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during pregnancy and breastfeeding – the Fish failing A better and simpler solution would be to
government warns you to limit your intake! Despite the constant promotion of fish, the recommend a plant-based diet containing
No wonder people are confused! British public just doesn’t buy it! On average, EFA-rich seeds, nuts and oils. Plants, not
people eat only a third of a portion of oily fish, are the way forward for good health.
In 2002, Which? magazine reported on fish a week and seven out of ten people eat
a Consumers’ Association survey which none at all. Clearly, oily fish is not a significant The way to good health
found that only a sixth of fish eaters knew contributor of omega-3 fatty acids in the diets The good news is you don’t have to eat
that the official advice is to eat oily fish of most people. neurotoxins and carcinogens (cancer causing
once a week; over half thought the advice agents) to get your omega-3 fatty acids – there
was to eat two or more portions but a Encouraging people to eat oily fish is not are perfectly safe plant sources (see page 9).
staggering 61 per cent had no idea that working as a public health measure and if But there’s much more to plant foods than that.
oily fish is likely to contain toxins. One it did work it would be an environmental
per cent knew that pregnant women disaster as the oceans simply cannot cope Free radicals are unstable molecules
should avoid certain fish but nobody with the current, let alone increased, demand. generated by normal bodily functions and
could name them. And farmed fish are not the solution. such things as cigarette smoke, pollution,
ultraviolet light and stress. They are linked
Most people were even confused by The upshot of all this is that many people fail to cancer and other diseases as well as the
what was meant by oily fish – 14 per cent to understand the importance of omega-3s aging process.
thought that cod was an oily fish – it isn’t. and don’t realise how easy it is to obtain them
from everyday plant foods. The government is Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C and E are
It’s no clearer in the US. In 2002, the doing us a great disservice by not promoting the body’s main defence against free radicals
American Heart Association recommended alternative, plant-based sources. We can only and are found in abundance in plant foods
at least two servings of fish, particularly guess that they see the protection of the such as fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and
oily fish, per week. It also warned that this fishing industry as more important than seeds. Antioxidants in plants also protect EFAs
needed to be balanced with concerns public health. against deterioration, which is another reason
over mercury and PCBs. How on earth are why plant sources are superior to fish EFAs.
people supposed to do that? It is either Promoting oily fish as the only route to
safe or it isn’t, and such cautions seriously heart health could actively deter people Most people know that certain fats are
challenge the idea that fish is ‘healthy’. from making the fundamental dietary more likely to ‘go off’ when exposed to air
Who should the public listen to? changes necessary to improve their health. and fish oils are one of these, giving off a
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