[HN Gopher] Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes
        
       Author : rustoo
       Score  : 130 points
       Date   : 2021-05-09 08:51 UTC (14 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.uoc.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.uoc.edu)
        
       | cortic wrote:
       | >The fact that foods such as sardines - which are rich in
       | taurine, omega 3, calcium and vitamin D - have a clear protective
       | effect against the onset of diabetes does not mean that taking
       | these supplements in isolation will have the same effect.
       | 
       | The only way i can understand this statement it that Rizzolo
       | doubts that anything in the sardines are actually affecting type
       | 2 diabetes. So perhaps the oily taste is suppressing apatite for
       | 'sweet' and decreasing the patients sugar intake (decreasing them
       | cheating on their diet).
       | 
       | Anyway a 152 patients study is not very conclusive, in larger
       | studies there may not be any effect there at all.
        
         | jdeibele wrote:
         | You might be right but what I've read of nutrition is that
         | taking supplements is thought to be quite different than eating
         | a whole food. Taking Vitamin C tablets is different than eating
         | an orange because of all the other things that are in an
         | orange. Or what's in spinach or kale or blueberries or
         | sardines. I think that's the point she's making.
         | 
         | https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h...
        
       | nabla9 wrote:
       | >but their effect is usually caused by the synergy that exists
       | between them
       | 
       | It's simple result from the fact that least available essential
       | nutrient is the most important for health outcomes.
       | 
       | If you have a rain barrel full of holes, only fixing the lowest
       | hole changes the water level. Fixing all other holes starts to
       | have an effect after you have fixed the lowest one.
        
       | szundi wrote:
       | I hate the fact that the text compares percentage decrease of a
       | group of "high risk" with a group of "very high risk" that makes
       | the whole story ambiguous. I hate this, and always think how
       | these clever people make these kind of mistakes writing result
       | texts. Or do they?
        
       | jancsika wrote:
       | Another plus is that you can pretend that sardines are regular-
       | sized fish and that you are a giant who is eating them whole.
        
         | inopinatus wrote:
         | You say that, but this article is going to be a shot in the fin
         | for Big Sardine.
        
         | robflynn wrote:
         | That's why I like to eat brussels sprouts! I feel like a giant
         | eating whole heads of cabbage! I even got a tiny little grater
         | so I can pretend to make slaw as a giant.
        
           | jancsika wrote:
           | Not sure if they had a tiny grater, but there's a video on
           | reddit somewhere of a cook making a tiny beef wellington. :)
        
         | tailspin2019 wrote:
         | I thought it was just me that did that.
         | 
         | On a more serious note, I just tried this excellent sardines
         | recipe this week; Fisherman's Eggs [0]. Great for a high
         | protein breakfast...
         | 
         | [0] https://www.thesophisticatedcaveman.com/fishermans-eggs/
        
           | jancsika wrote:
           | Interesting, though I'd have to fry them up whole there.
           | Otherwise the bones would get chopped up, suspending the
           | disbelief and returning me to mere mortal size. (In that case
           | they'd probably taste like small pieces of salmon bones
           | instead of the entire skeleton of a big fish.)
        
       | hourislate wrote:
       | I have eaten 1 tin of Sardines everyday as my first meal for over
       | 6 months. It takes the guess the work out of what to eat and the
       | nutrition is off the charts, it basically replaces a handful of
       | supplements. I've been using cronometer to track my diet and
       | between the Sardines, a huge salad and a hunk of steak or liver,
       | I only ever take the odd Magnesium supplement. Totally eliminated
       | my need to buy expensive supplements. As it turns out, I find
       | that 1500-1800 Kcal is more than enough everyday to leave me
       | feeling stuffed and content and the Sardines alone keep me
       | satiated for hours, what a superfood. Today's the last day to
       | save $3 on a 6 pack of Sardines at Costco, I've bought about 6
       | cases over the last few weeks (180 + cans) to carry me for the
       | next 6 months.
       | 
       | Anyone who wants to lose weight and get healthy, this is the food
       | that will make a huge difference.
        
       | Havoc wrote:
       | Don't like boney fish. Salmon on the other hand is nice...but
       | comes with other concerns (environmental, heavy metals etc).
       | 
       | Is there something in between?
        
         | szundi wrote:
         | Domesticated salmon is not so healthy anyway, Omega-3 is coming
         | from ocean algae. Not that Omega-3 is reproducibly shown to be
         | healthy.
        
         | ucha wrote:
         | Sardine or mackerel balls. Just remove the spine add an egg,
         | some lemon juice and spices and boom, no bones and still
         | delicious.
        
         | crispyambulance wrote:
         | FWIW, It's OK to eat the bones in canned sardines.
        
