The benefits of eating fish

Fish and its effects on health

• Fish is a nutritive, tasty and healthy food, and recommended for all ages.
• It is an essential part of the Mediterraneandiet, which is so well balanced and beneficial to health.
• Fish is afood with a relatively low calorie content.
• Fish is rich in protein that is of great biological value.Its proteins contain all the aminoacids necessary for body development, growth and maintenance.
• It contains minerals that are essential for the body (calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine, potassium) and is also an excellent source of vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, all the B group vitamins).
• Fish oil is extremely healthy are it is unsaturated. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are present to a large extent in oily fish, helps the body to regulate its cholesterol levels, reduce the blood pressure and protects the body from cardiovascular diseases.
• Different components in the fish help to prevent many disorders: joint and bone disorders, goitre…
• It is also highly digestible.
• It isadvisable to eat fish at least 4 timesa week, and of these, oily fish at least twice.

Oily or white fish?

The oil content in fish varies to a great extent, and depending on these quantities, fish are divided up into white fish (containing less than 2% of oil),semi-oily fish (with an oil content of between 2 and 5%) and oily fish (with an oil content of over 5%).

Freshness of the fish

You can tell whether the fish has recently been caught, by looking at the skin eyes, gills and by its smell.

Not all species deteriorate in the same way. For example,anchovies only last for four days, whereas longfin tuna or tuna can last for up to three weeks, if maintained in the appropriate conditions.

A series of variables exists that enable us to determine quite accurately how fresh a fish is, so that we know how long we can keep it inthe fridge before consuming it. The four basic indicators that indicate freshnessare;the skin, eyes, gills and the smell.

A bright, shiny skin is usually a good sign. Almost all recently caught fish are covered by a transparent film of mucous that protects them. Although that film often disappears after handling, and washing, the shine and bright colour remain in the freshest fish.

The eyes also tell us a lot about its condition. In the case of hake, the flatter the better. On the contrary, sinking of the eyeballs and dulling of the pupils which turns grey over time, is a clear sign that the fish is nearing its expiry date.

The smell is another elemental guide. Fresh fish hardly smell, giving off only a light aroma of seaweed and shellfish, which becomes more pungent and unpleasant as timegoes by.

The last sign is the gills, which is a basicindicator among professional in the trade. Bright red gills usually indicate that the fish is fresh.

Other parametersexist, that are more difficult for consumers to detect. For example, the texture: Theideais to press the fish from its tail to its head to feel whether it is firm. If the muscle returns to its original position after being pressed with by finger, the fish is usually fresh. Likewise, the storage capacity has a lot to do with the size of the fish. The smaller it is, the less time it will remain in good condition. Another basic rule is: The species with the most oil (e.g. salmon) spoil much faster than others. Tuna fish are quite a different thing, which last much longer than other species.