Small fish such as herring, anchovies, and sardines can help prevent premature deaths worldwide. Currently, deaths related to cardiovascular disease and diabetes account for 44% of all deaths worldwide. Ms. Kate Donelan, a nutritionist at Stanford Healthcare Medical Center in California (USA), said that increasing small fish such as herring, anchovies, and sardines helps to supplement omega-3 fatty acids, which can prevent the above diseases. That is because these fish are rich in omega-3 and many studies show that supplementing foods rich in omega-3 helps reduce inflammation, improve cholesterol levels, and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Moreover, these fish are also rich in calcium, vitamins, protein, and other minerals. Research by the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Japan, also showed that eating small fish and reducing meat helps reduce the death rate from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and colorectal cancer.

Small fish are especially good for health, especially in reducing coronary heart disease.

Are small fish better than large fish?

Small fish such as herring, anchovies and sardines have high omega-3 content. The omega content in herring is said to be equivalent to salmon. Meanwhile, these small fish are also rich in protein and calcium. In particular, fish such as herring, anchovies and sardines have a lower risk of mercury than other large fish.

Small fish such as anchovies and sardines have a lower risk of mercury content
Small fish such as anchovies and sardines have a lower risk of mercury content
Moreover, these small fish are cheap. In Vietnam, sardines, herring and anchovies are much cheaper than other large fish. They only cost 50-80,000 VND per kilogram. While large fish cost several hundred thousand.

Large fish that live deep and live long often contain many chemicals that pollute the environment, including toxic chemicals such as mercury. Therefore, consuming more small fish has more advantages than eating large fish. Small fish live less time, have a short life cycle, so they are less contaminated with heavy metals. Small fish can also eat the whole bones and belly of the fish, so they absorb more nutrients than large fish.