The Quick Answer

Yes. Fish and seafood are paleo.

Why Are Fish And Seafood Paleo?

Fish and other types of seafood are often referred to as the healthiest sources of animal protein on the planet, often ranking on nutrition experts’ “must” lists in terms of food that should make a regular appearance in everyone’s diets for optimal health. In addition to being natural sources of protein, fish and seafood also contain important trace minerals and some vitamins too, many of which the average person is deficient in.

Perhaps most importantly, fish offer a high level of crucial omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Omega-3s help the body in multiple ways, improving circulation, boosting brain health, and keeping the heart and arteries healthy, for example. Consuming fish and seafood for their omega-3s is especially important because most people do not consume an ideal ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids. They consume far too many omega-6s, which can result in many problems including increased inflammation, disease development, and heart disease. To meet most of your omega-3 needs, the standard recommendation for consuming fish is to aim for roughly two servings of good quality, wild-caught fish or seafood per week.

In addition to providing omega-3s, various types of fish contain vitamins such as vitamin A, C, E, and D (another vitamin that many people are deficient in). Fish contain important trace minerals including iodine and selenium, which many people who not consume any seafood struggle to get enough of. All of these benefits are wrapped up into low calorie, high protein package. In fact, white fish contains the least amount of calories and fat of any animal protein. This doesn’t mean that you should only aim to eat white fish, however, because some of the healthiest types of fish, including wild salmon, are a bit higher in fat.

One piece (3 oz.) of wild caught salmon has approximately:

• 80 calories
• 18 grams protein
• Half daily value of selenium
• More than half DV of B12
• 30% DV of niacin
• High levels of potassium (360 mg)
• Zero grams of carbs or sugar
• Very low amount of sodium

Shellfish like shrimp, crab, calamari, mussels, and lobster are other great options to add into your diet. All are rich sources of protein and low in calories and fat, They contain various important minerals just like fish do. While shellfish sometimes gets a bad name for having high cholesterol levels, it’s actually been shown in studies that moderate consumption (a couple times a week) of shellfish has no negative effects on cholesterol levels.

The health benefits of fish really depend on the kind you choose and especially the quality of fish you choose. Salmon is often touted as being one of the healthiest foods on earth, however experts say this, they are really referring to wild-caught salmon and not the kind that is factory raised and fed an unnatural diet. “Farm raised” salmon are raised in closely packed “water pens” where they are fed grain instead of their natural diet of smaller fish. This results in the salmon having an unnatural amount of fat and omega-6 fatty acids, therefore negating much of the salmons’ health benefits. Farm raised seafood is also typically contaminated more often with toxins, bacteria, and even antibiotics which are given to the fish to help stop disease from spreading rapidly through the holding tanks.

In order to avoid potentially harmful toxins found in some seafood from comes from land runoff that pollutes the ocean, you want to buy high-quality products that are as fresh as possible. If you do buy canned seafood for convenience, like salmon or tuna for example, make sure you choose kinds that are canned in BPA free cans in order to avoid toxins leaching from the aluminum into the fish.

Is There Any Confusion When It Comes to Fish and Seafood Being Paleo?

No, there is no confusion when it comes to protein packed and mineral-dense fish and seafood being paleo, however you do need to be careful about the quality of seafood you choose to eat and how often you consume it.

One area of concern worth mentioning when it comes to consuming fish and seafood is the controversial and potentially dangerous amount of mercury and toxins that some seafood can contain. Mercury, the most widely recognized toxin lurking in many types of seafood, is a heavy metal that is leached into the sea where fish and other creatures live due to land-runoff from its use in many types of industrial applications (factory farming, manufacturing, etc.). Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is that the higher a fish is on the “food chain”, the more mercury it is likely going to contain. This means that bigger, predator types of fish like sharks, mackerel, and swordfish for example are going to contain more mercury than smaller, prey types of fish like sardines or herring. The reason for this is because the predator fish eat the smaller fish, therefore absorbing their mercury in addition to having their own mercury already.

While mercury is a significant concern (especially for pregnant women since growing fetuses are more susceptible to mercury poisoning) and can lead to serious problems when overly consumed, like impairment in brain function, you can still eat seafood and fish regularly without this becoming an issue. It’s a good idea to try and eat smaller fish that are lower on the food chain as much as possible (anchovies and sardines are two great options) and to go easy on larger predator fish, or just consume them in moderation.

Luckily, salmon is thought to be one of the types of fish with the least amount of mercury in it, so there’s another reason to make it a routine part of your diet! Tuna, which often gets a bad rap for having lots of mercury, is actually not a type that’s particularly high in the toxin, it just seems to get the most attention for containing it because it’s the most widely consumed fish for the most part. Another positive thing to note is that it’s believed that most of the mercury from fish is fortunately counteracted by the selenium that the fish contains, therefore it may not always be an issue.

So Is Fish and Seafood Paleo?

Yes, fish and seafood is paleo. Salmon and small fish like sardines and anchovies are some of the best and most nutrient-dense protein options available.

How to Know What Is and Isn’t Paleo

Check out Paleo.io, the mobile app that answers the question, “is __ paleo?” Paleo.io comes with the most comprehensive paleo diet food list out there, so no matter which food you’re confused about, you’ll always be able to find out whether or not it’s paleo.

Photo credit: Ines Hedegus-Garcia