Simple Diet Swap Could Save 750,000 Lives a Year

Swapping red meat for certain types of fish could save hundreds of thousands of lives every year, scientists say. But not all fish are equal when it comes to nutrition and price point.

The World Health Organization classifies processed meat as being carcinogenic to humans—in other words, it can cause cancer, specifically colorectal cancer—while red meat is considered “probably carcinogenic to humans.” But experts also caution over the relatively high saturated fat contents of these foods, and their potential to raise blood cholesterol and increase our risk of heart disease.

Meanwhile, marine forage fish—that is, fish like mackerel, sardines and herring that are preyed upon by larger fish—are rich in omega-3 long-chain fatty acids, which have actually been associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease. They are also rich in calcium, vitamin B12, and have the lowest carbon footprint of any animal protein source.

However, three quarters of the forage fish caught today is ground into fishmeal and fish oil for farming species like salmon, which are higher up the fish food chain.

In a recent study, published in the journal BMJ Global Health, researchers from Japan and Australia set about quantifying the value of this overlooked protein source. Using historical records on forage fish catch and projections for future red meat consumption, the team created a series of mathematical models to predict how forage fish consumption could impact public health in the future.

From their analysis, they estimated that widely adopting forage fish for human consumption could potentially prevent 500,000 to 750,000 deaths from diet-related diseases by 2050, particularly deaths from coronary heart disease, with the most substantial benefits to be seen in low- to middle-income countries.

The team acknowledge that the limited supply of forage fish is not sufficient to completely replace all red meat consumption around the world. “Despite the theoretical potential of forage fish, several barriers, such as fish meal and oil processing, overfishing, climate change, and cultural acceptance may prevent the health benefits of forage fish from being realised,” they write.

They added that by simply increasing our daily consumption of fish by around 40 calories, we could reduce deaths from coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and bowel cancer by as much as 2 percent by 2050.

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