           | exhilaration wrote:
           | The bones in canned sardines are actually very good for you,
           | that's where all the calcium is.
        
         | exhilaration wrote:
         | If you're looking for a specific type of salmon my
         | understanding is that wild Alaskan salmon has very low levels
         | of mercury and the fisheries are healthy. I'm not sure where
         | you are but it's widely available in the United States.
        
         | mycologos wrote:
         | Some canned sardines are already de-boned, and for most bone-in
         | canned sardines, you can just halve each one length-wise and
         | pull out the spine in one piece. The bones are also totally
         | edible themselves, albeit off-puttingly crunchy to some people.
        
       | elric wrote:
       | > Nutrients found in high quantities in sardines - such as
       | taurine, omega 3, calcium and vitamin D
       | 
       | Surely this applies to any kind of fatty fish?
        
         | podgaj wrote:
         | Mostly white fish and cold water fish.
        
         | chadcmulligan wrote:
         | Probably, but sardines are way cheaper and a lot easier to
         | store. Also they're at the bottom of the food chain and so less
         | heavy metals, and there are a lot more of them in the ocean and
         | are in abundance. I've been a long time sardine advocate for a
         | fatty fish instead of tuna or salmon, nice to see I have some
         | reasons now to support it.
        
       | henearkr wrote:
       | I don't understand their conclusion that no supplement can
       | replace the sardine.
       | 
       | They indicate that it's probably the combination of DHA, vitamin
       | D, and calcium, that is good, so just make a supplement
       | containing this combination?
       | 
       | And if there are missing ingredients to the magic of sardine,
       | just add them too?
       | 
       | I don't see what's impossible, except that they want to support
       | their country's fishing industry.
        
       | hirundo wrote:
       | > but only the intervention group added 200 grams of sardines to
       | their diet every week (two cans of sardines in olive oil)
       | 
       | So they significantly changed the macro nutrient ratios of the
       | intervention group, along with the addition of sardines. I would
       | like to see an intervention versus a control group with matched
       | macros, to see if the effect is due to more sardines, or to more
       | fat and protein and fewer carbohydrates.
        
       | otabdeveloper4 wrote:
       | Fun fact: everyone who ate cabbage eventually died. Take care.
        
         | raspasov wrote:
         | Appreciate the humor, but perhaps Urban Dictionary is a better
         | venue for such a contribution.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | oddmiral wrote:
         | Correlation is not causation.
         | 
         | Ice cream vs homicides:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQfacqVvOEM
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | roland35 wrote:
       | My uncle used to come over and visit my family. He would play
       | chess on our laptop (wasn't tech savvy but was amazing at chess)
       | with a stack of sardines and a gallon of water. He'd then comment
       | "haha your dog loves me! I wonder why?" as he tosses our dog
       | another sardine. He was a funny and strange guy, but he loved
       | those sardines!
       | 
       | He did tell me back in the 90s that processed carbohydrates were
       | really bad for you, so I think he was ahead of the curve!
        
         | pimlottc wrote:
         | Did the sardines ever win?
        
       | podgaj wrote:
       | I see it now, everyone going to their local mega grocery buying
       | sardines packed in sunflower oil, Totally abolishing any of the
       | positive effects of omega-3.
        
         | shock wrote:
         | Why is sunflower oil unhealthy?
        
           | mycologos wrote:
           | I think they're referring to sunflower oil's absence of
           | Omega-3s. Per Wikipedia [1]:
           | 
           | > The ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in some common
           | vegetable oils are: canola 2:1, hemp 2-3:1, soybean 7:1,
           | olive 3-13:1, sunflower, flax 1:3, cottonseed (almost no
           | omega-3), peanut (no omega-3), grapeseed oil and corn oil
           | 46:1.
           | 
           | My understanding is that there's some Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio
           | to shoot for, and most western diets are far more biased
           | toward Omega-6, so adding some Omega-3 (sardines) along with
           | a bunch of Omega-6 and no Omega-3 (sunflower oil) would
           | actually work against that goal.
           | 
           | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Plant_so
           | urc...
        
           | podgaj wrote:
           | I will add here to clarify my stance on food and health.
           | 
           | There is no healthy food, only food that is healthy for you,
           | and that will be determined by your genetics. Wheat is not
           | healthy for celiac and short chain PUFAs and bad for me.
           | 
           | But too much of any food or nutrient can override genetics as
           | well.
        
           | jbverschoor wrote:
           | Most sunflower oil isn't really sunflower oil. It's the
           | leftovers being extracted using hexane.
        
           | throwamon wrote:
           | I don't think that's what they meant exactly, but rather that
           | the amounts of omega-3 and 6 you consume should be in a
           | specific ratio (or rather within a range of ratios), and the
           | ratio in canned sardines is tilted towards the unhealthy
           | side. There are other pairs of nutrients that follow this
           | pattern as well. I highly recommend reading about them on
           | Examine.com, but I suppose even Healthline will do.
        
