It’s National Seafood Month, and many retailers and restaurants are rolling out big discounts and special offers. But such promotions are already booming, as market analysis shows that the global seafood market is expected to reach nearly $360 billion in 2023 and more than $800 billion by 2032. It will only benefit the industry.
According to the National Fisheries Institute, the most popular seafood in the United States is shrimp, followed by salmon and tuna. “The demand for tuna is also increasing globally,” says LeeAnne Weintraub, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian and nutritional consultant.
Japan and several European countries remain the world’s top tuna consumers, she said, but Americans consume significant amounts of tuna as well, with the country consuming more than 1 billion pounds of canned and pouched tuna each year. It is said that it has been done. In fact, when considering grocery store shelf space, only coffee and sugar outsell cans of tuna in the United States.
What is tuna?
Tuna is a type of saltwater fish found in oceans around the world, including the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. According to Weintraub, there are 15 types of tuna in the world, but the most popular in western countries include albacore, bigeye, yellowfin, bluefin and bonito, the last of which remains the most popular. It is the most sold variety in the United States, accounting for over 70% of all tuna sold in the country.
Larger cuts of these varieties are often enjoyed raw in poke bowls or as sushi or sashimi. However, freshly caught tuna can also be prepared by searing, boiling, frying, grilling, or searing. The most commonly sold form of tuna is canned tuna. This is tuna that has already been gutted, cleaned, par-cooked, filleted and processed. “Canned tuna is extremely popular because it’s convenient, shelf-stable, and affordable,” says Jen Messer, nutrition consultant and registered dietitian at Jen Messer Nutrition.
Tuna salad is the most popular way to enjoy canned tuna, she says. Mix the tuna meat with other ingredients such as mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, parsley, diced celery, diced onions, diced pickles, and herbs and spices such as salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. I’ll make it. Various variations of tuna salad are commonly spread on sandwiches and casseroles, or used in macaroni salad.
Is tuna good for you?
No matter how you enjoy your tuna, it has many health benefits as long as you don’t combine it with unhealthy ingredients. For example, 3 ounces of bonito contains iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, thiamine, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, and a whopping 18 grams of protein, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In addition to this high protein content, a 5-ounce can of bonito contains only 80 calories, making this fish “an ideal food for weight management,” Messer says. She added that it also helps you feel fuller than many other foods and helps build and grow lean muscle mass.
In addition to its vitamin, mineral and protein content, “many of the health benefits of tuna are due to it being a good source of omega-3 fatty acids,” Weintraub says. Omega-3s are associated with improving symptoms of ADHD and depression, improving brain health, and reducing inflammation. These benefits, combined with other micronutrients found in tuna, “can reduce the risk of heart disease, dementia, and vision problems,” she says.
“Research also supports eating fish, including tuna, to reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer,” Messer added. These are among the reasons why “the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend eating fish as part of a healthy eating pattern,” she says.
Can you eat tuna every day?
At the same time, there are good reasons to avoid overconsumption of tuna. You should always be careful when adding ingredients such as mayonnaise to your dishes, as they are high in saturated fat and calories.
Canned tuna is also high in sodium, with one can containing about 280 milligrams, or 12% of your daily recommended intake. A high-sodium diet increases your risk of heart disease, kidney disease, and stomach cancer.
Women should also be careful about mercury content, especially if they are pregnant or breastfeeding, as high levels of mercury can be harmful to the developing nervous system. “Larger tuna, especially yellowfin and bigeye, tend to have high mercury concentrations due to bioconcentration,” Messer warns. Bioconcentration occurs when larger fish eat smaller fish that contain mercury, “leading to mercury levels accumulating in larger species,” she explains.
For this reason, “regular consumption of large quantities of these tuna (and albacore tuna, which typically contains three times as much mercury as canned light tuna) can increase exposure to mercury,” Messer says. . To minimize risk, the Food and Drug Administration recommends choosing skipjack or “light” tuna, especially for young children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.