The Seafood Effect

Ugh. Seafood. I can already hear my mom shudder and gasp at the thought of eating seafood. Her nose is probably already wrinkling in disgust just thinking about the smell. And I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way. Thankfully, I take after my dad and could eat seafood for the rest of my life and be happy as a clam (tee-hee!). My job by the end of this post is not to get you to eat fish if you truly don't like it. You all know by now that I'm not going to eat something I don't like, even if it's good for me. So why would I make you eat something you don't like? That doesn't sound like any fun. However, I think the health benefits of eating fish are important to know. 

Out of any foods, nutrients, or supplements, fish have shown the most consistent benefits at protecting against heart disease. There is a stark decrease in rates of death from heart-related issues in areas where fish are eaten on the regular. This is not to say that fish are the only things that are protective against heart disease, but research suggests that they may be the most beneficial. Fish are extremely high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are believed to be the main driving force behind these benefits.

Because of this research, and the sheer number of people who can't stomach fish, fish oil supplements have recently become all the rage. Worried about heart disease? Fish oil. Arthritis? Fish oil. Anxiety and depression? Fish oil. Just had a really bad break-up? Fish oil. Need to stay up all night for your Harry Potter movie marathon (which is definitely happening at my apartment this weekend)? Fish oil. 

The unfortunate thing is that there is very little evidence to support fish oil supplements aiding anything. Research goes back and forth, and no clear answer has presented itself. But research with actual fish, not supplements, has yielded different results. It seems that once again, actual food is the answer. 

Which brings me to another important point--seafood is not limited to fish. You can still get similar benefits by eating mussels, oysters, and clams. Sadly, shellfish do not have the same nutrient content as these other options, so though they are good for you, they won't have the same effects. For those of you who don't like seafood in any of its forms, there are ways to get omega-3 fatty acids from other foods. Vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds all have high amounts of omega-3s. 

If you are like me, and enjoy fish, but don't like the prices that come with fish, there are other options! I live in a small town that is completely landlocked and almost 1,000 miles away from the nearest ocean. Therefore, prices of fish can be as high as $15-20 per pound. As I started researching the beneficial effects of eating fish, I came up with some ideas on how to cut costs:

1. Buy less fish: Only a couple of ounces of fish per week are needed to get the omega-3s, so you can simply buy less than you would normally! 
2. Buy frozen fish: Sometimes you have to look for sales, but usually you can get a couple pounds of fish for under $10 using this method.
3. Buy canned fish: This is probably the option I use most often. The fish is already cooked, so I don't have to deal with that, and it's easy to throw it into salads, pastas, soups, etc. And it's definitely the cheapest option!
4. Catch your own fish: If the option above was the cheapest, this one is definitely the most fun! My brother and I loved catching and cooking our own dinners last summer. And by that I mean he would catch and kill the fish while I read my book, then I would cook the fish while he played videogames. But it ended up being a good time! And fish always taste their best right out of the water. This picture is evidence that I actually did do something productive on our fishing adventures.

There are plenty of options available to tailor to any taste or budget. A quick Google or Pinterest search will yield thousands of recipes to help incorporate fish more into your life. Seafood is something most people have a strong opinion about, but research really only has one consistent opinion: we should be eating it!