A pescatarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat from land animals or birds but includes fish in their diet. Fish provides high-quality protein and omega-3 fats that promote cardiovascular health. However, there are concerns about toxins in fish, so it’s recommended that pregnant women and young children eat minimal amounts.
A pescatarian is a person who chooses not to eat meat from land animals or birds, but does include fish in their diet. This newly coined term originated in 1993 and is formed by mixing the word “pesce”, which is Italian for fish, with the English word “vegetarian”. Although a pescatarian diet is not a vegetarian diet, it is often used as a springboard for people adapting from a meat diet to a vegetarian one. Other people find it a permanent happy medium between the two. Traditional diets in Mediterranean and Asian countries have historically been largely pescatarian.
Like a vegetarian, a pescatarian often includes eggs and dairy in their diet and meets other nutritional needs by eating a variety of legumes, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Fish provides high-quality protein that the body needs, as well as many of the essential amino acids that the body uses to build muscle. Unlike meat from other animals, fish is low in saturated fat, and even those types with a higher fat content, such as salmon, contain omega-3 polyunsaturated fats that are believed to provide many health benefits.
Studies show that omega-3 fats can promote cardiovascular health by lowering triglycerides and blood pressure while increasing HDL cholesterol levels. Omega-3 fats are also known to help thin the blood to prevent clotting and break down plaque in the arteries before it can grow and cause blockage. They are sometimes used to regulate the body’s inflammatory cycle, which can provide relief for people with arthritis or other conditions caused by inflammation. Due to the many purported benefits of consuming these fats, it is possible that a person who switches to a pescatarian diet from a meat-eating diet may see an improvement in their health as a result.
There are some concerns about the health risks for people who consume too much fish due to the potential for exposure to a variety of toxins, including mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other organic pesticides that are thought to exist in the water. as a result of contamination. Large amounts of these toxins can be extremely dangerous to young children and pregnant women, causing nervous system disorders and birth defects. It is recommended that both groups eat minimal amounts of fish.
In general, larger fish will contain more mercury, although all fish have at least trace amounts. It is important that consumers are aware of the suspected levels of mercury in the types of fish they eat. In a typical pescatarian diet, fish consumption is only one of many sources of nutrition and therefore will often not include amounts that are dangerous to the average person.
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