         | raspasov wrote:
         | Yes... That's one of the things that concerns me also me about
         | canned sardines. Even if it says "olive oil" I have a feeling
         | that it's a pretty low quality one in most cases and definitely
         | not EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) which is the good stuff.
         | 
         | Looking for any specific recommendations for brands, websites
         | etc.
        
         | Mountain_Skies wrote:
         | Though I haven't looked into it extensively, here in the US
         | I've only seen olive oil and soybean oil on sardine ingredients
         | labels. Might be different in other parts of the world but here
         | soybean oil seems to be the oil of choice when cost cutting
         | gets involved.
        
       | mvidal01 wrote:
       | Unfortunatly sardines are high in purines so I get sometimes get
       | gout when eating them.
        
       | bayesian_horse wrote:
       | What will cure/prevent type 2 diabetes is a low-carb, high-fat
       | diet.
       | 
       | Sardines are a low-carb, high-fat food. Eating them replaces a
       | big load of the carbs people usually consume, and just like that
       | they reduce the amount of insulin they have to produce, reducing
       | their insulin resistance and so on. Omega-3 fatty acids are just
       | a slight benefit, probably, and not so much for the diabetes.
       | 
       | But "Just eat a can of sardines every now and then" is just a
       | lucky guess. There are a lot of additional, more effective ways
       | to reduce insulin sensitivity.
        
         | snarf21 wrote:
         | Yeah, eating noting but sardines pizza isn't going to end well.
        
         | 1123581321 wrote:
         | What other ways are you thinking of? Whole eggs, vegetables
         | cooked in butter or oil, and fatty cuts of meat are probably
         | the easiest for most people. But sardines are also easy because
         | they're precooked.
         | 
         | Strength training, and good sleep to support the training, also
         | help a great deal, but is not as easily managed as adding
         | something relatively tasty and convenient to one's diet.
         | 
         | Eating a high quantity of diverse vegetables every day is a
         | great idea but the practical effectiveness stumbles due to the
         | difficulty of the habit change.
        
       | Ecco wrote:
       | "Sardines will therefore have a protective element because they
       | are rich in the aforementioned nutrients, whereas nutrients taken
       | in isolation in the form of supplements won't work to the same
       | extent" : to me this reads as "we found a correlation but we are
       | clueless about the root cause".
        
         | woko wrote:
         | True. The "root cause" could be that one improves one's diet:
         | 
         | - if you take "sardine" supplement pills and go on eating
         | burgers and fries, do not expect a miracle with respect to type
         | 2 pre-diabetes,
         | 
         | - if you eat sardines as part of a meal, I suspect that you are
         | likely to *replace* parts of your current diet with the (fatty)
         | fish, rather than keep your usual diet and add fish on top of
         | it.
         | 
         | For instance, a funny paragraph from section 4 (Discussion)
         | hints that the SG (Sardine Group) must have added _less_ olive
         | oil to the rest of their meals:
         | 
         | > Another possible limitation of the study to bear in mind is
         | the use of canned sardines in olive oil, which, despite easing
         | distribution and consumption, present differences in MUFA
         | content as compared to fresh sardines. Although this may have
         | modified the pattern of lipids consumed, the SG group decreased
         | their overall MUFA consumption. This could be due to the fact
         | that the use of olive oil added to meals did not occur when
         | they consumed the canned sardines and, therefore, there are no
         | differences in its consumption with respect to CG.
         | 
         | NB: I don't want to dismiss any part of the article, I only
         | want to insist that it is hard to isolate causes because of
         | this effect of "communicating vases".
        
           | void_mint wrote:
           | > - if you take "sardine" supplement pills and go on eating
           | burgers and fries, do not expect a miracle with respect to
           | type 2 pre-diabetes,
           | 
           | The way I generally describe the result of switching from no
           | intentional diet to any trendy/FOTM/recent diet is mostly
           | just that a person begins to give a shit about what they're
           | eating, which results in an array of positive benefits not
           | directly related to that diet. Ketogenic diets are a good
           | example. People go from not caring about what they eat,
           | regularly eating fast food, sugary snacks/drinks, deep fried
           | carbohydrates, etc. to spending a bunch of money on expensive
           | butter and grass fed beef. They then lose weight. Sure,
           | ketosis is a big deal, but in reality the biggest factor in a
           | person's weight loss/health improvement is just replacing
           | high calorie, high sugar, high carb, high fat food with no
           | sugar, low/no carb, reasonable calorie food. (This is not an
           | attack on the ketogenic diet. There is plenty of research for
           | and against it. As with all diets, if you find positive
           | outcomes while trying it, keep doing it! The goal is health).
           | 
           | I think the real test would be, what positive benefits _do
           | exist_ when a person changes nothing else but includes a pack
           | (tin? can? box?) of high quality sardines weekly. If nothing,
           | I feel like it kind of just falls into the category of "being
           | specific and intentional about dietary choices brings health
           | benefits", which isn't necessarily new or ground breaking.
        
