Many different kinds of diet have been surfacing all over the world, as more people nowadays are trying to take better care of themselves, to live and be healthier. For the hearty carnivores, there’s ketogenic, and supporting on the greener side, there’s veganism. But, there’s one diet that, allegedly, embraces best of both worlds.
Say hello to the pescatarian diet.
This type of diet basically is a vegetarian diet that includes seafood, and sometimes dairy and eggs. As plant-based diets can help in maintaining a healthy weight, a pescatarian diet may also be more healthful. With its addition to the “white meat”, the pescatarian diet has a higher amount of nutrients than the vegan and/or other vegetarian diets.
Other than health benefits, which we’ll get to in a moment, pescatarian’s choice of meaty protein is beneficial to environmental and animal welfare. Even though they still consume seafood, studies show that fish cannot feel pain — where scientists concluded that fish can experience psychological stress, but they lack the neural network necessary to experience pain.
Advantages of Pescatarian Diet
One of the key points in any kind of diet is the health benefits that we may reap from implementing the meal plan. Some of the health benefits of the pescatarian diet are as follows.
- Heart health — the combination of consuming fish and plant foods result to improved blood lipids, lower blood pressure, lower risk of abnormal heart rhythms, and reduced risk of coronary heart disease.
- Cancer — pescatarian diet had a strong protective effect against colorectal cancers or cancers that affect the colon and rectum.
- Diabetes & inflammation — a study done in 2016 reveal that pescatarian diet has a high flavonoid intake which have a range of anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties.
Disadvantages of Pescatarian Diet
The most concerning issue with the pescatarian diet is regarding to heavy metal and pollutants in marine fish. With mercury being present in the atmosphere and bodies of water, nearly all fish has a possibility to be a source of mercury. It has been discovered that 92% of the fish consumed by humans has a risk of contamination.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the mercury present in fish is not a risk. However, it is suggested that women considering to conceive as well as who are pregnant, and also nursing mothers need to watch out for specific types of fish. The kinds that needs to be avoided are shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. On the other hand, the ones that are low in mercury, such as tuna, salmon, shrimp, and catfish.
Pescatarian for Weight Loss
Weight loss practically revolves around how many calories you eat, and not of what foods you eat. Basically, if you want to significantly decrease your body fat percentage, you must feed your body less energy than it burns.
Relating to the pescatarian diet, it helps in maintaining a lower body weight by making it easier to eat fewer calories, snack less, and make sure that you’re losing fat and not muscle. With that said, creating a properly constructed pescatarian meal plan is an important key to get the desired result.
Pescatarian for Muscle Building
As for the muscle building, evidence shows that some certain elements of diet and training are more important than the other. In this case, optimal protein intake is necessary for bodybuilding, which makes a high-protein diet superior. Fortunately, with a bit of planning, it’s not hard to meet your protein requirements on a pescatarian diet. Here’s a little guideline on the kind of foods that should be incorporated into your pescatarian diet in order to build muscle.
- Fish & Seafood: Halibut, Salmon, Shrimp, Scallops, Sardines, Tuna, Clams, Crabs, Herring, Mackerel, Oysters, Trout, Mussels
- Dairy & Eggs: Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Milk, Whey Protein, Cheese, Eggs
- Plant Proteins: Wheat, Rice, Oats, Peas, Beans, Potatoes, Almonds, Walnuts, Peanuts, Buckwheat
If you simply get the majority of your daily protein from high-quality sources like these, you’ll have no trouble gaining muscle and strength on a pescatarian diet.