Yellowtail — A Rich Source of EPA and DHA Fatty Acids
The ambitious fish!
The fish known as yellowtail in the West actually goes by different names in Japan depending on the stage of growth: for example, a young hamachi yellowtail will go on to mature into the bigger buri.
In Japanese, we call fish like this shusse-uo — literally, “fish that get ahead in life”! Can’t you just imagine them working their way up the corporate ladder!
Hamachi— a delicious, well-fattened fish —has recently been a particular hit in sushi restaurants in the U.S.
A dose of those all-important EPA and DHA fatty acids
We all know that fish is good for us, but have you ever thought about why?
It’s actually because of fish’s high reserves of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids, and yellowtail, tuna, mackerel, sardines and saury are the top five blue-skinned fish in terms of EPA and DHA content.
EPA and DHA fatty acids do many great things for our bodies, including...
• Improving blood flow, which helps prevent myocardial infarction, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and anemia.
• Supporting brain function, which helps prevent mental illnesses like depression.
• Improving the memory, which improves our ability to learn and prevents dementia.
• Restoring eyesight…and more!
And that’s not all!
Yellowtail is also packed with more essential nutrients for the young, old, and everyone in between. It provides an astounding array of vitamins, including vitamins B2 and B6, vitamin D, and niacin.
In the days before we had access to this kind of nutritional data, the Japanese must have deduced the benefits of eating fish through observation alone.
Similarly, it was the eating habits of the native people of Alaska that inspired Western researchers to start exploring the benefits of EPA and DHA fatty acids four decades ago.
We’ve seen how wonderful yellowtail is for your health, but don’t forget that it is high in calories, so please enjoy it in moderation.
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