Is it essential to eat fish? Or, can you live without it?

Question

I am vegan and don't know if I have to eat fish in order to be healthy.

Answer 1

Just like any other meat, you don't necessarily need it to survive.

Like some one said, just try to find alternative sources of omega fatty acids and protein and you're fine.

Answer 2

No, there is nothing in fish that can't be found easily elsewhere.

Omega-3 is found in many other sources. DHA is made by algae and can be found in Silk soy milk and Minute Maid makes a juice blend with added DHA.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/fat

You know that vegan and vegetarian people never eat fish, right?

Bread, pasta, cereal, rice, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies can easily offer everything that you need except B12.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

All vegetarians should take a B12 supplement regularly since most people eat meat, dairy AND fortified cereals yet still have a B12 status that is lower than recommended.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/b12

It may help you if you see proof that vegetarian people have the same potential as anyone else.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.macdanzig.net/bio.php

http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php

If you need meat or dairy during any stage of your life or to live any certain lifestyle, why does the American Dietetic Association say otherwise?

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada...

Answer 3

Of course not. It is not essential to eat any dead animal part or product. People ave been vegans and vegetarians for centuries and clearly living. Plus fish are basically toxic due to their mercury levels.

Answer 4

you don't need it i know many vegans just make sure you have omega 3s  and protein  

Answer 5

I haven't eaten fish or any other kind of animal for 24 years. I'm not dead yet and I'm at least as healthy as most people my age (51).

My wife is a Registered Dietitian with a Masters in Nutrition and she doesn't eat fish or any other kind of animal either.

No, it's not necessary.

Answer 6

You can get your essential fatty acids without eating fish. Its a lot harder, but it can be done. Some sources for the efas are: olive oil, vegetable oil, sometimes peanut butter, flax seeds, some pasta, and vegan omega 3 supplements.

Answer 7

Top Three Reasons Not to Eat Fish...MUST SEE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMVgUrG2K...

Eating Fish is NOT HEALTHY anymore. The Facts about Modern Fish...

By Diana Zuckerman, PhD, Anne Gallo, MS, and Madeleine Levin, MPH

http://www.center4research.org/methylmer...

Fishing: Agony of the Sea...

http://www.thenazareneway.com/vegetarian...

VEGAN's concern

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Commercial Carnage

Today's commercial fishers use vast "factory" trawlers the size of football fields and advanced electronic equipment and satellite communications to track fish. (Large operations also use airplanes or helicopters.) Huge nets, sometimes miles long, stretch across the ocean, swallowing up everything in their path.

Factory trawlers are emptying the oceans of sea life at an alarming pace. Thirteen of the 17 major global fisheries are depleted or in serious decline. The other four are "overexploited" or "fully exploited."

Nearly one-third of all species of fish have declined in population in the last 15 years and many species may be wiped out in the next decade.

Answer 8

Fish is very healthy, as it is high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which helps your heart. But I suppose it is not essential to eat fish.

Answer 9

Some people eat fish or take fish oil supplements to benefit from the Omega 3 fatty acids, but vegans and vegetarians can get this same nutrient from flax and chia seeds. Protein is also available from soy, quinoa, nuts, and legumes. So, no, fish is not essential to the human diet.

Answer 10

I'm a vegetarian and I can live without it. Consuming seafood is a risk to your health just like any other meat product.

Answer 11

Nope. I haven't eat fish in years.  Only a few fish sticks (eww, I know) when I was a young child and I don't think it was even real fish.  Plus, lots of fish have mercury inside them, and I really don't wait mercury in me.   Try going to your local health food store and see if they have omega3.  Make sure it doesn't have fish in it.  Some do, some don't.  If you go to a health only store, it will probably not have fish.

Answer 12

i'm alive

I am a vegan so i take 1 tablespoon of a product called 'omega swirl' everyday. It has Omega 3, 6, and 9 in complete daily amounts and tastes so good! I used to take straight flax seed oil, but that was so awful to take. This is vegan and tastes/texture like a strawberry banana smoothie. Its refrigerated at every health foods store and is flax seed oil, all natural just with added fruit juices and such.

You certainly don't need fish. at all. just make sure you're getting your omega's and fatty acids! you can take flax seed oil (which is a great egg substitute in baking, fyi), the flax seed supplement (beware gelatin), flax seeds by themselves, the stuff i mentioned, or eat foods where they naturally occur (like avocados!)

Answer 13

no you dont have to eat fish

but lots of nuts or take iron pills :}

mhmm

i havent eaten fish since i was 7

Answer 14

No, you don't have to eat fish to be healthy.  

Answer 15

If you ate fish, you wouldn't BE vegan...

I have been veg*n for 22 years and the amount of fish I ate prior to that could probably fit on a single dinner plate.  And I'm perfectly healthy.

What nutrients are you thinking are in fish that you cannot get elsewhere?  Protein?  It's everywhere.  Omega-3?  There are plenty of plant foods with omega-3, and you could always get it from the same place the fish get it (blue-green algae.)  Mercury?  Well, you got me there, fish is the best source if you want mercury poisoning.

Answer 16

Nope, you can definitely live without it. I've had fish maaaaaaaybe once in my life and I'm still going strong. ;]