           | podgaj wrote:
           | This is true, just adding sardines your diet will probably do
           | nothing for most people. It's more about the elimination of
           | other things we eat as well. It wasn't until I was eating
           | only salmon for my fat and protein source that I was able to
           | raise my HDL from 35 to 54!.
           | 
           | I credit this to totally eliminating the omega-6 fats. But
           | this is just me because I'm a genetic freak with
           | hyperlipidemia.
        
             | bayesian_horse wrote:
             | The value of reducing Omega-6 is over-hyped. The issue here
             | is that when you eat a can of sardines, you tend to not eat
             | them with a big load of carbohydrates, like white bread,
             | rice, pasta, fries...
        
             | lapsis_beeftech wrote:
             | Totally eliminating omega-6 from your diet can't be
             | healthy, can it? There are only two essential fatty acids
             | for humans and one of them (linoleic acid) is omega-6.
        
               | podgaj wrote:
               | Well, I exaggerated to make a point. Even salmon has long
               | chain omega 6. I soul have said "eliminating plant based
               | omega 6" and this is just for me and my genetics. People
               | without certain FADS1 genetics can do fine with short
               | chain omega 3 and 6.
        
         | azalemeth wrote:
         | Edit - I managed to mis-read the press release and read through
         | the wrong paper in detail! Disregard the below...
         | 
         | <s> Quite. If you read the paper --
         | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59643-7.pdf -- the
         | word 'sardine' doesn't appear once; 'fish' doesn't either.
         | 
         | The trouble with observational cohort studies is that causality
         | is very hard, if not impossible, to identify. Their main result
         | is based on multivariate logistic regression. I like logistic
         | regression as a technique, and it is very powerful, but if, for
         | example, there is an unmeasured cofounding or causal variable
         | that manifests itself as a linear combination of a number of
         | measured but perhaps more acausal variables, it _will_
         | confidently give you the wrong result. </s>
        
           | yawnxyz wrote:
           | Isn't this the paper...? https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc
           | e/article/abs/pii/S02615...
        
             | azalemeth wrote:
             | Do'h. Thank you - I'd skim-read the news release very
             | quickly and jumped to the first paper linked, which I now
             | see was published in 2020. Apologies.
        
         | ivanhoe wrote:
         | These are very complex bio-chem processes, so there's probably
         | no single "root cause", but a multivariable situation where
         | certain combinations of nutrients in certain proportion causes
         | these beneficial effects. Also nutrients in supplements often
         | don't have the same bioavailability as in natural products, so
         | it's possible that you take in the same amount of nutrients per
         | label, but your body actually ends up absorbing only a small %
         | of it. Supplements are not that strictly regulated, so many of
         | them are fairly poor quality products making wild claims,
         | counting just on marketing BS to sell.
        
         | evgen wrote:
         | No, it simply repeats the commonly understood fact that it is
         | better to have a diet rich in specific nutrients than to try to
         | use supplements to make up the difference. Everything from
         | dosage to bio-availability of supplements shows them to mostly
         | be not worth the price of manufacture, let alone the price
         | people pay at the till.
        
           | podgaj wrote:
           | There are times, however, the high-dose vitamins Are the only
           | thing that can replace a deficiency Quickly enough. Two of
           | them that come to mind are zinc and biotin. So like
           | everything else in nutrition, it depends, of deficiencies and
           | genetics.
        
         | vanderZwan wrote:
         | While I can follow that line of thinking, we also shouldn't
         | immediately be dismissive of the conclusions of a
         | professor/researcher at a faculty of health sciences. At least
         | not without a good reason to believe that we have more
         | expertise on the subject than them.
         | 
         | On the other hand, there might also be a bit of Spanish
         | cultural bias at work there (Spain is the second-largest
         | consumer of fish after Japan). On the _other_ other hand, it
         | would fit into the mystery of the mediterranean diet.
        
           | Ecco wrote:
           | I didn't mean to dismiss their conclusions! It might be a
           | pretty awesome discovery actually: eat delicious sardines and
           | avoid getting diabetes? Count me in!
           | 
           | I just meant that, as is often the case, great discoveries
           | are often made before we really understand them. For example,
           | isn't this what happened with antibiotics?
        
