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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI used to love raw fish. I’ve been vegan for a month, however, and for the most part I’ve been fine and satisfied. I was mostly vegetarian for 2 years but I would occassionally eat fish and I would often eat cheese.
I feel MUCH better off without the dairy, but I sometimes find myself really wishing I could have fish again. I had given it up at one point before (even though I still ate dairy) and when I had it again it was like a high. I had TONS of energy, good mood, etc. It was short lived I’ll admit but I felt GREAT. I know its a good idea to follow my body, but I have some hold-ups about eating fish again.
1) Do I really need it, or is this just a habitual craving? I love sushi, sashimi, etc. 2) I like being vegan, and since its become about the world and not about myself, I find it hard to even admit I might need an animal product (besides honey… I still eat raw, organic honey, although not a lot). 3) What could possibly be in fish that I am craving and may be getting less of with my new mostly raw, vegan diet? I think of omega 3 and protein (a source with all 8 essential amino acids in one). My theory is that a person wouldn’t need too much omega 3 if they aren’t consuming a whole lot of omega 6. Its a ratio thing, not like, how much you can get of one or the other.
Currently I haven’t been eating much, so that might be the root of the cravings. I’ve been having mostly fruit, some vegetables, and some seeds. Its not on purpose, I just happen to love fruit smoothies so I make a lot, occassionally put in some greens, and I make stuff with nuts in it that I kind of nibble on.
So, any suggestions? Any pros / cons to fish consumption? I know the obvious stuff like toxic levels of mercury and possibly poisoning.
Thanks.
Comments
DHA in fish is a mood enhancer. DHA supplements have been shown to increase energy levels, enhance memory and cognitive functions, It’s also in flaxseed.
and walnuts and hemp seeds! :)
Another thing you could be missing that is plentiful in fish is B-12. You can always supplement if you want to remain vegan, but personally I’m much more into whole foods than supplements. I don’t think there any vegan whole food sources of B-12, because most vegan sources of it are not bio-available/assimilable by the human body.
When eating fish, I always get wild-caught because it’s lower in mercury, PCBs, dyes, hormones, anti-biotics, and other nasties that are often found in farmed fish. Wild-caught is better than organic even, in my opinion.
I followed a vegetarian and fish diet for over 20 years, but don’t eat fish now. Reasons I don’t now? Well, it’s taken me a long time to twig this, but now feel it can’t be right for fish to suffocate, basically, to feed us. And secondly, as well as the pollution aspect, I’ve read that fish, like all animal protein, makes our bodies more acidic, and this can contribute to a host of health problems, minor and major. For Omega 3, look to, as humanimal suggests, walnut and hemp seeds. Also flax (sometimes called linseed!). I try to ensure that I always have a supply of flax crackers. Also, flax oil is good. It tastes like ice cream to me (but then I’m a bit strange…), BUT make sure you get the highest quality. In the UK it’s Stone Mills. I bought some (expensive) flax oil in my local supermarket and it tasted awful.
Maybe you should find some raw seaweed and eat that, it is what fish eat and therefore are made of. Or maybe you could try some spirulina or other algae and see if that gives you the same lift as the fish did. I know that the omegas in fish are there because of the green sea plants and algae they eat.
I don’t believe that wild caught fish is “better” than farmed. Not for the environment, I know fish farms are poisoning the sea and rivers, but then fishing wild fish is severely depleting fish stocks all over the world. There are some pretty strict limits on how much fish people can catch, and these are being flouted every day. We are in danger of having a lifeless sea, which would wreak havoc on our ecosystem.
Hi Here are some shocking stories about the current fish crisis. In general it seems to me like most people don’t even know that 90% of the worlds fish are already gone. Many third world countries are set to starve in a few years because they rely on fish for their protein source.
Japan’s tuna shortage spawns sushi panic New York Times
Monday, June 25, 2007
(06-25) 04:00 PDT Tokyo—Sushi made with deer meat, anyone? How about a slice of raw horse on that rice?
These are some of the most extreme alternatives being considered by chefs as shortages of tuna threaten to remove it from Japan’s sushi menus—something as unthinkable as baseball without hot dogs in the United States.
