nutrition
Forget about eating salmon, eat it like salmon.
To get essential nutrients, people need to eat like salmon, a new study suggests.
The study, published in the journal Nature Food, found that consuming the wild fish that salmon feed on, such as mackerel, herring and anchovies, may be healthier than the salmon itself.
“Making some small changes to our diets, especially the types of fish we eat, can go a long way toward changing some of these deficiencies and promoting the health of both our population and the planet.” ,” said lead author Dr. David Willer of the Department of Zoology. said the University of Cambridge in a statement.
Research shows that the production of farmed salmon results in an overall loss of essential dietary nutrients, so it is not important to eat the individual fish that are fed. to Salmon is a healthier alternative.
“People enjoy eating salmon, and while supporting the sustainable growth of this sector, we are also adding more and wider varieties of wild salmon, such as sardines, mackerel and anchovies, to get more essential nutrients directly. You should consider eating fish species,” Willer advised.
Eating more wild 'forage' species directly could ultimately benefit our health while reducing demand on finite marine resources.
Scientists concentrated on seafood, focusing on nine nutrients essential to the human diet (iodine, calcium, iron, vitamin B12, and vitamins), including edible wild fish species and farmed fish fed as food. We analyzed the flow of nutrients from salmon. A, Omega 3, Vitamin D, Zinc, Selenium.
Wild fish studied include Pacific and Peruvian anchovies, Atlantic herring, mackerel, sprat, and blue whiting, all of which are marketed and consumed as seafood.
These six types of wild fish contained higher or similar concentrations of nutrients compared to farmed salmon fillets.
Most of the wild-fed fish met dietary recommended nutrients in smaller portions than farmed Atlantic salmon, including omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Compared to salmon fillets, wild-fed fish fillets had more than five times more calcium, four times more iodine, and more than 1.5 times more iron, omega-3, vitamin B12, and vitamin A.
“We're effectively wasting about 80% of the calcium and iodine from the fish we feed, especially given that women and teenage girls often don't get enough of these nutrients. “That was interesting,” said Dr. Richard Newton of the institute. This was revealed by the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling.
“What we're seeing is that most species of wild fish used for feed have micronutrient densities and ranges comparable to or greater than farmed salmon fillets.” Wheeler added.
However, despite the obvious health benefits, scientists found that 24% of adults eat salmon every week, compared to 5.4% who eat mackerel and only 5.4% who eat anchovies. 1%, and only 0.4% eat herring.
“Farmed salmon is an excellent source of nutrients and one of the best feed conversions for all farmed animals, but for the industry to grow we need to better retain the critical nutrients it provides.” Newton explained. “This can be achieved through more strategic use of feed ingredients, such as fishing by-products and sustainably sourced industrial-grade fish such as sand eel.”
The researchers hope that their findings will help make the fishing and aquaculture industries more efficient, reducing the strain on fish stocks, which are also the source of seafood.
“We want the industry to expand without sacrificing the ocean,” Wheeler said.
“We also want to increase the variety of affordable, convenient and attractive products made from wild ‘forage’ fish and fish and salmon by-products for direct human consumption.” ”