             | vanderZwan wrote:
             | Ah, like that! Fair enough, thank you for elaborating
             | (please consider adding a bit of extra context next time,
             | it will go a long way to prevent such misunderstandings)
        
         | ackbar03 wrote:
         | Since supplements have been brought up, what's with the
         | American's obsession over supplements? It's like people are
         | just chomping them down like they're some sort of food stable
         | like bread or rice (or maybe that's just what all the youtube
         | videos want you to think). Its like every bodybuilder on
         | youtube has their own brand of supplements now. Don't even get
         | me started on pre-workout. "Don't feel like working out? Chug
         | this powder!"
        
           | KingMachiavelli wrote:
           | Certain segments of America tend to have poor diets.
           | Especially the young, working class which happens to overlap
           | with the bodybuilding class which makes whey protein a
           | logical choice. Whey protein. It is very cheap; just add mix
           | in a multivitamin and OTC stimulants like caffeine and you
           | have a very marketable product with a 300% markup.
           | 
           | The YouTube body building demographic is in the same economic
           | class so capitalizing on a product their audience already
           | uses makes perfect sense.
           | 
           | Also, America is one of the few countries with consumer
           | pharmaceutical advertising so marketing supplements is not
           | out of the ordinary.
        
             | opportune wrote:
             | Approximately nobody mixes whey protein with caffeine. Not
             | sure what you're talking about
        
               | catblast01 wrote:
               | Look up "protein coffee" and maybe try to lay off the
               | snark a bit if you don't know what you're talking about.
        
           | bayesian_horse wrote:
           | Supplements don't cure diabetes.
           | 
           | The sardines are a very high-fat food item that will satiate
           | you and potentially replace a big load of carbohydrates.
           | Which would affect the prediabetes.
        
           | wincy wrote:
           | I've found exactly one supplement that had a major impact on
           | my quality of life, and that's magnesium. Something about
           | magnesium supplements greatly reduced my daily anxiety, to
           | the point that I was amazed because I'd always just imagined
           | I was an "anxious person".
        
             | zokula wrote:
             | How much do you take a day an
             | 
             | In dosage?
        
           | opportune wrote:
           | With bodybuilding most bodybuilders will agree that the only
           | (legal) effective supplement for weightlifting is creatine,
           | with vitamin D, fish oil, and multivitamins generally
           | recognized as also useful for general health. But the most
           | important "supplements" are anabolics which of course can't
           | be legally advertised. The problem is average Joe doesn't
           | know that, and bodybuilders need to make money (most make
           | very little if any money from bodybuilding) so they do
           | endorsements and marketing for health brands which are
           | _legal_ even if they may not be effective.
           | 
           | Preworkout is a bit different because it actually is
           | marginally useful for workouts, and I think most actual
           | bodybuilders take some form of it. But it's super cheap to
           | produce so most of the expense is on marketing. You can make
           | homemade PWO with stimulants and "pump supplements" for super
           | cheap if you buy the raw compounds
        
       | biswaroop wrote:
       | Fun fact about sardines: they used to be super popular in the US,
       | until they were massively overfished on the west coast (Cannery
       | Row is the classic example). They were gradually replaced over
       | the 80s with milder fishes like tuna and tilapia.
        
       | schwartzworld wrote:
       | Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them.
       | 
       | The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any
       | other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet
       | spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese
       | sardines no problem.
       | 
       | Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year
       | old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon
        
         | kzrdude wrote:
         | So I wonder what the diabetes rate is in Portugal, then
        
           | Wistar wrote:
           | FWIW, According to 2019 data from the International Diabetes
           | Federation, Portugal is ranked 53rd (9.8%) out of 195
           | countries for prevalence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
           | Kiribati ranked 1st at 22.5% of the population between the
           | ages of 20 and 79 having either type of diabetes and Benin
           | ranked 195th at 1%.
           | 
           | https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SH.STA.DIAB.ZS/r.
           | ..
        
             | pkaye wrote:
             | UK has pretty low prevalence at 3.90% and Ireland at 3.20%?
             | What is their secret?
        
               | vogon_laureate wrote:
               | Fish and chips and the finest ales in all the land.
        
         | pimlottc wrote:
         | I'm no connoisseur but Trader Joe's lightly smoked sardines are
         | quite good, and the price is right.
        
         | KozmoNau7 wrote:
         | Fresh grilled sardines on the beach in Malaga is one of my
         | absolute favorite vacation memories. Baking sun, ice cold beer
         | and fresh seafood is a powerful combination.
        
         | culturestate wrote:
         | _> Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines_
         | 
         | One of my Portuguese guilty pleasures, along with (ethically
         | questionable, I know) octopus salad. Highly recommend trying
         | this if you can get your hands on some fresh sardines.
         | 
         |  _Edit:_ grilled sardines are also a Japanese thing, so you
         | might have luck finding them at an Asian market if your
         | fishmonger doesn 't have them.
        
