubby bodies. Then people try to loose some weight. For this they may use hydroxycut. However if does not suit you, you can even use xenadrine. Other than this, the diet recommended to diabetic patients is known as diabetic diet. It is basically low in fat and high in dietary fiber. For dieting you can even take black coffee. However, the caffeine present in it may affect you as you are not taking any healthy food item. It may cause weakness and you may feel dizzy.

In those days, we have never even heard of detox and we didn’t have the means of reading research papers. With migraines, people used to make comments that it is all in the head…how ignorant people can get.

Now we realize and know what caffeine effects could do to our body:
=> It gives our body STRESS because it stimulates the adrenal glands to produce the classic “fight or flight” syndrome.
=> It is a DIURETIC so your calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and trace minerals, all essential elements necessary for good health are excreted through urine.
=> It DEHYDRATES you and so don’t forget to drink plenty of water
=> It RAISES your cholesterol, homocysteine, increases heart rate therefore elevate blood pressure, gives palpitations
=> It is highly ACIDIC and acidity is a problem in many conditions such as acid reflux, ulcers, and chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
=> Coffee is an IRRITANT to the bowel and the urinary tract causing problems for people who suffer from various conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome, and Interstitial Cystitis.
=> It INHIBITS absorption of some nutrients
=> A recent study has shown that coffee drinking is associated with raising inflammatory markers that are implicated in the development of cardiovascular disease.

By the way, don’t even think of drinking decaffeinated coffee. Its worst! Do you know that to decaffeinate they have to use a chemical called methylene chloride, a solvent used in the paint industry. Although the residue of this chemical is only in trace amounts, it seems to have an effect on the health of sensitive individuals.

But then life is short and the last couple of years, I have started to indulge myself a cuppa once in a blue, blue moon….the feeling?…EXHILARATING!!!

Well, you don’t have to totally avoid them but it is best to keep track how much you are taking them.

Smoked Meats - I used to love eating smoked or cured meats like ham, bacon, sausages, salami and luncheon meat.
Infact, smoking of food was once an essential method for preserving meat and fish for centuries.

At the end of the last century, it was discovered that nitrite was a crucial preservative, but we are now warned about the harm of consuming too much of these foods. New studies by scientists founded that there are many components in these foods like acids, phenols, alcohols and other cancer-causing substances Though the chemicals would inhibit the growth of certain bacteria and delay the breakdown of fats, however, when smoked or cured meats interact with amino acids in meats during cooking and digestion they would convert into nitrosamines, a chemical reaction that causes cancer.

But then, the risk of cancer from nitrite is actually small when compared to the risk of coronary heart disease as there are too much saturated fats in smoked meats.

Besides nitrite preventing spoilage, it gives smoked meats the distinctive nice pink color called myoglobin, a meat pigment - my yummy breakfast ham….

So just make sure you eat them occasionally and in moderate amounts too and maybe, do like what I do, have plenty of raw vegetables at the side to go with your favorite smoked or cured meats at all times!