Nothing Fishy About Canned Fish: It’s Packed With Nutrients

When many Americans think of fish, they think of canned tuna--and to a lesser extent, other types of canned fish. On average, we consume more than 3 pounds per person every year.

The popularity of canned fish has a lot to do with convenience, and to some extent the fact that many people are often still surprisingly intimidated by cooking fresh fish. Canned fish provides the same benefits as fresh fish--it is low in calories, high in omega-3 fatty acids and high in protein, B vitamins, potassium and sometimes calcium.

The following guidelines can help you select the best types of tuna and other canned fish.

* Choose tuna packed in water, not oil. It doesn’t seem to make any difference whether the tuna is white, light, solid or chunk, but tuna packed in water has far less fat and many fewer calories.

* If you want to get the maximum amount of omega-3 fatty acids from canned fish, choose salmon, sardines or herring instead of tuna. Sardines actually have more omega-3s than most fish-oil capsules.

* Most canned fish is low in cholesterol (20 to 50 milligrams in 3 ounces). This is less than meat or poultry. Sardines, however, have 100 milligrams or more in 3 ounces, and shrimp have 140 milligrams in 3 ounces.

* If you’re looking for non-dairy ways to increase calcium intake, eat canned salmon and sardines with the bones. You will hardly notice them, but a 3-ounce serving of these fishes can supply almost as much calcium as a glass of milk.

* Canned fish is usually high in sodium (sometimes 10 times as much as fresh fish). Fortunately, there are plenty of low-salt or no-added-salt varieties. Draining the water removes a good bit of the sodium, so rather than paying extra for no-salt tuna, just rinse it in a strainer.

* According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, canned tuna doesn’t have enough mercury to cause any concern for most of us. However, since even small amounts can damage the brain and nervous system of infants and fetuses, pregnant and nursing women should probably limit their intake of any fish to once or twice a week.

* Don’t sabotage canned fish with high-fat condiments such as mayonnaise. Try making your tuna salad with low-fat substitutes, or get creative and make your own from nonfat yogurt and spices such as curry or cumin.

* Because the nutritional value of canned fish can vary greatly from brand to brand, it is important to read the labels. The difference between two cans of sardines or herring, for example, can be 2 to 20 grams of fat in 3 ounces, even if both varieties are packed in the same kind of sauce.

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Here’s a tasty recipe from “The Wellness Lowfat Cookbook” (Rebus, 1993) that gives you not only the advantages of the fish, but the beans as well.

BEAN AND TUNA SALAD

6 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh

parsley

1 teaspoon chopped fresh

rosemary, or 1/4 teaspoon

dried rosemary, crushed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Pinch of salt

2 cups diced carrots

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped

scallions

1 cup diced celery

1 cup cooked or canned white

beans

One 7-ounce can water-packed

white tuna

12 large Boston lettuce leaves

6 ounces French bread

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, rosemary, pepper and salt in a small bowl. Whisk until blended.

In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, scallions and celery. If using canned beans, rinse under cold running water and drain. Drain the tuna. Add the beans and tuna to the salad, pour the dressing over it and toss gently. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes or refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, wash and dry the lettuce. Place tuna salad on top of leaves and serve with French bread.

Makes 4 servings, each of which has 368 calories, 10 grams of fat, 21 milligrams of cholesterol, 168 milligrams of calcium, 1,035 milligrams of potassium, 14 milligrams of beta carotene, 43 milligrams of vitamin C and 3 milligrams of vitamin E.

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Dr. Sheldon Margen is a professor of public health at UC Berkeley; Dale A. Ogar is managing editor of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. They are the authors of several books, including “The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition.” Their column runs every Monday. Send questions to Dale Ogar, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, or daogar@uclink4.berkeley.edu.