Is fish a health food?
We are often told that fish is a health food, but with the ever-growing number of toxins in our oceans, and the proliferation of disease and antibiotics in fish farming, is this actually true? And what about oily fish and fish oil, are they even healthy for us to begin with?
Heart health:
We perceive fish to be important for us because they contain essential fatty acids, such as omega-3. Essential fatty acids are important for a variety of reasons, including regulating blood pressure, immune and inflammatory responses and brain health.
So let’s look into the two main purported benefits of eating fish, firstly heart health. The idea that consuming oily fish and fish oil is good for heart health has become so widely believed that the fish oil industry is now a multi-billion dollar industry, with over 100,000 tons of fish oil being consumed every single year.
However, a meta-analysis conducted by Cochrane, a global non-profit that is regarded among the scientific community as being the gold standard when it comes to the reliability of its reviews, and published in the Journal of American Medical Association, looked at seventy-nine randomised trials involving more than 112,000 people and concluded that increasing long-chain fatty acids from oily fish or fish oil supplements was not associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiac death, heart attack or stroke.
The original idea that consumption of oily fish and fish oil is good for the heart came from a study in the 80s, however, the same group of researchers who conducted the original study then did a follow-up that involved 50% more participants and concluded that those who were advised to eat oily fish, and particularly those supplied with fish oil capsules, had a higher risk of cardiac death.
Meaning even the original study was consequently disproven by the original researchers - and when all of the evidence is collated, a review published in the Journal of American Medical Association states, given this and other negative meta-analyses our job should be to stop highly marketed fish oil supplementation in all of our patients.
It is also worth noting that fish contains cholesterol, which can cause heart disease. And on top of this a 2018 review published by the British Journal of Nutrition found that higher intake of omega-3 from plant foods was actually linked to a reduced risk of heart disease.
Brain health:
The next purported health benefit of eating fish is related to brain health and cognitive function. Now, undeniably the consumption of omega-3 is incredibly important when it comes to brain health, but studies have shown that higher fish consumption has the inverse result.
In fact, higher concentrations of fish-based omega-3s were associated with high levels of cognitive impairment and dementia. It is thought that this is because of the neurotoxic contaminants found in fish, such as mercury, dioxins and PCBs, which negatively impact not only brain development but ageing brains as well.
It’s well known that our oceans are badly polluted, and through consumption of fish from the ocean means we too are consuming these chemicals by consuming wild-caught fish.
When it comes to farmed fish, they have also been shown to be high in contaminants, sometimes even higher than fish caught in the wild. This is due to industrial pollution that is dumped in lakes, rivers and oceans, and because many types of farmed fish, such as salmon and sea bass, are fed wild-caught fish as food, due to them being carnivorous. Meaning, that whether we choose to consume wild caught or farmed fish, we are still ingesting dangerous pollutants and contaminants.
A 2003 report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), found that seven out of ten farmed salmon purchased in grocery stores in several major cities across the US, were contaminated with cancer-causing PCBs at “levels that raise health concerns.”
Not only that, but huge amounts of antibiotics are used in farmed fish, with it being estimated that farmed salmon are fed more antibiotics per pound than any other farmed animal.
And an investigation by Consumer Reports found that 60 percent of frozen shrimp samples contained harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli and even MRSA. The levels found with shrimp were higher than previous testing done on chicken, turkey and pork.
The issue of pollutants and toxins is so concerning that pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised to moderate or avoid seafood altogether, yet at the same time we also paradoxically refer to fish as a health food.
Plant-based omegas:
But can you get the omega-3 fatty acids that you need on a plant-based diet? The three most important types of omega-3 fatty acids are ALA, EPA and DHA. ALA is the most common omega-3 fatty acid in our diet and is found mostly in plant foods, especially foods like flaxseed, which is among the best sources of omega-3 on the planet, chia seeds, walnuts, hemp, kale, spinach, soya beans and many more. And unlike fish, these foods are healthy and safe for everyone at all stages of life, and do not pose a risk to pregnant women or their unborn children.
EPA and DHA are found, most notably, in fish and seafood. However, vegans get DHA and EPA by their body creating it through converting the ALA they get from their diet.
There has been some speculation that because the rates of conversion appear low, those on a plant-based diet are unable to convert the required amounts necessary to be healthy, with the conversion rate of ALA to DHA being somewhere around 3 - 5%. However, according to the FDA, a 3 ounce serving of tuna provides around 170mg of DHA, but a 20g serving of flaxseed, working on a conversation ratio of 4%, will also provide around 190mg of DHA.
In fact, according to the findings of a study looking at over 14,400 men and women, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, even though vegans have lower intakes of EPA and DHA, their blood levels of both were approximately the same as regular fish eaters, which indicated that when people do not consume EPA and DHA, their bodies respond by increasing the conversion levels from their intake of ALA.
That being said, if you are concerned about EPA and DHA, you can get them from foods like marine phytoplankton, or in the form of an algae supplement, which is no different to taking a fish oil supplement, except it removes all of the harmful chemicals, pollutants, environmental consequences and the needless death of an animal, and provides the positive health benefits of consuming the essential long-chain fatty acids we require.
Summary:
In the end, consuming fish is responsible for the suffering and death of up to 2.7 trillion marine animals every single year, is responsible for the degradation and destruction of our oceans, and is not only unnecessary for us to live, but is actually damaging for our health.
If we want to protect animals, our environment and indeed ourselves, it is time for us to leave the fish where they belong, in the oceans, and instead live vegan.
