Pescatarian Diet - What's In and What's Out In This Diet?

Here are some things to know about the pescatarian diet including the food you are allowed and not allowed to eat.

PESCATARIAN DIET – These are the benefits of a pescatarian diet and a list of some foods that one should and should not eat in this kind of diet.

In order to stay healthy, a lot of diets have been created made for specific reasons and goals. And among these diets is the pescatarian diet. This type of diet has a lot in common with vegetarians. In simple terms, it’s like doing a vegetarian diet with fish and seafood.

In this diet, red meat and poultry are not allowed to be eaten.

The term pescatarian came from the Italian word “pesce” which means fish and the word “vegetarian”. It is largely a plant-based diet and fish and other seafood serve as the main source of protein.

Some of its benefits are:

Protein from fish and seafood is lean protein and this can improve muscles, skin, and bones.
Seafood has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids which can prevent heart diseases.
It may help address environmental concerns. Livestock raising contributes a high percentage of human-made carbon emissions.

According to a post from Medical News Today, these foods are allowed:

canned sardines
canned salmon
canned tuna
fish sticks
frozen salmon, trout, and herring
frozen shrimp
fresh fish, such as cod, salmon, pollock, catfish, and sardines
fresh shellfish, such as shrimp, clams, and scallops
fruit
vegetables
cereals and whole grains, including oats, bulgar wheat, amaranth, corn, and rice
pseudo grains, such as quinoa and buckwheat, which are gluten-free
legumes, including kidney beans, pinto beans, and peas
legume products, including tofu and hummus
nuts and nut butters
seeds, such as flaxseeds, hemp seeds, and chia
eggs and dairy, if lacto-ovo-vegetarian

Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, turkey, and others are not allowed. And this is where the challenges in doing this diet start. Not consuming meat may not give a person enough iron. It may increase one’s risk of iron deficiency anemia.

The key is finding alternatives. Tuna, legumes, tofu and tempeh, whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, and eggs have iron and they are allowed in this type.

Another concern is the amount of mercury in some fish like swordfish, tuna, and tilefish. These fishes may be contaminated by mercury. You may opt for canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, shrimp, and catfish as they are the kinds low in mercury.