The goodness of salmon is well-known, even the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends eating salmon two to three time per week as it is so healthy, but what about the skin – can people eat the salmon skin and what are the health benefits if we do?
Salmon is not only a great source of protein, a stellar source of omega-3 fatty acids, besides minerals such as phosphorus and niacin, but vitamins such as vitamin D and vitamin B. Besides the nutritious value of salmon, it is also delicious. It is understandable why Victoria Beckham eats salmon every day, since it makes your skin glow.
However, what about the skin, is that safe? Well, generally it is agreed that salmon skin is safe to eat. There might be some personal health reasons why eating salmon skin might not be the best for you, but other than that the skin of salmon is safe to ingest.
Still, the skin of salmon has the highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids of the fish. We can benefits by taking in omega-3 fatty acids are that they can protect you from developing heart problems and the fatty acids can lessen triglyceride levels.
More so, if you cook your salmon fillet with the skin on, you can also keep the oils and nutrients within the salmon, which otherwise would have lost.
Although salmon is seen as super healthy, one should be aware of some issues. That is some salmon comes from waters that are extremely polluted, with mercury in most cases. When you eat these contaminated fish, then you take in the toxins and that could affect your health. But if you eat small amounts of these sort of contaminated salmon, then the consequences will not be so bad on your health.
Still, the risks of eating salmon could be that you can expose yourself and your family to harmful chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls. Polychlorinated biphenyls is poisons and has been linked to birth defects. More so, salmon can also be contaminated by methyl mercury. Methyl mercury is a chemical that can be extremely to toxic to humans if eaten in large amounts. Pregnant woman are particularly prone to experiencing negative side effects from these toxins, and might even pass them to their unborn child. Plus, methyl mercury has also been linked to birth defects.
However, you still would ideally like to eat uncontaminated fish. To help you, you should look out for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) logo, as this will show if the fish you are about to buy is safe.
Still, most of the salmon comes from the Atlantic Ocean. The fish that is caught in the wild is seen as less contaminated, than farmed fish. But in either case, wild or farm caught, it might be best to remove the skin and not to eat it. In fact, one research conducted in 1995 found that skinned salmon from the Great Lakes area had 50 percent less pesticides than salmon with the skin on.
If you want the best salmon, and what to eat the skin, then look out for wild-caught Pacific salmon, as these are seen as the safest salmon.
The round up
Salmon is a great nutrient rich source that is recommend, particularly as a source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, if the fish is from polluted waters it might be best to leave the skin alone. This is particularly true for women that are nursing or pregnant as there could be a risk for their unborn.
That all said if the fish comes from uncontaminated waters, than you should eat the skin of salmon, as the benefits would outweigh the risks. A great benefit is the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the skin. Therefore, you can cook the skin on the fish, or cook it apart from the flesh to make a tasty snack. What you can do is to use tempura flour and fry the salmon skin. After the skin has been fried, it will be very similar to the texture of bacon, but without all the bad healthy concerns associated with bacon. Alternatively, you can bake the salmon skin and then break it apart and add it to a salad instead of croutons. This means that baked salmon skin could be good if you are on the Atkins diet.
