2024-04-13 10:28:27
Evidence is mounting that eating red meat is associated with increased disease risk and environmental damage. Doctors recommend turning to small fish, which are very nutritious.
Until now, it was not clear what humanity would gain if people replaced red meat in their diets with small fish. The answer came from a team of Japanese and Australian researchers who conducted the largest analysis of its kind.
They found that replacing red meat with small fish could prevent 750,000 deaths a year and significantly reduce the incidence of disability due to diet-related diseases.
Such a diet would be particularly beneficial in low- and middle-income countries. Fish are cheap and plentiful there, and the incidence of heart disease is particularly high, the researchers added.
Prevents heart disease
“To improve the health of people and the planet, we should limit our consumption of red meat and switch to foods that are both healthy and environmentally friendly,” – they wrote in the journal BMJ Global Health. – Compared to red meat, seafood not only has a higher concentration of key nutrients, but also prevents diet-related non-communicable diseases.
Small fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, the consumption of which can prevent ischemic heart disease, and they are also rich in calcium and vitamin B12. They also have the lowest carbon footprint of any animal-based food source, the researchers said.
However, three-quarters of the fish caught are currently ground into fishmeal and fish oil, products that are mostly used as feed in fish farms.
The researchers modeled four scenarios, each representing a different pattern of global forage fish distribution. They used data on projected red meat consumption up to 2050. 137 countries and historical data on forage fish catches in marine habitats.
Using this method, by 2050 750,000 deaths from diet-related diseases could be avoided worldwide.
Scientists have recognized that the limited supply of forage fish is not enough to replace all red meat. However, reducing its consumption could significantly reduce the global burden of disease.
“Our analysis suggests that forage fish is a viable alternative to red meat,” the researchers wrote. “This study shows the need to develop food policy guidelines and nutrition-oriented policies based on fish consumption.”
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2024-04-13 10:28:27