A new (old) way to eat will fuel your aquaculture business

Without a doubt, diets rank at or near the top of any list of American preoccupations. Billions are spent every year by consumers willing to bet their waistline that the newest diet fad is their nutritional salvation.

As we know, most people fail miserably at these attempts to "finally change their lives." They may lose a few pounds in the short term, but quickly gain them back as they become bored, motivation wanes, and they fall into their old and unfortunate habits.

The term "fad diet" did not come into existence by accident. As with most clichés, they are based on realities that we often do not want to accept. With regard to diets, they tend to come and go as quickly as some people change their wardrobe. So, we see a parade of saviors like the Grapefruit Diet, the Acid-Reflux Diet, the Gall Bladder Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Blood-Type Diet, the Detox Diet, the Alzheimer’s Diet, the Atkins Diet…and the list goes on and on. This doesn’t even touch the hoards of diet pills that flood the market. Each approach enjoys its fifteen minutes of fame, and then fades from the scene.

For most people, these diets fail for one of two reasons: either the diet concept has absolutely no foundation in real science (it is doomed to fail from the outset because it’s scientifically bogus), or the diet is so radical and restrictive and becomes so boring that it’s impossible to follow for an indefinite period of time.

A new way of looking at food and its effects on our overall health and waistlines is emerging. This approach is based on a solid foundation of science that has looked into our genetic pasts.

Only during the relatively recent past, during the 10,000-year Agricultural Revolution, have we been able to substantially manipulate our food supply. Before agricultural, our ancestors relied on lean meats, seafood, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables for their sustenance. The human diet was amazingly diverse, and included seasonal specialties as well as a broad array of daily staples. In short, these are foods we are genetically designed to eat.

You may be saying, "Didn’t our ancestors live short and nasty lives? How could their diet have been optimal?" Let’s dispel this myth once and for all.

Dr. Loren Cordain of Colorado State University says it best: "It is certainly true that hunter-gatherers studied during modern times did not have as great an average lifespan as those values found in fully westernized, industrial nations. However, most deaths in hunter-gatherer societies were related to the accidents and trauma of a life spent living outdoors without modern medical care, as opposed to the chronic degenerative diseases that afflict modern societies. In most hunter-gatherer populations, approximately 10-20% of the population is 60 years of age or older. These elderly people have been shown to be generally free of the signs and symptoms of chronic disease (obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels) that universally afflict the elderly in western societies. When these people adopt western diets, their health declines and they begin to exhibit signs and symptoms of ‘diseases of civilization.’"

Agriculture made possible the manipulation of our diet. Agriculture has obvious advantages (stable and consistent supply). But our agricultural imaginations have lead us to significantly run amok, by developing foods that are incompatible with optimum health, and within such a short time period that our genes have not had a chance to catch up with our "progress." The result has been an explosion in the incidence of a plethora of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, and a whole host of other illnesses associated with obesity and improper diet.

Termed the Paleo Diet in reference to our Paleolithic ancestors, this new (or old, depending on your perspective) approach is a breakthrough in our understanding of our dietary needs relative to our agricultural capabilities. Go to http://www.thepaleodiet.com for more information on this truly revolutionary approach to eating.

So, where does aquaculture fit into this picture? Fortunately, it can and (for the most part) does fit very well. As I mentioned above, seafood and aquatic foods overall played an important role in shaping our genetic development. For example, preformed omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA are important components of any healthy human diet.

As hunter-gatherers before the Agricultural Revolution, we relied on brain tissue of terrestrial animals and (if we lived near the sea) fish, shellfish, and marine mammals for these critical dietary constituents. Most of us today would never consider eating brains or other nervous tissue. As a result, our reliance on fish and seafood has become even greater.

As our supplies of wild fish and shellfish diminish, aquaculture inevitably will fill the void. As the benefits of the Paleo Diet become more widely known and understood, people will turn to fish and seafood in increasing numbers—much to the benefit of those producers positioned to take advantage of this trend. Dietary fads may come and go. But the Paleo approach to eating is one that will be with us indefinitely.

We have become masters at manipulating the quality of our foods, including aquacultured varieties. As a primary or even sole source of high-quality protein and essential fatty acids, we must not compromise the quality of our products, and do right by the consumers who rely on us for their nutritional well-being.