Why Is It Healthy to Eat Fish?

Fish is a low-fat, high-protein food that has many health benefits. The white-fleshed fish particularly is low in fat compared to other sources of animal protein. Oily fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are also known as the “good” fats. The body doesn’t have the capability of making a lot of these essential nutrients, which is why fish becomes an important thing to have in your diet. Fish is also good for your diet because it has low “bad” fats which are present in high levels in red meat. The bad fat is referred to as omega-6 fatty acids.

Why Omega-3s Is Good for Your Health

There is a lot of evidence out there indicating the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. Some of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are;

• Maintaining cardiovascular health plays an important role in regulating vessel constriction and blood clotting
• Important for neurological development both prenatal and postnatal
• Reducing tissue inflammation and alleviating the symptoms of arthritis
• Helping with cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), halting the mental decline in the elderly, and reducing depression

Omega-3s that are in fish (DHA and EPA) have a lot of health benefits. You can get this type of fish from a luxury salmon company. The fish that is rich in omega-3, eco-friendly, and low in environmental contaminants include:

• Arctic char
• Wild salmon from Alaska (these are those that are fresh, frozen, and canned)
• Sardines
• Atlantic mackerel
• Anchovies
• Albacore tuna from Canada and the U.S.
• Sablefish
• Farmed rainbow trout

What About Fish Oil Supplements?

There are different ways of consuming omega-3 fatty acids, with eating fish being the first one. Another option is to take store-bought supplements. Fish oil comes from both small fish caught for animal feed and fish caught for humans.

One thing you need to keep in mind is contaminants like PCB can accumulate in fish oil just like they do in fish, which is why you need to get the capsules made from purified fish oil.

Other Sources of omega-3 fatty acids

Some other sources of omega-3a are walnuts, flaxseed, and wheat germ. While they can still benefit the body, they don’t provide the same health benefits you can expect to get when you consume the ones coming from shellfish, fish, and marine algae.

Do the Health Benefits Outweigh the risk of Contaminants in Seafood?

Fish is a healthy food source that you can safely eat in most cases. Depending on your health circumstances and age, some people need to pay close attention to the amount they are consuming. Below are some things to consider.

For women of childbearing age and children, it is important to consider that excessive consumption of mercury-contaminated fish can have a big impact on the child’s development.

Older men and women can find it easy to trade off the exceeded recommended seafood meat limits so they can increase omega-3 intake.

Those at high risk of cardiovascular diseases should weigh the risk of fish that is high in PCBs with the benefits they are going to get, but in most cases, the benefits from the omega-3 in the fish outweigh the risk. The tradeoffs are not that simple because the chemicals are known to cause cancer.

There are many high-omega-3 and low-contaminant seafood options out there. Check the list above to see some of them. You don’t have to risk anything by consuming contaminated fish.