Catch of the day - TROUT

Trout - a great choice of healthy fat athletes

Trout rarely gets the attention it deserves, but it is a great little option if you are not so keen on salmon and the punchy oily taste. 

I love trout as an alternative to salmon and find that it is also a little lighter and slightly sweeter in taste, especially if you struggle with appetite after a really hard session.

Fresh trout from the lake or sea trout are all suitable options; and if purchasing in a supermarket, you can buy as fillets just like salmon we are accustomed to seeing and also as fillets. Trout can also be bought as whole bright, rainbow sheen to their skin. The lake variety are often a little lighter tasting than sea caught varieties. It is often a little cheaper than salmon too. 

Many people shy away from cooking fish when actually it is one of the most simple and easy sources of protein to cook, and takes less than 10-20 minutes to cook. Now that’s a super simple quick supper! 

Whilst salmon is often the fish of choice more often in an athletes diet due to its highest sources of omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. In fact, if you eat oily fish, such as salmon twice a week you meet your weekly requirements for omega 3! 

Omega 3’s

Trout, like salmon, also has omega 3 fatty acids, although slightly lower (50%) in total fat when compared to salmon. So therefore, it’s profile is about 1g of omega 3 fatty acids per 100g versus 3g omega 3 in salmon. With it’s lower fat content, we obviously see a lower energy content per 100g, but it is matched with salmon at 21g protein per 100g serving. 

Both salmon and trout are good sources of iodine which is required for the synthesis of hormones T3 and T4. These hormones play a role in protein synthesis and enzyme activity in major organs including the brain, muscle, and heart. Like salmon; trout also has bioactive peptides (proteins) that help to decrease inflammation and oxidative stress, which, in turn, may have an impact on helping to support recovery. I love including oily fish into an athletes diet and always encourage this, where the athlete can tolerate it. Plant sources such as flaxseeds also provide omega 3, but their omega 3 is in the form ALA and is poorly converted to EPA and DHA in the body. 

Other Benefits

One of the amino acids both salmon and trout contains is tryptophan. This little amino acid is rather mighty and is termed as an essential amino acid, as the body can not make it. The body converts tryptophan to 5-HTP and then to serotonin, melatonin and B6, so it has a role in sleep, mood and energy, to put it in very simple terms! Just a 1g dose of tryptophan can improve sleep latency or the time before falling asleep. We need a higher amount of tryptophan than the other amino acids, such as, leucine to be able to get across the blood brain barrier, and salmon, trout, and dairy are great sources. In addition, making sure we get enough carbohydrates also will help with moving tryptophan across the brain barrier; as the branched chain amino acids are pulled into muscle with the release of insulin. 

So Trout is super simple, quick, tasty and has many benefits to health, recovery and sleep. If you are not so keen on salmon why not take the plunge and try trout?!

How To Cook Trout

Here is one of those recipes that looks and tastes beautiful- not to mention, all the abovementioned health benefits!

You Will Need:

• Fennel 10g

• Lemon Juice 40ml

• fresh coriander, a handful

• 1 raw shallot

• 2 large trout filets

Preparation:
1. Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6. 
2. On a tray place a large piece of baking paper or foil and lay the trout on top.
3. Simply squeeze the lemon and or lime onto the trout fillets
4. Scatter the fennel ends, sprinkle with the shallots and handful parsley and corridor Fold the ends of the paper and roll into a little parcel. 
5. Cook for 15-20 minutes - do not overcook, check on the fish after 15 mins