The Benefits of Fish Meat Consumption

As people become more and more preoccupied with eating properly, and start counting their calories, fish meat has become a lighter alternative to fatter kind of meat. Fish is highly recommended for those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases. Nutritionists propose eating a proper quantity of fish per week, regardless of age, in order to fight a great number of diseases, from those found in the case of children to even prostates cancer.

The main advantage of eating fish meat represents the fats from the greases in the series of essential omega 3 fatty acids. They can be found in the series of ocean cold fish such as macro, salmon, herring, cod, tune, sardines. The fats that can be found in the fish meat can help prevent precocious aging and can protect the nervous system. It has even been proved about children that, fish eating can stimulate the development of mental capacities. And perhaps not only in case of children, but adults also can benefit from the advantages of this excellent type of meat. Thus, old aged people who eat fish three or four times a week are less prone to suffer from the Alzheimer disease.

According to specialty studies, brain is the greatest consumer of energy and its well-functioning depends in a certain way by the consumption and absorption of phosphorus and implicitly, it depends on eating fish meat. This can also be noticed in case of mothers who ate fish during pregnancy or milk-feeding their babies. In case children whose mothers have consumed this type of meat, one could notice a faster neuropsychological growth and development, but also a higher level of intelligence. But the fish meat is also recommended in diets, either for curing diseases or for losing weight. This is especially because fish meat contains a much lower quantity of lipids as compared to other types of meat.

The herring offers us 167 calories/100 grams, the macro 183 calories/100 grams, whereas tuna fish has 160 calories/100grams. Freshwater fish have a lighter type of meat than the ocean and sea fish, and therefore the advantage for us is in fewer calories, so that 100 grams of trout contain 85 calories and 100 grams of carp - 83 calories. There is also a remarkable content of minerals, especially iron, phosphorus, zinc, copper, calcium, but also olygoelements such as fluoride, selenium, cobalt and manganese. The fish meat also contains all the types of B vitamins. Like any other food, fish can of course lose its nutritive value if it is processed or fried.

The energetic value of this type of meat depends of course on the species of fish that we are talking about. Thus here are the main types of fish with their caloric value:

Types of Fish	Proteins (%)	Lipids (%)	Calories
Roach	17.3	4.5	113
Flatfish	17	2	88
Cod	19	1	87
Carp	18.9	2.8	104
Pond Carp	16	1	159
Spring Herrings (Light Ones)	19.1	6.5	139
Autumn & Winter Herrings (Fat Ones)	17.7	18.5	245
Macro Fish	22	10	183
Beluga a.k.a. European Sturgeon	17.5	4.7	115
Russian Sturgeon	18.5	11.7	237
Common Bream	16.9	3	78
Pike Perch	19.4	9	83
Pontic Shad	14.2	26	300
Wels Catfish	16.8	18.8	244
Horse Mackerel	18.8	4	114
Northern Pike	19	4	82

All these nutrients and not to mention the delicious taste of this kind of meat (especially since there are so many delicious and creative recipes to choose from, depending on the species of fish that is being cooked), make a great healthy alternative to red meat. The best part of it is perhaps that it does not affect the well-functioning of brain, but rather enhances it, unlike other fatter types of animal meat.