           | spaceribs wrote:
           | I've rationalized eating the very intelligent octopus with
           | the fact that they live for a maximum of like 2 years.
        
           | giantg2 wrote:
           | Haven't sardines, like most other fish, been overfished,
           | making them ethically questionable too?
        
             | morley wrote:
             | I rely on SeafoodWatch.org to advise on fish
             | sustainability, and it doesn't look good for sardines: http
             | s://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendations/search?query=%3...
        
             | kalari wrote:
             | Overfishing of sardines happen because most of it is ground
             | up and used as feed in aquaculture (which is very
             | inefficient). Instead, if you consume sardines directly, it
             | will be a more sustainable enterprise.
        
             | blablabla123 wrote:
             | Yes, kind of. That said, as far as I know anything that is
             | more complex to digest like dark bread helps prevent type 2
             | diabetes. (But maybe it's anyway better to talk to a real
             | doctor or at least a food expert if that is any concern...)
        
             | ptsneves wrote:
             | As a portuguese I can tell you that sardine stocks are
             | heavily controlled and regulated and there are years where
             | the catchable tonnage is severely reduced. As the fish
             | markets are centralized, meaning fishermen need to sell
             | their catch in a government auction house, you cannot
             | really do industrial fishing out of allowed stock quotas.
             | Sardines quotas are the target of heavy diplomatic
             | negotiations with EU.
        
               | wjaugustyn wrote:
               | South Africa has a pretty strong S. sagax stock, but it
               | all gets canned or ground into fish meal. Eating fresh
               | sardines just isn't part of the culture -- so sad.
        
           | dtech wrote:
           | Aside from eating animals in general, what is ethically
           | questionable of octopus salad?
        
             | rosege wrote:
             | Quite possibly the poster is referring to the intelligence
             | of octopuses. Have a look at My Octopus Teacher (On
             | Netflix) and you will see.
        
             | culturestate wrote:
             | They're incredibly intelligent, and there's a healthy
             | debate around whether they're actually conscious[1]. I tend
             | to question whether I should be eating something that might
             | reasonably be aware, were it alive, that it's about to die.
             | 
             | 1. see e.g. https://qz.com/1045782/an-octopus-is-the-
             | closest-thing-to-an...
        
               | amanaplanacanal wrote:
               | I'm pretty certain the mammals we eat are conscious, and
               | that doesn't seem to bother most of us.
        
               | nefitty wrote:
               | Prevailing attitudes aren't a good barometer for judging
               | the ethics of our individual choices.
        
               | slim wrote:
               | Plus sometimes an animal eats another animal with a
               | higher degree of consciousness than himself. A tiger
               | eating a monkey for example.
        
               | c22 wrote:
               | I've had a growing suspicion that even plants have more
               | 'awareness' than we give them credit for. You still gotta
               | eat, though.
        
               | bourgwaletariat wrote:
               | They are certainly _aware_. At the simplest level, we
               | know for a fact they respond to their environment. On
               | accelerated time scales, it is also fairly obvious to see
               | them _compete_ with other plants and branches of
               | _themselves_. We also know they _communicate_ with other
               | plants, warning them of the danger of insect predators,
               | to which they respond by increasing the production of
               | natural insecticides.
               | 
               | Though I can't prove it, I'm edging toward the belief
               | they _share resources_ with each other, including water
               | and nutrients through the root system.
               | 
               | All these facts and ideas are easily undone by
               | particularly defining "awareness" and so this is largely
               | a terminological problem.
               | 
               | The discussion quickly becomes, "Define awareness." or
               | ... more generally ... "Define consciousness," which we
               | see with machines, insects, plants, even single celled
               | organisms.
               | 
               | Here's what science _does_ tell us _repeatedly_ : Those
               | things which humans as a species are convinced have _no_
               | consciousness is decreasing. Most, even today, would not
               | believe an octopus is conscious, but we now think they
               | are. Dolphins. Birds, even fish now have scientific
               | studies indicating they are self-aware.
               | 
               | So, yeah, justifying the eating of plants because they
               | lack self-awareness isn't a valid argument in my book.
               | 
               | That doesn't absolve us of a mission to reduce suffering
               | for the things we eat.
               | 
               | Plants can certainly suffer and it's trivial to identify.
        
               | DangitBobby wrote:
               | Do really people not consider mammals--even mammals they
               | have regular exposure to such as dogs and cats--to be
               | conscious? I know people tend to have a superiority
               | complex when it comes to other animals but I have a hard
               | time believing that they don't consider them to be
               | conscious.
        
