The Benefits Of Eating Fish

It’s long been said that seafood is healthy and we should eat more of it, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Seafood is very healthy to eat – all things considered. Fish and shellfish are an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and they are low in saturated fat. But seafood’s claim to fame is its omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), all of which are beneficial to health. TheU.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans strongly suggest that adults eat two servings of seafood, or a total of eight ounces, per week.

Omega-3s are today’s darling of the nutrition world, and many observational studies have indeed shown them to benefit a range of conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, asthma, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. However, there isn’t complete scientific agreement on the health benefits of omega-3s, especially when considering the lack of strong evidence from randomized clinical trials.

The strongest evidence exists for a cardiovascular health benefit, and from consuming seafood (not just fish oil), which is significant because heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.

One of the things I research is Americans’ meat and protein consumption. Though many of us are concerned about getting enough protein, most Americans actually get more than enough protein in their diets. Rather, the problem is that most of us don’t include enough variety of protein sources in our diet. We eat a lot of poultry and red meat but not as much seafood, nuts, beans, peas, and seeds. For seafood in particular, consumption is estimated to be closer to 2.7 ounces of seafood per week per person, well below the recommended eight ounces.

So the solution might seem simple: Increase public health messaging along the lines of: “Seafood is healthy. Eat more of it.” But it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Complication #1: Omega-3 fatty acids vary from fish to fish

Here’s the catch: If you are dutifully eating your two servings a week, but it’s from tilapia, shrimp, scallops or catfish, you won’t actually be getting much of the health benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids.

That’s because seafood varies in its omega-3 fatty acids content, and many commonly consumed seafoods are not actually that high in omega-3s.

The top five seafood products consumed in the U.S. are shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, tilapia and Alaskan pollock (think fishsticks). Together, these seafood products total about three-fourths of U.S. seafood consumption.

Let’s take a look at the omega-3s content of these top seafood choices. Salmon is a good choice here, even though the total of omega-3s varies considerably by type of salmon (the species and whether it is farmed or wild-caught). Regardless of the type, salmon is still one of the best omega-3 sources.

Canned tuna is an okay source, but it’s a bit of mixed bag (white tuna has more omega-3s than light tuna).

Meanwhile, the other top seafood products – shrimp, tilapia and Alaskan pollock – are all fairly low in omega-3s.

In short, we’re not eating a lot of fish to begin with, and much of the fish we do eat is not actually that high in omega-3 fatty acids.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/healthtrending/the-benefits-of-eating-fish/ar-BBzWmR3#page=3