A number of individuals have been promoting twice-daily eating of salmon as a way to make one’s skin appear more youthful. As far as I can tell, the advice initially appeared in a book by Dr Nicholas Perricone, and has been mentioned by a number of other health and fitness experts since then. Supposedly the healthy fats in salmon tend to tighten the skin and eliminate puffiness. A number of celebrities swear by the effectiveness of the tactic. The recommended period of eating salmon two times a day ranges from three days to one month. Wow, I dunno. I like salmon, and eat it once or twice a week, but I don’t think I could eat it twice a day for a month - or even for a week.

Anyway, the type of salmon that’s recommended is wild Alaskan salmon. If the salmon you find at the store isn’t labeled as either wild or Alaskan, it’s probably farm-raised. Farm raised salmon doesn’t have the same nutritional makeup as the wild fish, and whether you’re eating salmon to improve the looks of your skin, because it has Omega-3 fats, or just because you like it, I recommend you always avoid the farm-raised stuff. Which is what the salmon in your supermarket’s fish case is, unless it specifically says otherwise.

The problems with farm-raised salmon are myriad, and are similar to the problems that exist at all high-volume livestock raising operations, such as with cattle, pigs and chickens, today. The fish are crowded into pens, causing them to swim in their own poop, which causes diseases to spread, and that means antibiotics on a routine basis. Farmed salmon actually get more antibiotics on a per-pound basis than any other type of livestock! Also, the fish don’t get wild salmon’s natural diet, but are fed pellets. Therefore they don’t develop the traditional pinkish flesh - so they’re fed synthetic chemicals to give them that color. And because of the crowded conditions, sea lice are a large problem, not only for the farmed fish, but because the occasional farm fish will escape and bring some sea lice with it to possibly infest wild salmon living in the general area. Finally, farmed fish have been shown to have significantly higher levels of cancer-causing substances like dioxins and PCB’s than wild.

So if you decide to start eating salmon on a regular basis (and I recommend you do) go for wild Alaskan. It’s more expensive, but well worth the cost. To save money, you can buy the canned version (check the label to make sure it’s wild Alaskan, as there are a number of varieties that come in cans. Buy the 15 oz. can and it’s cheaper than canned tuna. I’d recommend rinsing it before eating to reduce the sodium content, but otherwise you have a really healthy source of protein and Omega-3 fatty acids.

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