What Is A Pescatarian?

Pescetarianism is the practice of following a diet that includes fish and sea vegetables, but not other animals. It is typically seen as one form of vegetarianism, with meat substitutions for meatless protein sources such as soybeans and legumes. Some people pursue pescetarianism for ethical or environmental reasons, while some do so because they believe it will lead to better health outcomes.

The diet can be followed by vegans who choose not to eat any animal products at all. A strict vegan diet does not include any animal-sourced food or animal-derived food products such as honey, eggs or dairy products from animals used in the production of dairy milk.

It is estimated that an adult pescetarian consumes about 150 grams (5 ounces) of protein daily. Fish are divided into two categories: fatty fish and lean fish. Lean fish include tuna, sardines, salmon and trout while fatty fish include mackerel, herring, lake trout, anchovies and some types of eel. Some people choose not to eat any animal products at all in their diet, eliminating eggs and dairy products as well.

Are there health benefits to a pescetarian diet?

The health benefits of a pescetarian diet compared to a typical American diet, providing about 30 percent of calories from fat and 15 percent from protein, include:

• A reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease due to lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels. The risk of death from cardiovascular disease is 42 percent less than for nonvegetarians.
• Lower blood pressure than those who eat meat products. Lower blood pressure may reduce the risk of stroke by 25 to 33 percent. Lower total cholesterol levels reduce the incidence of atherosclerosis and heart attacks. After adjustment for confounding factors such as cigarette-smoking, vegetarians had a 28 percent lower mortality rate than did nonvegetarians (5.7 versus 8.

An American Dietetic Association (ADA) publication stated that pescetarian diets were as healthy as or more healthy than other diets, such as those based on animal products. The ADA recommends the following pescetarian diet:

Lean meat/poultry/seafood with at least half of the calories from vegetable sources. A cup of cooked dry beans is about 2 grams of protein, with 6 calories, for a total of 6 grams or less per day. As with most vegetarian/vegan diets, it is possible to get all the recommended daily allowances (RDA) for vegetarian foods by including seeds and nuts in the diet. The RDA values are usually based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

Further reading:

What Is a Pescatarian and What Do They Eat?

Health Benefits

There are many proven benefits to plant-based diets, including a lower risk of obesity and chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes (2, 3, 4).

According to research, you can get many of those protective benefits from a pescatarian diet too.

One study found that women who were pescatarians gained 2.5 fewer pounds (1.1 kg) each year than women who ate meat (4).

And people who shifted their diet in a more plant-based direction gained the least amount of weight, showing that reducing your animal consumption may be good for you no matter your current eating patterns.

Another study concluded that pescatarians had a lower risk of developing diabetes at 4.8%, compared to omnivores at 7.6% (2).

Additionally, one large study looked at people who ate meat rarely or were pescatarians. They had a 22% lower risk of dying from heart disease compared to regular meat-eaters (3).

Environmental Concerns

Raising livestock comes with a high environmental cost.

According to the United Nations, raising livestock contributes to 15% of all human-made carbon emissions ( 5).

In contrast, producing fish and seafood has a lower carbon footprint than producing any type of animal meat or cheese ( 6).

A 2014 study calculated that diets of fish eaters caused 46% less greenhouse gas emissions than the diets of people who ate at least a serving of meat a day (7).

Ethical Reasons

Ethics can be a major reason why people choose to go vegetarian. It can be a major reason for pescatarians too.

Some of the ethical reasons people choose not to eat meat include (8, 9):

• Opposing slaughter: They don’t want to kill animals for food.

• Inhumane factory practices: They refuse to support factory farms that raise livestock in inhumane conditions.

• Poor labor conditions: They refuse to support factory farms that have poor conditions for their workers.

• Humanitarian reasons: They consider producing grain for animal feed an unjust use of land and resources when there’s so much hunger in the world.

Eliminating land animals from your diet addresses some of these ethical concerns. That said, aquaculture and overfishing can also be problematic.

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program is an excellent resource for finding fish that are caught or farmed in ethical ways.

Further reading: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pescatarian-diet

There Are Many Ways To Prepare Seafood

When you think about preparing fish, it may be difficult to imagine any different methods than the most common ones: boiling or frying. And while both of these cooking styles are great, there are many others that may be more tailored to your tastes!

Sushi is a wonderful dish to make, and is very easy to make. From the maki (sushi rolls, often served as party hors d'oeuvres) to nigiri (fish pressed onto a small wooden paddle and served as a main course) and sashimi (the freshest sushi: vinegared rice accented with sliced raw fish), there's enough variety available for everyone.

Fried

It's hard to imagine Southern comfort food with out fried seafood, and you will find some amazing dishes in the south. Cajun shrimp, fried oysters, crawfish etouffee...these dishes are not only delicious, but they go well with the buttery biscuits and decadent desserts that make up this cuisine.