Would you try an anchovy lasagna? Scientists say swapping red meat for cheap, fatty fish could save up to 750,000 lives a year worldwide
- Research is calling on meat lovers to ditch red meat in favor of cheap, fatty fish
- Eating sardines, herring and anchovies instead could save 750,000 lives a year
The idea of eating an anchovy lasagna or a herring Wellington may not sound that appealing.
But a new study is calling on meat lovers to ditch their favorite red meat in favor of cheap, fatty fish.
Researchers say eating sardines, herring and anchovies instead of red meat could save up to 750,000 lives a year worldwide.
It could also reduce the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, caused by poor diet.
The so-called forage fish, which are often preyed upon by larger species, not only have the lowest carbon footprint of all animal food sources, but are also rich in calcium, vitamin B12 and omega-3, which can prevent heart disease.
The idea of eating an anchovy lasagna or a herring Wellington may not sound that appealing. But a new study is calling on meat lovers to ditch their favorite red meat in favor of cheap, fatty fish
Non-communicable diseases linked to red and processed meat caused 70 percent of deaths worldwide in 2019.
Coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and colon cancer made up 44 percent of the total.
As part of a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers from Australia and Japan found that if fish-based diets were ‘widely adopted’ they could prevent 750,000 deaths and save up to 15 million years of life from disability caused by diet-related diseases in 2050.
Three quarters of the caught forage fish are ground into fishmeal and other products that are mainly used for fish farming.
The researchers also wrote that climate change warning labels on menus and supermarket products could encourage people to change their diets.
The researchers also wrote that climate change warning labels on menus and supermarket products could encourage people to change their diets
But lead author Shujuan become.
‘Prioritizing access to affordable fish, such as forage fish, for the poor and promoting the use of nutrient-rich microalgae as fish feed could help remove some of these barriers.’
While the existing supply of forage fish is insufficient to replace all red meat, researchers say this could increase everyone’s fish consumption to close to recommended daily levels by 2050.