NATIONAL SEAFOOD MONTH
National Seafood Month is an annual designation observed in October. Where do we even start with this one?! People all over the world love seafood, and there are about a thousand different ways you can eat it… So really, it’s hard to get sick of. From smoked salmon to buttery lobster tails, to shrimp cocktail, to sushi… there’s a kind of seafood for just about everyone. The list goes on and on.
Humans feasting on seafood dates back long before written history. We know this because of early cave drawings. Since humans didn’t have the most efficient equipment back then, they used bird beaks and spears carved from wood and stone. Today, people in countries all over the world fish in dozens of different ways, and have learned to love seafood in hundreds of different recipes. Besides being super tasty, eating fish and shellfish has major health benefits. To name a few:
- Fish provide essential nutrients. The specifics depend on what kind of fish you’re eating, but to tell you the truth, there isn’t a kind that’s “bad” for you. They are a great natural source of vitamins and minerals such as Vitamins A, B, and D.
- Seafood promotes heart health. It’s nutritious enough to be low in saturated fat and high in protein… but even better news for your heart, fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These can drastically reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like strokes, heart attacks, or sudden cardiac arrest.
- It’s great for your joinst! Those omega-3 fatty acids are good for easing tender joints and reducing that stiffness that comes when you roll out of bed in the morning.
- If you want healthy, glowing skin… add a little more fish to your diet. Eating seafood helps your skin hold it’s natural moisture. Your skin glows more from what it naturally produces than what you rub on it! It can also help protect against UV rays from the sun.
- Eating fish boosts your brainpower. Studies show that seafood omega-3’s could lower the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, and promote proper brain growth in infants and children.
- Believe it or not, seafood can even help fight depression. Research shows a strong correlation between omega-3’s and decreasing depression… It helps people have a more positive outlook on life!
- If you’re pregnant, eat fish for dinner once in a while. Experts say eating more fish has positive benefits on birth weight because it enhances fetal growth and development.
Okay, I know I said I was only going to name a few… but clearly fish have a lot to offer our bodies, and it was hard to keep the list short! It’s important to note that if you happen to be allergic to seafood, you can always take vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids in pill form, but health experts prefer you get these nutrients from food.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Go out on the town and have some fun! Hit up your favorite seafood restaurant with friends and family, enjoy some of your favorite seafood dishes and use #NationalSeafoodMonth to post on social media. If you live near an ocean, spend a day or two fishing out on the water. Since there are endless amounts of great seafood recipes, we couldn’t even begin to list them all… but if you want to give seafood cooking a try this month, (and trust us, you do), click here for one of our favorite crispy cajun shrimp fettucini recipes.
HISTORY
In our research, we could not find the origin of National Seafood Month.
