In the last decade, the vegetarian diet and all its variants have become popular due to the evident agri-food exploitation that has led to a significant deterioration in environmental diversity, together with the recent publication of scientific studies that show that the reduction in meat consumption is associated to direct and immediate health benefits.
The pescetarian diet is the first transition step to vegetarianism.
How does the pescatarian diet work?
Imagine a vegan person, a strict vegetarian, whose diet is based exclusively on vegetables: fruits, vegetables, seeds and grains.
When a vegetarian person is allowed to eat eggs, considering that the environmental impact of their production is acceptable, or that the quality of life of the animals destined to lay the eggs meets their moral standards; is considered “ovo-vegetarian”.
If the same occurs with milk, the diet is treated as “lacto-vegetarian” or “ovo-lacto-vegetarian” if you also allow the consumption of eggs.
A “pesketarian” diet is really a “lacto-ovo-vegetarian” diet that also allows for the consumption of fish, shellfish, and crustaceans.; since the impact on the environment, in general, is much less than the consumption of meat; and on many occasions, the fish that are consumed for human consumption are not farmed fish, but wild fishingwhich means that the animal’s quality of life has not been conditioned by its destination, something positive for vegetarian ethics.
The pescetarian diet allows you to consume: fruits, vegetables, cereals, seeds, legumes, nuts, eggs (usually), dairy products (usually), fish, shellfish and crustaceans.
And for this reason it is considered the first transition step towards a more restrictive vegetarian diet, since the only type of food that is not allowed to be consumed is meat.
Health benefits of the pescetarian diet
The pescetarian diet is one of the best approaches to the vegetarian diet, since it benefits from the positive effects of eliminating meat consumption, without having to restrict food options as much as a vegan diet.
Obtaining nutrients
The pescetarian diet allows a practically total obtaining, without special efforts, of the essential nutrients in the human diet.
One of the main problems with vegetarian diets is obtaining vitamina B12a vitamin present especially in meats, but although forgotten, also in fish. The species with the highest content of vitamin B12 are shellfish in general: Like the mussels and clams; also blue fish like salmon and tuna; and of course, the fortified cereals to which the vitamin is added industrially.
Another common problem with vegan diets is that ensuring an adequate protein intake is complex.
This problem does not exist with the pescatarian diet, since fish is an excellent source of the highest quality animal protein.
Weight control
The pescetarian diet is a very suitable option for the body weight managementsince meats, especially those fattier red meat cuts, have a significant caloric intake in the Western diet.
Delete it, via abstaining from meat consumption is a perfect strategy to reduce total daily caloric intakewithout lacking the nutrients of meat thanks to the contribution of fish and animal derivatives such as eggs or dairy products.
Most fish are less caloric than meat consumed in the usual diet.
In addition, the fish portions that are consumed on average are smaller than those of meat, so not only is the gross caloric intake lower, but the net consumption is also lower.
The reduction in caloric intake is the main strategy for weight loss, since generating an energy deficit (restricting intake or increasing expenditure) is the only way to lose body weight.
Reduce risk of disease
Meat is associated with diseases, this is a fact.
Despite the multiple health benefits that many nutrients present in meat have, meat contains compounds that generate TMAO, a molecule associated with increased central adiposity, directly linked to increased risk of metabolic diseases of any kind.
Meats have a very high content of saturated fatty acids.This is a bad thing, since saturated fats are linked to increased serum cholesterol, which induces the appearance of atherosclerotic plaque, directly impacting the increased risk of cardiovascular (heart attack) and cerebrovascular (stroke) accidents. .
Reducing meat consumptionand more accentuated, its elimination, lowers cholesterol and body weightand helps control metabolic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension.
The most recent studies show that meat is a food that, if we are not vegan, we do not have to eliminate from our diet, but reducing it as much as possible is the smartest option.
The pescatarian diet substitutes the intake of meat for fish and benefits from the elimination of the consumption of this food with negative effects on health.
How to avoid the lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the diet?
Nutritional deficiencies are an important thing to consider during the transition from an omnivorous diet to a vegetarian diet, since the hierrothe vitamina B12and the soccer They are nutrients that even with a well-planned vegan diet are scarce or do not exist at all.
However, in the pescatarian diet, all nutrients can be provided in adequate amountsFor this, the recommendation is to maintain a varied food intake, providing as many sources of animal origin (without meat) and vegetables as possible, thus ensuring nutritional sufficiency.
In case of following a dairy-free pescatarian dietyour daily calcium intake may be adversely affected and may be insufficient.
For this, you have Food Complements that serve to provide nutrients to the diet that are not normally present in sufficient quantities due to the diet that the person who follows it maintains.
Calcium citrate is an excellent source of ionic calcium, which in turn is essential for the maintenance of bones and neurotransmission, in fact, when the transition to a vegetarian diet is carried out by women of menopausal age, calcium intake should receive special attentionsince the needs increase, and with them, the need to include a high quality calcium food supplement in the diet.
The nutrient that may be a slight drawback in terms of sufficiency in a pescatarian diet is iron.
This element is fundamentally present in the red meat hemoglobinand except for fish such as salmon, trout or tuna that have a higher iron content, the pescatarian diet is relatively deficient in iron.
It is possible that women of menstrual age are the population most exposed to iron deficiencies due to following a pescatarian diet. For them, and for anyone else who needs a additional intake of ironHSN makes iron food supplements available with the highest quality on the market, suitable for strict vegetarian diets, which guarantee a daily iron intake so that you do not lack anything.
Another option that many people making the switch to a vegetarian or pescatarian diet opt for is to include a full-spectrum multivitamin in their diet, such as Evovits Plus, to ensure that they are not missing any important nutrients.
What is the difference between a pescatarian diet and a vegetarian diet?
We have already discussed the difference between a pescatarian diet and a vegetarian diet.
The following image shows the different degrees of vegetarianism that existand the foods that are restricted in each of them:
The pescetarian or pesce-vegetarian diet is the first approach to vegetarianism after flexitarianism (which consists of reducing the consumption of animal foods), while pescetarianism completely eliminates the intake of meat, immediately afterwards, the next step of progression to veganism is to eliminate the consumption of fish also to directly restrict the intake to vegetables, dairy products and eggs.
What foods can be eaten on a pescatarian diet?
- In a pescatarian diet food pyramid, fruits and vegetables occupy the base, they must be consumed in considerable quantities, daily;
- Los whole grain cerealssuch as breads, pastas, rice, tubers and legumes must also have a daily consumption;
- Las The main sources of protein (besides legumes) are soy, eggs, dairy, and of course, fish;
- Of course, any type of drink and infusion is valid;
- Los Food Complements they can, and often should, be present in the diet;
- And the snack y caprichosAs long as we make sure that they do not have meat-derived ingredients (frequently gelatin and collagen), they are also completely suitable and serve to maintain a balanced and healthy diet, also on the mental plane;
- We cannot forget the intake of essential fatswhich are normally ensured thanks to the contribution of oily fish through the diet, but olive oil, seeds and nuts must also be present weekly in the diet.
The pescetarian diet is simple: allows you to consume all kinds of food as long as they are not meat.
If you are looking to stop your omnivorous diet, and move towards a vegetarian diet, pescetarianism accompanied by a complete and quality multivitamin such as Evovits Plus+ is the HSN recommendation to improve your state of health from now on.
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