Smart Eating With Blue Harbor Fish Co. Tuna
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. I only share my honest opinion.
Tuna: You either love it, or your mom prepared it wrong when you were a kid! I grew up loving tuna sandwiches and tuna in general. Still, to this day, my favorite tuna fish sandwich is from a little bakery in San Francisco, my hometown, and I crave it every time we visit.
As an adult, I have wondered about the benefits of certain foods, and tuna is one of them. At Expo West I got a chance to sit (literally & thankfully) and talk with Laura Ali, the Senior Manager Nutritionist (as well as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist) of Blue Harbor Fish Co., a company that is dedicated to sustainably fishing albacore that is dolphin safe, gluten free, soy free and nonGMO. I had a great time chatting with Laura all about tuna, its benefits and even recipes!
Blue Harbor is also MSC certified. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means. I didn’t know until recently. MSC is The Marine Stewardship Council which is an international nonprofit organization established to address the problem of unsustainable fishing practices and to safeguard supplies for the future of our oceans. This all means that Blue Harbor Fish Co. cares about the practices used to catch their tuna according to environmentally friendly standards that allow fish populations to remain productive and healthy for the future. Their tuna is 100% Line Caught which means keeping our oceans replenished.
I had some questions for Laura all about tuna and why we should be eating it.
We talked about the ingredients in Blue Harbor, because ingredients are the first thing that I look for on anything that I eat. Mostly because of my food allergens and intolerances, but also to make sure that I am 100% happy with the ingredients that I am putting into my body. Let’s talk about ingredients in Blue Harbor. They offer 2 different products: Albacore Tuna in Water, which is albacore tuna, water and a little sea salt; and they offer Albacore Tuna in Water, No Salt Added which is just albacore tuna and water. Plain and simple! Nothing added. It’s just the way it should be!
I am a believer that food should be your medicine and medicine should be your food. We should be eating with intention and choosing foods that benefit us nutritionally. Have you ever wondered about the benefits of your foods? It’s something that I think about when I eat. I, of course, asked Laura about the benefits of eating tuna over other fish. For one, and especially with Blue Harbor, it’s easy to eat on-the-go. You can eat it directly from the pouch, which I have done. Albacore tuna is a fattier fish which means you are eating more omega 3s, DHA and EPAs, which are great for your brain and heart health. Eating the right kinds of healthy fats will also ensure that you stay full for longer.
Tuna is the gateway seafood. It’s the kind of fish that most people say is the only seafood they will eat. It’s also the kind of seafood that most people try first before tasting seafoods like crab, lobster, mussels, salmon, mahi-mahi… okay you get the point, and now I am craving surf and turf. It's also the easiest to prepare and not too pricey. Thankfully, tuna is a great option as it is a nutrient-dense fish that contains a lot of Vitamin D as well as the omega 3s that I talked about before. Thus, Laura mentioned that albacore tuna is a healthier and better option than other tuna such as bluefin or yellowfin. It's also high in protein and low in carbs. The fact that Blue Harbor is albacore tuna, sustainably caught, has no added fillers or ingredients and is MSC certified makes this tuna the perfect choice, in my opinion.
You might be wondering about how much tuna you should be eating in a week. Good, because I was wondering about that, too. Laura said that we should be eating about 8-12 ounces of a variety of seafood a week. Eating tuna is a great way to get that seafood into your diet. There are a variety of ways you can eat tuna. I like to mix it in a bowl with my favorite paleo mayo, add some sea salt, black pepper, parsley and a little garlic and eat it directly out of the bowl or with crackers. One pouch is 3oz of tuna and contains 19g of protein.
At the Blue Harbor booth, Laura had prepared the tuna in the most delicious way I think I have ever had. She made a delicious Spring Wheat Berry & Tuna Salad which had blueberries, strawberries, herbs, spices, walnuts, feta and a tasty dressing, too. You can see the full recipe by clicking on the recipe photo below. The ways of eating tuna are endless, including straight from the pouch (which I’ve done at my favorite theme park), tuna salad, on a sandwich, with crackers, in a salad, in a casserole, on a crostini and Laura’s favorite ways, which include on top of a salad with vinaigrette or on avocado toast.
Lately I have been enjoying Blue Harbor pouches of albacore tuna twice a week for lunch prepared the way I stated above. It’s quick, easy, simple and very tasty. Plus, with learning more about the health benefits of tuna from Laura, I feel even better about my lunchtime nutrient-dense tuna. I highly recommend this tuna and that you give it a try. If you aren’t a fan of tuna or aren’t sure if you’re a fan of tuna, then I recommend that you try this as it is meaty and has a mild taste. If you don’t normally love tuna, then consider the fact that you could have had a) poor quality tuna, b) poorly prepared tuna, or c) perhaps you haven’t tried it yet. Give it a shot! Try it a different way than what you’re used to. You might surprise yourself. And - with Blue Harbor Fish Co. you will now know you are choosing the right tuna for you and your family and for the oceans.