               | bourgwaletariat wrote:
               | Yes, there are vast numbers of them. I know doctors who
               | do not believe the dog at the door wagging its tail when
               | the person arrives to be experiencing emotions.
               | 
               | I believe the dog is happy and excited and eager to greet
               | its friend of another species, but many, many people
               | believe that dog is exhibiting purely mechanical behavior
               | driven by instinct alone.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | nradov wrote:
               | The existence of consciousness in other species doesn't
               | mean we have a mission to reduce suffering. That's an
               | illogical non sequitur.
        
         | raspasov wrote:
         | Are there specific brands you'd recommend?
        
         | eb0la wrote:
         | In Spain is very easy to get them in to beach or in restaurants
         | nearby.
         | 
         | You can also made them in the oven wrapped in aluminium paper
         | if you don't have a proper grill.
        
         | gentleman11 wrote:
         | I stopped eating them because my roommate can't stand the
         | smell. Same for smoked oysters. I miss them both a lot
        
           | nbenitezl wrote:
           | Yeah they smell strong, that's why I had to stop bringing
           | them to my job's kitchen office.
        
         | paulryanrogers wrote:
         | Have you considered the risk of mercury accumulation?
        
           | Alex3917 wrote:
           | Sardines are fairly low in mercury. You might not want to eat
           | them every day, but a few times a week shouldn't be a problem
           | as long as you're not also eating other fish that are higher
           | in mercury.
        
           | foxbarrington wrote:
           | Sardines seem to have the lowest mercury concentration of any
           | fish: https://www.fda.gov/food/metals-and-your-food/mercury-
           | levels...
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | CyanDeparture wrote:
       | If anyone is wondering how to eat sardines, open a tin (I like
       | the tins with them in tomato sauce) and just mash them onto some
       | toast. No need for butter. It is a glorious lunch.
        
         | fctorial wrote:
         | What about parasites?
        
           | mycologos wrote:
           | ... what about them? Canned sardines are cooked?
        
           | crispyambulance wrote:
           | canned sardines are already cooked!
        
             | fctorial wrote:
             | Steam cooked. Parasites (especially their eggs) are very
             | resilient. Meat that isn't fried or pressure cooked is not
             | safe to eat.
        
               | yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
               | If a person were concerned, where would they find more
               | information about this?
        
               | mycologos wrote:
               | > very resilient
               | 
               | Aren't canned fish heated to 100C+ and then sealed in an
               | anaerobic environment? What parasite can survive this?
        
       | troydavis wrote:
       | If anyone in the US is new to sardines, of the choices available
       | in US grocery stores, Matiz is by far the best. I recommend
       | ordering online, where you'll find other great choices like La
       | Gondola, Angelo Parodi, Nuri/Pinhais, and Bela.
       | 
       | (If you're in Europe, try Rodel sardines at least once in your
       | life. They're completely unavailable in North America.)
        
         | AuryGlenz wrote:
         | What do you do with them? I've never made or had anything with
         | sardines in my life.
        
           | biswaroop wrote:
           | I usually eat them with cheese and homemade bread. Sometimes
           | I'll add a caprese salad on the side, and that's dinner.
           | 
           | Another fantastic recipe is pasta con le sarde. It's a
           | classic Sicilian pasta with sardines, fennel, saffron and
           | nuts.
        
           | chadcmulligan wrote:
           | My Favourite recipe - sardines on toast
           | 
           | - red onions sliced and cooked in brown sugar and vinegar
           | (quick pickle), cook until the onion is cooked down.
           | 
           | - Toast up a piece of sourdough
           | 
           | - Spread with mustard
           | 
           | - Add slices of tomato, sardines and red onion pickles on
           | top, add some parsley or basil if you like.
           | 
           | You can also had some capers if you're so inclined.
           | 
           | or drizzle some lemon juice and/or olive oil on top
        
           | troydavis wrote:
           | Gently mash them up with some of the olive oil that's in the
           | tin (usually not all of it, or you'll mostly be eating olive
           | oil). Use that as a spread on bread, toast, or crackers, or
           | mix with something that doesn't have a lot of flavor on its
           | own, like farro or another mild grain.
        
           | pimlottc wrote:
           | I usually just eat them straight on a cracker or toast, maybe
           | with some mustard or mayo or some other nice spread
        
         | giantg2 wrote:
         | Great Value isn't too bad. They're cheap.
        
       | benevol wrote:
       | On the other hand, it significantly reduces the health of certain
       | sardines.
        
         | Codesleuth wrote:
         | This article seems to be akin to many others that promote
         | carnivorous diets. "Drinking milk reduces X" or "eating [insert
         | animal here] improves Y" might be true, but you don't need to
         | consume the animal (and prolong the environmental impacts) to
         | get them.
        
