Eating fish can provide powerful health benefits. heart and brainyet Americans eat less than half of the 26 pounds per year that experts recommend. In contrast, Americans buy seven times more chicken and beef annually than fish.
We wondered why Americans don’t eat more fish for a long time by health experts, fish farmers and fishermen themselves. One way to look at this issue is production. Consumers can only buy a product if it is available. The more they buy, theoretically, the more that item will be produced. In this case, a greater demand for fish would be stimulated if more fish were offered for sale.
More seafood could be made available to US consumers from global ocean sources given that at least 60% seafood in the United States is imported. American aquaculture has the capacity to increase considerably. The research carried out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Fisheries Administration also indicates that slightly more wild-caught domestic fish can be harvested.
Why eat fish?
Rich in lean protein and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, fish offers robust nutritional benefits that can help stave off chronic diseases, boost immunity and reduce inflammation in the body. Seafood provides your body with omega-3 fatty acids and essential minerals, such as selenium, zinc, iron and iodine. It also provides heart disease-fighting vitamins B12 and D, among other benefits.
Fish offers such positive benefits to the body that USDA Dietary Guidelines offer specific advice to pregnant women and children based on the finding that seafood consumption leads to cognitive improvement in children. Research shows that incorporating seafood into a diet as a way to prevent coronary heart disease can result in a potential annual loss of health care savings of $12.7 billion.
In addition, seafood, as a protein, has a low greenhouse gas production. This advantage is accentuated when analyzing the many species that offer both high nutrient density and low greenhouse gas production.
Fish beyond shrimp
The USDA Dietary Guidelines 2015-2020 suggest that Americans eat 26 pounds of seafood each year. The recommended amount would ideally provide 250mg per day of the important omega-3 fatty acids. Yet, because of the way American consumers buy seafood, it only provides them, on average, with 38% of the recommended daily omega-3s.
Many of the most popular seafood consumers buy are relatively low in omega-3s, such as shrimp, the most popular seafood in the United States, accounting for nearly 30% of annual fish sales. Considering the 10 species which make up 85% of the fish Americans can buy in restaurants and markets, only salmon, the second most popular seafood, has relatively high levels of omega-3s.
There are many species of fish rich in omega-3s that are not purchased or eaten regularly, such as anchovies, herring, and sardines. People can replace eating fish with take supplements or eat other foods, like eggs which contain omega-3, to help overcome this deficiency. However, research shows that eating fish itself is better than supplements, since a fillet of fish has a full complement of fats, vitamins, minerals and other supporting molecules.
The health and environmental benefits of fish make it a smart choice to buy and eat. With more people at home because of the pandemic, it’s a good time to explore receipts and enjoy this nutritionally important food.
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