eat your salmon.

Remember a while back when I posted about Dr. Perricone and all of his fabulous eating tips?

If not, you should probably go check that post out again. Because learning about how what you eat impacts your skin, weight, and overall health in such a big way is pretty crucial information.

A really big piece of what I learned centered around the importance of salmon. And ever since, I’ve been doing what I can to improve my intake. It’s a fairly big task considering he recommends eating salmon anywhere from 5-7 times per week. I believe he says you should ideally eat salmon 5 times a week, and some type of fish should be eaten daily.

That’s a lot of salmon.

And on top of that, it has to be a specific kind of salmon:  wild. It can’t be Atlantic – that means farm-raised. What does farm-raised mean? It means they don’t occur in nature. They’re farmed in tiny areas where they’re crowded together and fed pellets containing toxic ingredients. If a piece of salmon has those noticeably heavy white stripes of fat, it’s likely farm-raised. Still not convinced? Farm-raised salmon would be gray if they weren’t fed chemicals to make them orange.

Ew. That’s enough to keep me away.

You know it’s wild if it’s Alaskan. If you have the option of Wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon, go for it. This is usually a deeper red color than pink salmon, and some say it has a richer flavor. Scottish is usually a good sign, too, as far as wild is concerned. But it’s always a good idea to ask your waiter or fishmonger – totally wish I had one of those, by the way – if it’s wild or not, just to be sure.

So how exactly does one go about getting in so many servings of this stuff?

Well, it’s available in fresh, frozen, smoked, or canned form. And usually, fresh {local} salmon is only available in the summer months. Fresh and frozen are obviously great, but I was surprised to learn that he highly recommends the canned. It’s for the same principle that frozen works so well – the salmon is harvested at its peak. I’d definitely had my fair share of frozen salmon before reading Dr. Perricone’s book, but canned is one thing I’d never even considered. I don’t think I even knew it was sold.

But it is, and so I bought it. My first go taught me that it actually comes two ways – with bones and skin, and without. I know what you’re thinking – who on earth would want it with bones and skin?! Truth be told, there are people out there who like it. Apparently it’s good for you, extra calcium…I don’t know. Personally, it made me nauseous to even look it.

Round 2 brought me to the skinless and boneless version, which I think is great. I’ve tried the Bumble Bee Premium Wild Pink Salmon, which comes in those foil bags, but you can also buy it in the can. I usually eat it with just a bit of spicy or honey mustard – to keep it on the healthy side – and it tastes pretty good. It would also be great to make a salmon salad with mayo, the same way you would do with tuna. It really has a similar taste and texture to canned tuna, so if you are used to that, you should be cool with it.

I think the canned version is a great way to sneak in more servings throughout the week, because let’s be honest – who can imagine eating grilled or broiled fish every night?

Most of us already know many of the health benefits of salmon:  it’s super-high in omega-3 essential fatty acids and a great source of protein, all while being low in calories and saturated fat. What you may not know is that eating it in whole form works wonders on both your skin and your weight. Perricone describes patients who come in with sagging, puffy skin, and within days of prescribing to his diet plan rich in salmon, they see a tremendous change. Their skin is tighter, it’s glowing – and without even trying, the weight seems to drop off.

It’s kind of like a natural botox. And lipo. All in one.

So, be a good girl. Eat your salmon.

{image via cooking light}