           | podgaj wrote:
           | Wrong. There is a tremendous more amount of evidence that
           | eating fish helps cardiovascular health. Unlike the
           | "carnivore diet" where they just cherry pick RCTs.
           | 
           | And for those who say "you don't have to eat the animal to
           | get the health benefits", please tell that to any Inuit or
           | Saami people. They lived on his diet for generations and it's
           | affected their genome as a result.
        
             | thraxil wrote:
             | Taurine, omega 3, calcium, and vitamin D, the nutrients
             | discussed in the article are all available from sources
             | other than fish. If you take someone who has a diet that's
             | deficient in one or more those and give them sardines, then
             | it's not surprising to see improvements. But it doesn't
             | show that sardines/fish are the _only_ way to get those
             | benefits or that adding sardines /fish to a diet that isn't
             | deficient in those nutrients would have any benefit.
             | 
             | The fact that Inuit and Saami people have been able to
             | survive on primarily meat diets only demonstrates that it's
             | _possible_ to survive on those diets, not that they are
             | ideal in any way or better than any other diet.
        
               | podgaj wrote:
               | The Inuit and Saami have lived on those diets for so long
               | they became genetically adapted to them. The same is true
               | for many Northern Europeans.
               | 
               | When they do not adhere to these diets they have worse
               | outcomes.
               | 
               | https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1343
               | 
               | So those diets are better FOR THEM, not for everyone. But
               | the same could hold true for you or me. I know it is true
               | for me because I have Saami heritage and the diet cures
               | my hyperlipidemia.
               | 
               | And Taurine, omega 3, calcium, and vitamin D are not the
               | only thing in the fish. There is a synergy that humans
               | could never find with logic.
        
               | thraxil wrote:
               | > There is a synergy that humans could never find with
               | logic.
               | 
               | Perhaps, but there is no science that demonstrates that.
               | 
               | It sounds like you are looking at this research and
               | coming to stronger and more general conclusions than they
               | claim. Again, most of it seems to be of the form "we took
               | some people who were deficient in [some nutrient that is
               | found in fish], gave them fish, and found that they did
               | better than a control group who weren't given fish". Eg,
               | the paper you link to shows that Greenland Inuits are
               | genetically adapted to higher levels of PUFAs in their
               | diet. It doesn't make any claims that those PUFAs have to
               | come from fish. The paper that that one cites as showing
               | that "fish oil supplementation is associated with
               | increased concentrations of plasma insulin-like growth
               | factor-1" (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22337227/)
               | does indeed show that association, but it doesn't show
               | that non-fish oil sources of DHA (eg, algae-sourced DHA)
               | don't also produce the same effect because they didn't
               | test that.
               | 
               | That you've found _a_ diet that cures your hyperlipidemia
               | doesn 't mean that that's the _only_ diet that could
               | achieve that or even that it 's the best one.
               | 
               | Your previous comment:
               | 
               | > And for those who say "you don't have to eat the animal
               | to get the health benefits", please tell that to any
               | Inuit or Saami people. They lived on his diet for
               | generations and it's affected their genome as a result.
               | 
               | Actually sounds like an argument _against_ a meat /fish
               | heavy diet. If eating it for generations results in
               | genetic changes that produce problems like
               | hyperlipidemia, maybe it's not something that we should
               | recommend or promote.
               | 
               | (An aside, as someone who's also of partial Sami descent
               | (Northern Sweden, represent!), I do want to point out
               | that the Sami diet was/is not strictly carnivore; it also
               | traditionally includes a lot of flatbreads, berries, and
               | foraged plants like mountain sorrel and wild celery).
        
               | podgaj wrote:
               | Woot! Finnish here!
               | 
               | I agree with you on the Saami diet, I was generalizing
               | for the Sake of brevity in the comments. I am in no way
               | any kind of carnivore or Paleo freak. I only have general
               | guidelines and loose interpretations about what I should
               | eat.
               | 
               | You're right though, I have no scientific Evidence for
               | synergy. But it is our arrogance to think we know
               | everything that is in food And how it affects our bodies.
               | This could never be tested scientifically.
               | 
               | But you've mistaken my argument as well. The genetic
               | changes of the Inuit make them more susceptible to
               | disease only when they are on a western diet. when they
               | are on their ancestral diet they have no problems. Eating
               | that much seafood makes them dependent on eating seafood.
               | Do you understand that better?
               | 
               | Just like living in Africa change the color of people
               | skin it actually makes them more dependent on getting
               | sunlight. Does a sunlamp replace the sun? Hard to say.
        
         | kinleyd wrote:
         | You, sir/madam, have pointed out a most germane fact.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | kspacewalk2 wrote:
         | And, unlike the original finding, this one is robust and
         | unlikely to be due to confounders.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-05-09 23:02 UTC)