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Seafood and health - Opportunities in aquaculture
Foredrag på NTVA-møte i Oslo 13. mars 201 3
Edel O Elvevoll, professor, Universitetet i Tromsø
Scientific and technological developments in the field of food have led to a marked shift in
how consumers deal with food and health. There is a growing awareness among consumers
!hat the dietary source and form of food may affect their overall health. Seafood is regarded
as healthy and provides the body with essential nutrients !hat are limited in other food
sources. The health effects of seafood ar,e primarily attributed to the n-3 fatty acids,
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahe)(aenoic acid (DHA). Additionally, the fatty acid
profile of seafood is beneficia!, because the balance between the different fatty acids is
favourable. The balanced fatty acid profile and the content of DHA and EPA are generally
thought to be the reason why seafood consumption protects against development of
cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, there may be other components in seafood !hat
contributes to the beneficia! health effects. Recent and emerging research on seafood
proteins suggesl that the contributing health effects from the proteins part of fish, have been
somewhat ignored.
With the stagnation of catches from traditional fisheries, aquaculture is the only industry !hat
may increase the supply of seafood to world markets. As more scientific evidence of the
beneficia! health effect of seafood consumption is put forward, an increasing demand for
seafood may be expected.. Dietary modulation enables sea farmers to produce seafood with
added health benefits by incorporating functional components into the feed, and !hus raising
levels of beneficia! components in the fish.
In addition to a healthy fatty acid profile, fish muscle has a balanced amino acid profile,
containing all essential amino acids. Taken together, the nutritional quality of seafood is
excellent due to the favourable fatty acid profile, the high quality protein, and seafood serve
as a good source for some vitamins, minerals and bioactive components.
Health effects of seafood consumption
The pioneering studies on Greenland Eskimos in the 1960-?0s sparkled a lot of attention and
effort into research on seafood and health. As researched have progressed in the following
decades, supporting scientific evidence have been published on the beneficia! effects of a
diet high in fish and seafood. The beneficia! health effects of seafood consumption have
primarily been attributed to the n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Several mela-analyses of
human clinical trials have concluded that coosumption of seafood, and especially fatty fish
protects against development of CVD. Fish intake was also inversely related to risk of stroke,
and fish consumption as seldom as 1 to 3 times per month was found to protect against the
incidence of ischemic stroke. The physiological mechanism by which seafood protects
against CVD is not completely elucidated, but intake of n-3 fatty acids influences blood lipid
profiles and many biomarkers and risk factors of CVD.
Emerging research suggest !hat other components in seafood is also beneficia! as they may
have synergistic or additive effects with n-3 fatty acids. During digestion, proteins are broken
down to peptides, and some the peptides exhibit anti-oxidative properties or blood pressure
reducing effects. Taurine is a component that is relatively abundant in seafood, and
synergistic effects with n-3 PUFAs have been found on markers for CVD. There is also
evidence to support a statement that eating seafood is more beneficia! than taking n· 3 fatty
acid supplements, arguing that isolating effects to single components toe simplistic.
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