Fish meat and oil

Charlon Gouder, CEO of Malta Federation for Aquaculture Producers, quotes a combined WHO and UN report (November 7) on the pros and cons of fish consumption. First of all, Gouder and his colleagues need to be complemented on developing such a successful venture – a prime example of positive Maltese entrepreneurship.

The health benefits of fish consumption have been reported over many decades. In the 1950s, Oxford University scientists investigated the claim that Eskimos did not suffer heart attacks like other population groups. They discovered that Eskimo blood clotted two to three times less easily than “normal” and suspected that fish consumption acted like a blood-thinner. 

Returning to Oxford, they conducted an experiment on a group of their students – these were made to eat only fish for three months – their blood also clotted two to three times less easily than “normal” after so much fish consumption. The study concluded that the oil in fish meat was a natural blood-thinner and responsible for prevention of blood clots and why Eskimos seemed not to suffer coronary thromboses (heart attacks).

A quality marine omega-3 is the number one food supplement recommended by doctors. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Later claims for the benefits of fish consumption included higher IQ and better mental health in children whose mothers had adequate fish consumption during their pregnancy and lower risk of post-natal maternal depression. Improved mental mood and an anti-inflammatory action has also been claimed for fish consumption in all age groups.

There are some claimed risks, as Gouder mentions, for heavy fish consumption. One risk usually pointed out is that industrial poisons and heavy metals polluting the seas may be taken up within fish meat.

Another risk most experts seem to have forgotten is that the laboratory and field studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s by Indian, American and Chinese scientists concluded that the main promoter of cancers of the internal organs was not food pollutants but high amounts of animal protein (all meats, including fish, dairy and eggs, but not plant protein) consumption while in the vegetarian regions of China, cancer was almost unknown, and Eskimos did suffer from cancers if not heart attacks. 

The principal healthy component of fish meat is therefore its oil content (marine omega-3) and cold water fish have much higher omega-3 content than fish of warm seas like our Mediterranean. That’s why food supplement pure fish oil (not cod liver oil) capsules are made from wild cold water fish meat, such as Atlantic salmon and mackerel (that’s why they’re not cheap).  Another question about high fish consumption is what exactly farmed fish are being fed and whether their feed contains things like antibiotics to keep them “healthy”, like farmed land animals, and whether any antibiotics in our food chain might add to the problem of antibiotic resistance in humans.

Pharmaceutical-grade marine omega-3 capsules from quality food supplement producers contain distilled fish oil to remove any possible chemical pollutants. In my book, they are a better health bet than high fish meat consumption – for a start you know exactly how much fish oil you’re consuming, unlike as when you’re consuming fish meat. The number one food supplement recommended by doctors with nutritional medicine training (usually American) is a quality marine omega-3 (not omega-6).  However, there are stories of online supplied fraudulent pharmaceutical drugs and food supplements, so pure fish oil capsules should be acquired from reputable sources.

Albert Cilia-Vincenti, Pathology professor and former European Medicines Agency scientific delegate – Attard