Why we should eat more fish
For the last few years, I have been for the most part following a simple rule one of my nutritionist told me: “The less legs the better.” This means when selecting what type of protein I want in my meals, I usually start of in the fish section (no legs), work my way to the poultry (two legs), and only occasionally stop by the meats (four legs) for a rare steak or pork chop. Red meats like beef and pork are higher in their saturated fat content when compared to leaner poultry like chicken or turkey. But the reason why fish is at the top of the list isn’t the amount of fat it contains as fish are high in fat, but rather what kind of fat it contains. Fish contain omega fatty acids, which are actually beneficial to our bodies and are one fat that we should not avoid. Omega-3 fatty acids are called essential fatty acids because they are necessary for human health but our bodies cannot produce them on their own so we must obtain them from our diet. A lot of people try to avoid all fats in general but fats from fish are ones you shouldn’t shy away from.
Some scientists in the 1970s found something very interesting when they studied eskimos. They observed that even though their diets had a very high fat content of up to 40%, they had long life spans and low cardiovascular diseases. The reason for this “eskimo paradox” as they called it was because the source of the fats were mostly from fish that contain omega fatty acids. There are many benefits to the fats from fish, below are just a list of just a few. Luckily for us, we live in the Philippines with lots of coastlines and a wide variety of fish. So next time you hit the grocery store, don’t shy away from the seafood section.
Some Benefits Omega-3 fats:
- Lowers Cholesterol
- Lower Triglyceride Levels
- Reduces Inflammation
- Reduces risk of breast cancer
- Reduces risk of Heart Disease
- Improves Skin
- Eases Alzheimers
- Treats Ulcers
- Helps with Weight loss
- Eases Depression
- Eases Arthritis
