Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.
Blocko here, coming to you LIVE from my favorite sushi joint.
Gosh, I could eat here every day!
...or could I?
Well, for one, this establishment suffers from a serious lack of pizza bagels, and this
simply will not do, but the bigger question here i think is
What would happen if you only ever ate fish and seafood?
Well, before we get there, let's talk about how eating seafood and fish can affect your
health.
Generally, there are multiple benefits of regularly including seafood in your diet.
Eating fish has been associated with things like boosted brain health, improved sleep
quality, and even better eye health.
One study in particular had promising results for the effects of eating fish on the incidence
rates of age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, in women.
The researchers found that consuming one or more servings of fish per week was associated
with a 42% lower risk of AMD compared to when eating fish less than once per month.
But what happens when you /only/ eat fish?
Well, eating only fish, meat, or animal products in general can run you the risk of some deficiencies.
That’s because these kinds of diets can lack certain nutrients and micronutrients,
along with beneficial plant compounds.
Leafy green plants are your main sources of Vitamin E and other nutrients, so you’ll
be missing out there.
You’re also going to miss out on fiber, so your bowels are probably going to be pretty
mad at you.
Oh, and no carbs either.
The World Health Organization says that a healthy diet typically includes fruits, vegetables,
legumes, nuts, and whole grains, all foods that are good sources of carbohydrates, which
you wouldn’t really be getting chomping on fish all day.
Fish are often seen as having healthier fats than land animal meats, so there’s at least
that.
There are also a few other key things that separate fish from other animal products.
A lot of this comes down to two main factors: omega-3 levels and mercury levels.
Fish generally have higher levels of both when compared to other foods.
Higher omega-3 levels are typically seen as a good thing, associated with things like
lower risks of heart failure and coronary disease, while higher mercury levels are something
you want to avoid, because they have toxic effects on the nervous system, digestive system,
and immune systems.
So how would this affect you in practice?
Would the positives and negatives equal out?
While his diet didn’t go to the extreme of /only/ eating fish, a few years ago a journalist
by the name of Paul Greenberg decided to eat seafood with every one of his meals for an
entire year to see how it would affect his health.
So, what happened?
Well, the only real changes that he found were that both his omega-3 levels and mercury
levels went up, which makes sense, but most of his general health markers didn’t really
show much difference.
Paul’s mercury levels did go down though after he lowered his seafood intake.
While his findings don’t really provide any strong evidence one way or another on
the health effects of eating such a seafood-heavy diet, his results do add to the idea that
the mercury levels in seafood cause your own mercury levels to increase.
So, while regularly eating /some/ fish is probably a good thing, you really should try
and get some more variety in your diet.
Anyway, I'm ordering 25 pizza bagels to this sushi place because this is just unacceptable.
So would you consider adding more seafood to your diet, or are you somebody that thinks
seafood is gross?
Let me know in the comment section below, or tell me, what should i talk about next?
Curious to know if this fish is smarter than you.
Check out this video!
You've probably heard that fish forget things after 3 seconds, it's a popular myth, but
in reality, fish have excellent long term memories.
As always, this has been Life Noggin, blub blub blub blub, blub blub blub!