Remember as a child your parents telling you to eat your vegetables, don't stay out too late and "fish is good for you". It's quite a common stereotype that many of us know to be true.
But...is it?
The UK
There's no doubt that we as a nation enjoy our fish. In fact, the Seafood industry in the UK is worth around £10bn!
That figure could be on the rise too. According to Seafish, over half of UK consumers want to eat more Seafood and Fish in their diets. Findings show that 70% of the fish buying public think that sustainability is important and that telling consumers about the specific health benefits of fish would encourage over 70% of them to eat more.
The Facts
Okay, with over £6bn spent alone by British households every year on fish and 83% of the population believing fish & chips have the best claim to the UK’s national dish, we've established we kind of like our Fish.
So with 55% of our society wanting to eat more fish, here's our top 3 reasons on why you should...
1. Health Benefits
Perhaps the most common reason we all try to and should try to eat more fish in our diets. It's so good for you! In accordance with NHS guidelines; "A healthy, balanced diet should include at least 2 portions of fish a week, including 1 of oily fish."
That's because fish, shellfish and seafood are great sources of vitamins, minerals and the most famous one; Omega-3 (brain power). The varieties, recipes and flavours you can create using fish and seafood in your cooking are almost endless, whilst its ability to not leave you with that "stuffed" feeling is very attractive to most.
Although maybe deep fried in batter everyday doesn't count - so just leave that as a treat.
2. It's not as expensive as you may think
Quite a common misconception is that fish has to cost the ends of the Earth to end up on your plate. Well, it doesn't! Of course, like every food sector, it has its premium end products like Caviar and Lobster, but there are low cost alternatives out there such as Onuga and our very own 2 pack lobster tails.
We pride ourselves in honesty and customer satisfaction, so we're here to tell you, that if you want to eat more fish - don't let this price misconception stop you.
3. The variety is huge
There are almost 28,000 species of fish. Now that's impressive! We alone stock over 700 products (not just fish) and these products just have the most amazing versatility to them. Take the nations favourite fish - Salmon. Did you know you can pan fry, bake, oven cook, BBQ, grill, steam, poach, cure and smoke Salmon. That's 9 different ways (and you cant say that about a bowl of pasta).
We love the different recipes and ideas our customers come up with, and when you have mastered one seafood dish, just try another!
Conclusion
So, back to the original question of "Why is fish so good for you?" - its because of all those fantastic health benefits, competitive pricing, variety of species/recipes and many more reasons.
We love what we do and we hope that as a nation we try to look after our Oceans, keep sustainability at the forefront and eat more fish!
Moral of the story? Your parents were definitely right. (On this occasion)
(Sources: Seafish, Quota, NHS, YummyBuffet, Onuga)