Can Food Reduce Your Stress? Part F

Part F is for Fish:

Fishing is considered a fun hobby or pastime and even just sitting on a boat for most of a day even if you don’t catch anything can be relaxing. There’s something relaxing about water and being next to it makes one feel better.

This may be why eating fish is helpful in reducing stress. A study by Ohio State showed that higher levels of Omega 3 - Fatty Acids actually help to reduce anxiety and even inflammation ⁽¹⁾. One of the easiest places to find healthy Omega 3 Rich Fatty Acids is in Fish specifically Wild Caught Salmon and other fatty fish ⁽¹⁾. As it is hard to eat fish on a daily basis another option is a good cold pressed refrigerated Omega 3 Fish Oil supplementation ⁽¹⁾. Another article’s data suggests that increases in Omega 3 can reduce inflammation in overweight, sedentary middle-aged and older adults as well ⁽³⁾.

When you go to buy fish make sure it is of a good quality as farmed fish generally are exposed to overcrowding which can lead to the farmed salmon being exposed to chemicals, lice, bacteria and viruses ⁽²⁾. Plus, salmon farming practices produce waste and can spread parasites and disease to wild fish ⁽²⁾. Remember there are no salmon that live in the Atlantic ocean, only the Pacific.

Other fatty fish options besides Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon include Atlantic Mackerel wild caught, Sardines (although over fishing has decreased their populations to the point that they are no longer available to be fished on the West Coast, Anchovies (off the Adriatic Sea is best due to better fishing practices), Oysters properly cooked which, also high in Vitamins D and Zinc, Mussels, Pacific Halibut and finally Rockfish ⁽⁴⁾.

Making sure all food you buy is from best practices and sustainable is hard to do and can get to be quite expensive but certain foods are more than others such as Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon versus Sardines, therefore having Salmon once per week or every other week and supplementing with a good Omega 3 fish oil or less expensive fatty fish are possible options.

References:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21784145/ Opens in new window
2. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/slideshows/13-best-fish-high-in-omega-3sand-environment-friendly?slide=2 Opens in new window
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22640930/ Opens in new window
4. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/slideshows/13-best-fish-high-in-omega-3sand-environment-friendly?slide=13