Eat Oily Fish | Episode 09 | One Simple Thing | Optimists Wellness

00:00:00 – 00:03:57

We are all mortal who wants to improve our health and well-being with simple things without any hassle, but what is the right advice? Is it a morning walk? Or have regular cold showers to boost your immune system? Or eat beetroot to improve cognitive skills? Welcome to the Optimists podcast, I’m Dr. Priyanka, and this is “One Simple Thing.” Here you will learn just one thing to improve your health in ways you might not expect.

You can eat one thing from the sea (not raw, though) to reduce chronic inflammation and improve your heart health, mood, and cognition, oily fish.

Most of us hated fish growing up since they are often overcooked or watery. But oily fish is tasty and simple to prepare; oily fish like salmon, trout, or mackerel are high in omega-3 fatty acids. If you are vegan or vegetarian, seaweed or omega-3 supplements are some best alternatives. 

Increasing the level of omega-3 can help your brain, your joints, and your muscles. It may, amazingly enough, even protect you if you’re living in an area with high air pollution. So, there is nothing to dislike about oily fish.

It is essential to know that the kind of fish matters the most when it comes to improving omega-3 levels. Whitefish is a great source of protein and other nutrients but is low in omega-3. Look for oily fish, which are all great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. 

Another thing that you should remember is that there are lots of fish with omega-3 fatty acids, but two are particularly important to have in oily fish: EPA and DHA. These have been extensively studied and shown to help reduce inflammation, which is associated with many negative outcomes, like heart disease and dementia. 

Probably the best-proven impact of eating oily fish is that it impacts heart health. Eating oily fish has also been linked to bigger brains. 

When researchers compared the group who ate fish weekly, and the group who didn’t eat fish at all, they found that fish eaters had the largest brain volumes, mostly in the frontal lobes, which is important for focus and temporal lobes, which is crucial for learning, memory, and cognition. 

Not only is eating more omega-3-rich oily fish linked to an increase in brain volume, but studies show eating oily fish can boost working memory, planning, focus and even improve verbal fluency. 

Omega-3 has even been found to protect you from the negative effects of air pollution on your skin, heart, and blood fat level. 

There have been 3 large trials that recently confirmed the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids for cardiovascular health. We know that studies from different societies show; those who eat more fish tend to suffer less from the neurology conditions like dementia.

We also know that depression is associated with lower blood levels of these fatty acids, so there is a wide range of different areas for those who eat fish to have better health. Still, oily fish are the ones strongly associated with health benefits. 

Two portions of oily fish a week is plenty enough. So that’s it; eat oily fish to benefit your heart, muscles, and brain. 

That’s one thing to include in your daily routine for improving your body and life. Join me next time on “One simple thing” for a better tomorrow.