Getting enough protein in your diet is not negotiable, but sometimes it's hard to get that daily amount while also avoiding unhealthy saturated fats or eating more calories than you'd like. That's where fish makes a difference. It provides the same amount of complete protein as meat with about one-fourth the total fat.
In addition to building and repairing the tissues in your body, protein is an essential component of enzymes, hormones, antibodies and many more essential substances. Protein stores iron and makes muscles move. If necessary, it can be metabolized and used for energy. The protein you eat is digested into individual amino acids that are rebuilt according to the body’s immediate protein needs. If they’re not used, the amino acids are discarded rather than stored, which makes getting a regular supply of dietary protein essential for optimal health. Men need 56 grams of protein daily and women should consume 46 grams.
Protein in Fish
A 3-ounce serving of six types of fish -- cod, haddock, tuna, flounder, perch and halibut -- has 90 to 130 calories and 19 to 26 grams of protein. On average, that means you'll get 22 grams of protein, which is 39 percent of men's and 48 percent of women's recommended daily intake. It's also about equal to the protein you'll get from meat with significantly fewer calories. The same portion of beef and pork contains 151 to 235 calories and 18 to 27 grams of protein.
Essential fatty acids fill many vital roles, from maintaining normal nerve transmission to keeping your skin healthy. The six types of fish are low in total fat, with just 1 to 2 grams in a 3-ounce serving. More importantly, about 80 to 90 percent of the fat consists of healthy unsaturated fats that lower cholesterol. You'll also get omega-3 fatty acids that reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing inflammation. Tuna has 1.36 grams and halibut has 0.77 gram of omega-3s in a 3-ounce serving. The other types of fish have about 0.17 gram. The established adequate intake of omega-3s for men is 1.6 grams daily and for women, 1.1 grams.
The six types of fish are good sources of magnesium and vitamins B-6 and B-12. All three of these nutrients add to its heart-healthy benefits. Magnesium relaxes muscles in the heart and blood vessels, which means it regulates your heartbeat and lowers blood pressure. Vitamins B-6 and B-12 remove the amino acid homocysteine from the blood. Since high levels of homocysteine are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, this may help keep your heart healthy.
The six fish contain 40 to 70 milligrams of cholesterol in a serving. Even though that's still 10 to 30 milligrams less than the cholesterol in meat, it means you'll get 13 to 23 percent of your daily intake, based on recommendations to limit daily cholesterol to 300 milligrams or less.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Nutrition Information for Cooked Seafood
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Proteins Are the Body’s Worker Molecules
- New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service: Fitting Meat, Poultry and Fish into a Healthy Diet
- Harvard School of Public Health: Protein -- Moving Closer to Center Stage
- Tufts University: Protein and Fats
- American Heart Association: Know Your Fats
- Purdue University: Omega-3 Fatty Acid Content in Fish
- Linus Pauling Institute: Essential Fatty Acids
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes
- raw fish on plate image by Witold Krasowski from Fotolia.com