Important of Fish in our Daily Food

Gaihiamngam Kamei/H.Mandakini Devi

By religious tradition, ours is predominantly a vegetarian food of plants and dairy products making up
some 80% of food eaten by us. Local customs, beliefs and sentiments are against large consumption of
meat and fish. The protein need of a vegetarian is generally met by consumption of cereals like wheat,
maize, dal and vegetable oils, pulses like groundnut and beans. Non vegetarian people substitute them
by milk, egg, fish, and meat and to some extent cheese. Of all these, fish is however one food item that
content a good percent of all the nutrients graded only next to milk and groundnut. Speaking for fish, it
is a world wide distributed food commodity. It is regarded as a potentially a cheap source of protein,
especially greater significance to developing countries like India, where problems of nutritional
deficiencies persist. As a rich source of nutrient, fishes provide a good balance of protein, vitamins and
minerals and relatively low caloric content. The fat content in fish varies, but most fish species eaten by
us have comparatively low fat content and a high percentage of protein. Fish, especially a liver oils is rich
in vitamins A and D. No wonder that as little as 120g of fish will serve about half our daily need for
protein. Fishes, besides having high protein content gives shiny appearance to our face and body which
is a sign of good health. Fishes content vitamin B 6 and B12, which help in producing red blood cells,
antibodies and maintain the central nervous system. Clams, Herring, Crabs, Mackerel, Mussel and
Oysters content high quantities of B12 and B6 vitamins.

Besides vitamins, fishes also contain minerals like iodine and calcium that are vital to our health. Fish
can, therefore, form part of our balance diet to provide any nutrients need by the human body.
Conventional fin fishes and seafood potentially provide from 420-840KJ/100g, against the average daily
requirement of energy of an adult doing normal work. Fishes are source of good quality protein that we
can easily and completely digest. In addition, fishes are excellent sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids
that appear to have beneficial affects in reducing the risk of cardio vascular diseases and are linked with
curing certain types of cancer. Fishes are known to provide several nutritional and therapeutic benefits
for health problems like coronary heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and osteoporosis and iron
deficiency. Furthermore, fin fishes and sea foods are rich in anti-oxidants like selenium and coenzymes
Q-10 that help to fight disease and promote health and longetivity. Research studies in USA, Japan and
Netherland shows that frequent consumption of fishes even in quantities as low as 30g/day have
beneficial effects in reducing triglycerides contents known to cause heart diseases. Triglycerides are a
kind of fat that is always circulating in the blood, especially after consumption of high saturated fat.
Usually, enzymes break down triglyceride particles. When that process is not working properly or
efficiently, the triglycerides that are not initially broken down can cause fatty deposit in blood vessels
leading to atherosclerosis disease known to cause hardening of the arteries. Triglycerides have also been
shown to increase the risk of blood clots, which combined with fatty deposit in the coronary vessels
cause heart attacks. The encouraging thing is that omega-3 fatty acids in fishes protect the arteries by
thinning the blood. It keeps unwanted blood clots formation by decreasing the production of fibrogen, a
protein that content in our blood that is responsible for blood clotting. Triglycerides even in above
100mg per deci litre are known to increase the risk of heart disease.
People with triglycerides level above 100mg/dl have twice the risk of serious heart problems as those
with lower levels. Also, individuals with increase triglycerides are at a risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
because of the key role of insulin resistance. Types 2 diabetes can be prevented by correcting eating
habit, exercising regularly and eating fish at least twice a week. Omega 3 fatty acid in fish helps lower
the level of triglycerides and increase HDL which is good cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of heart
disease.

Carbohydrates content

It is true that compared to cereals, the amount of carbohydrates in fishes is quite low. Fin fishes usually
contain less than 1% carbohydrates whereas shellfishes such as Clam and shrimp contain 2-3%.

Fat content

The fat content of fish varies from widely from species to species, within individuals in species, with
season, physiological status and spawning, location in the muscles body, between wild and cultivated
species, diet of the fishes and above all geographical locations of fish occurrence. Fat deposit in fish
normally occurs along the lateral line and around the belly. Each gram of fish muscles provide only 0.05-
0.2g (5-20%) of fat compared to 0.25-0.5g (25-50%) of fat per gram in mammalian muscles meat. Most
fishes are considered excellent in calorie restriction and reduction of plasma lipids in human food
because of their low fat content.

Protein Content

The most important constituent of fish muscle protein varies from 17-25%. Fish protein is easily
digestible because of very low stroma protein and has an excellent spectrum of essential amino acids.
Fish protein has very high biological value. Fish is an excellent source of lysine that is limited in vegetable
foods.

The oils and water content in fish is roughly 80% of the body weight. Thus if the oil content is 10%, the
water content is about 70%. Some fishes such as Shark and Cod are found to accumulate high level of
liver oils. Fish oil possess certain unique properties not shared by any another food. There are about
seven Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oils of which two are predominant. These are eicosa-pentanoic acid
(EPA) and Docosa-pentanoic acid (DHA). The Omega-3 fatty acids from fishes arise from the Phyto-
plankton from the food chain.

Sodium Content

High blood pressure and hypertension is strongly linked to sodium or salt content in food intake. Fresh
seafoods are one of the best choices for curbing sodium intake, since all fishes are low in sodium.
Sodium content in most fresh fishes varies from the range of 60-100mg/100g of raw muscles. Most
shellfishes on the other hand have more sodium, usually in the range of 200-400mg/100g. Eating fishes
help in lowering the blood pressure, improve psoriasis, regulate heartbeats and improve health in
general.
Potassium and Calcium

Potassium has blood pressure lowering effects. In fact, low level of potassium in the body lead to
increase sodium retention, calcium loss and raises blood pressure. Potassium helps normalize blood
pressure by relaxing the blood vessels and helping the body get rid of excess water and salt. Normally
fresh fishes are good sources of potassium containing 250-320g/100g. The safe daily intake of potassium
is between 1.8 and 5.6g.

Magnesium and Copper

High blood pressure also could be due to deficiency of magnesium. Most people need about 300 to
400mg of Magnesium daily to keep their blood pressure under control. Copper help to manufacture red
blood cells and collagen and is found plenty in fish live and Oysters.

The fishes content many important nutrients s that is vital for our day to day life. It is one of the richest
sources of cheap protein that even poor men can effort. It is very important to know the properties or
nutritive value of food that we consumed.

Give a man fish and help them to grow fish

Then, he will live healthy and happy