Food & recipes

Nutrition: Health benefits of seafood

With an ocean full of delicious, nutritious food, why would you stick to just cod? Here our experts explore some amazing health-giving alternatives

Sea vegetables

A concentrated source of minerals and amazing in soup, explains Ian Marber

The British aren’t especially good at including sea vegetables in the diet, but as they are becoming more mainstream, hopefully this will change. Perhaps the most widely known is samphire, a thick, grass-like plant that grows around salt marshes. It is rich in fibre and magnesium but will obviously have a fair degree of sodium in it and so doesn’t require any seasoning. Seaweed is a concentrated source of minerals, especially magnesium, iron, iodine and selenium (the latter an important antioxidant that can be lacking from the standard British diet). Sea vegetables are also a rare source of fucoidans, which research suggests has anti-inflammatory properties. There are also benefits for the cardiovascular system as sea vegetables reduce cholesterol. There is evidence that they can also reduce oestrogen levels which could have an implication and use in women at higher risk of breast cancer. Adding a few strips of dried seaweed to a soup, or on top of a piece of fish is an excellent way to enhance the flavour and nutrition.

DID YOU KNOW?

Half of seaweed is made up of carbohydrate and around one third is protein, vitamins and fibre. Even better, seaweed contains only two per cent fat!

How to cook them: Prawns

Get inventive with these delicious crustaceans, says Antony Worrall Thompson

When buying cooked pink prawns, buy cold water ones from the North Atlantic or Norway as they have far more flavour than those fished from warmer Asian waters. When a recipe requires raw or green prawns, never be tempted to use jumbo cooked prawn as the re-cooking will leave them tough and rubbery and please don’t defrost frozen prawns under a running tap, in the first instance you may well poison yourself, and in the second you will render the prawns tasteless. Simply boil prawns in salted water for one to three minutes depending on their size and cool at room temperature. When grilling or barbecuing prawns leave the shells on to protect the flesh.

SIMPLE SHARER:

Pile 250g of cooked prawns in their shell into a tumbler and chill in the fridge until required. Mix together 150g Greek yoghurt, one crushed garlic clove, one tablespoon of chopped coriander, two teaspoons of chopped mint and a quarter of a teaspoon of ground black pepper. Cover and leave for at least one hour for the flavours to develop. Serve the dip with the prawns, peeling them at the table.

THAI FANS:

Combine two tablespoons of nam pla (fish sauce) with the juice of one lime, three tablespoons of coconut milk, one teaspoon of honey, one crushed clove garlic, one teaspoon of grated ginger, one chopped fresh red chilli, two tablespoons of chopped mint and one tablespoon of chopped coriander. Toss five jumbo raw prawns per person with this mixture and allow to marinate for one hour. Serve on salad leaves.

Antony Worrall Thompson is one of the UK’s top restaurateurs and TV chefs

Carina’s FACT FILE: Mackerel

Eat this oily number and you’ll be fighting fit, say Carina Norris

Mackerel’s best claim to nutritional fame is that it’s a fantastic source of omega 3 essential fatty acids EPA and DHA, which research has shown protects the heart by lowering blood pressure, making the blood less ‘sticky’ and reducing artery-clogging blood fats. An omega 3-rich diet can also reduce your risk of other conditions, including depression, alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. A100g serving of mackerel provides 1.85g of omega 3, and to hit our target for these healthy fats we’re advised to eat oily fish one to four times weekly (with separate rules for pregnancy and preconception).
Mackerel makes a healthy change to red meat and poultry. Fresh mackerel is protein-rich, and provides approximately 220 calories per 100g, much less than red meat. Although mackerel is slightly more calorific and higher in fat than chicken and turkey, it has the healthier fat profile: of the fat in mackerel, 85 per cent is made up of healthy unsaturates, with only a small proportion of saturated fat. Mackerel is also a good source of vitamin D, for healthy bones, as well as the immuneboosting mineral selenium.

Buying fish can be fraught with eco concerns. Visit mcsuk.org for information on buying sustainable, environmentally friendly fish

Article by

Ian Marber

Principle Nutrition Consultant