In this seafood-crazed country, tuna is king. From maguro to otoro, the Japanese seem to have almost as many words for tuna and its edible parts as the French have names for cheese. So when global fishing bodies recently began lowering the limits on catches in the world’s rapidly depleting tuna fisheries, Japan fell into a national panic.
www.thefishsite.com/newsletter/11/thefishsite-n…
I had a bunch of links for this but they are not showing up for some reason- but google it you won’t believe it.
I realize there are environmental issues such as overfishing and disturbing the ecosystem (and I will probably get flamed for this), but when it comes to the health of your body, I still stand by my claim that (in that sense) wild-caught is better. I eat the way I do first and foremost for my health and secondly for the environment, and I know some people think that is short-sighted of me, but ultimately we all do what we feel is best.
why would you get flamed for that? i agree with you. :)
I have to agree with you too, raw_earth… although its taking some time for me to come to terms with it. I’m more often thinking about the environment than my own health when it comes to eating animal products. But I decided today that I should at least see how I feel eating it again… so, I tried some fish for lunch.
Its been a little while (I had a late lunch) ... about two hours I guess? And I don’t feel any different. I didn’t get that “high” I remember, uplifted mood (was already in a great mood) or extra energy (I guess I had enough of that too).
So I’ve decided that, as far as I can tell, I don’t need fish. I even think I may have a headache coming on, but I’m not sure why? Anyway, this tells me that the fish craving was habitual and not because my body needed anything, so I now know I will be fine without it. :) Its nice to know and not worry about it.
Thanks for all your input. I knew about the omega 3 from other sources, and while I don’t eat many of those things (except maybe walnuts) I still stand by what I said… you only need the extra omega 3 if you’re having high levels of omega 6. And for the protein, I’m not worried.
Maybe my nervousness came from something I heard recently… a fruigivore (sp?) that someone I spoke to knows is losing her teeth, and that freaked me out cause recently all I’ve wanted is fruit (yet today I was totally turned off by the though of eating too much of it / even just having a smoothie). Its probably somewhat related. Also I need to find ways to have more raw leafy greens besides salads (I get tired of them) and in smoothies. I think I may be eating too much fruit and not enough greens.
Anyway… I’m glad I could bring myself to eat the fish at all. I sometimes worry that food becomes a “religion” to me rather than a source of nutrition for my body and I’ll get hung up in things that may not be the best for me. Although, thankfully, this time, I’ve chosing something (raw food) that definitely seems to be REALLY good for me so I’m not too worried. :)
Although recently I’ve had cooked cravings (more of a texture thing I think, not so much for heat) ... but I also think thats habitual. I remember hearing David Wolfe say in an interview that its a process and you have to transition slowly (I know not everyone has to…but anyway…), and I told myself to keep that in mind as I progressed… so I didn’t get too crazy over any slip-ups I had. So… trying not to beat myself up over it.
And that was a huge rant. Thanks for all your help and concern. :)
I only have cravings for bad food after eating toxic stuff like salt and/or caffeine/theobromine..
I am a long term raw foodist turned fruitarian so I have a lot of experience. If I eat raw FOOD..I a ok, but when I add other stuff, I crave all sorts of food. Anything really.
Suvine.com
oh oh! B-12. ok, here’s the deal with B-12. i love talking about this, its my favourite point of argument with meat eaters. originally we got our B-12 from…soil! and small amounts of insects. (like cows). people never washed their fruits and what not so they would likely have ingested quantities of soil and insects and whatnot as well. yes i realize insects are not vegan, but i’m not about to go picking unwashed fruit and rubbing it in soil to make up for lack of B-12… luckily (and many raw vegans don’t know this), B-12 IS present in two fabulous living foods. these are wheatgrass and kombucha! mwahahaha…take THAT vitamin B-12 fear mongering carnivores… and i mean that in a most peaceful and loving way.
Hey raw earth, I agree with you. I’m a focused and committed environmentalist, but when I’m brutally honest with myself and my personal health, I’m really looking out for number one. This is hard for me to own, but deep down I know it’s true.
However, one tonic for insensitivity toward consumed animals is to go out into the wild and observe their killings. In other words, it helps me keep perspective when I can get out on a commercial fishing boat and see for myself what’s going on out there—how much is being caught, and, worse, how much is being wasted. Because (as you already know) when we eat seafood, it’s not only the single species we’re eating that must die, but often many other critters must die, too, just so we can eat that one delicious, healthy one. All the “trash” species, in other words, get tossed lifelessly away.