Fish

[Crazy Asian]

Hey, is fish just as good of a protein source as beef?
Today i ate a packet of tuna, 2 fillets of Tapilla and a piece of Salmon.
I always hear people talking about eating beef for dinner.
Is there something in beef that fish can't replace?
thanks.

 

[HandyAndy]

fish has healthy fats and oils, as well as protein

 

[Rhoto]

Salmon ftw!

I prefer Bison and Venison over beef. But beef is cheap, so weigh your opportunity cost.

 

[Omen]

Both are good sources of protein, but each protein source has its own benefits.

Benefits of some fish is their Omega-3 content.

Beef, you get iron, and some saturated fat. And sat fat here and there is GOOD for you.

The only other difference would be the amino acid profile to make up that protein source.

For instance say you take 22g of casein protein and 22g of egg protein.

They are both 22g of protein, and we see that, but what we dont see is their amino acid profile. what I mean by this, is each protein source will have different amounts of each amino that makes the whole protein.

Egg white is HIGH in glutamic acid at about 10g per 100g but Soy Isolate is almost DOUBLE in glutamic acid.

So things like this will vary from one source to the next. As far as that, it usually ends up being your fat amount and your vit/minerals in each protein source. Egg, milk, beef, chicken, turkey..... All have different amounts of vit/min in them.

The best thing is to just eat it all if you can. I had Salmon today cause I have fish on Wed, but tomorrow i'll prob have turkey for lunch and maybe something with beef in it or chicken for dinner.

 

[Kerpal]

The only problem with it is the mercury

 

[Bible_Belt]

The only problem with it is the mercury

The mercury is supposed to be a non-issue in short-lived seafood like lobster, shrimp, salmon, and tilapia. These have a tiny fraction of the mercury of tuna. The longer a fish lives, the more time it has to absorb mercury.

Regarding the original question:

Is there something in beef that fish can't replace?

You can live just fine without either. I was a vegetarian for seven years and did ok. Beef is high in zinc:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=115
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=141

But fish like salmon have a lot of other good stuff:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=104

I hardly eat beef any more, mostly because I just don't like what is commercially available. My family has raised cattle and I guess I am spoiled for quality. I can handle a filet mignon but not a burger. Pretty much all I eat is fish. Sam's has good stuff.

 

[Crazy Asian]

so due to the mercury problem, should i not eat a lot of tuna?
i just bought 4 family size packs of tuna yesterday.
i love tuna.
this is sad.....

 

[Throttle]

methyl mercury tends to be a problem more with white tuna than light, more a problem with yellowfin than skipjack (if you find light tuna labeled 'skipjack' then that's your best bet for avoiding mercury in tuna).

if it worries you, a common recommendation is to eat only 1 can of albacore (white) tuna per week, or 3 cans of light tuna per week.

there are other fish & seafood that are lower in mercury, but you'll want to investigate for yourself. and if you get farmed fish, they tend to be higher in PCBs, antibiotics, pesticides, and other contaminants.

my advice? don't try to replace all the meat in your diet with any one fish.

 

[Throttle]

Is there something in beef that fish can't replace?

the truth is that no one knows. a reductionist viewpoint counts up the amount of each type of fat, protein, carbohydrate and micronutrient, and separates them out into categories of 'good', 'bad' and 'bad if you get too much'.

though widely accepted as the Western, 'scientific' approach, this view has remarkably little basis in hard science, and is the product of a lot of guesswork -- some of it no doubt good guesswork -- but guesswork nonetheless. there may be micronutrients or other substances we haven't been able to identify yet that are important to human health.

for example, we know that artificial vitamins (vit c, beta carotene, etc. etc. etc.) almost never provide the same benefits as the fruits & vegetables that are full of them. likewise, mother's milk has consistently been shown to be better for infants than any formula, no matter how much they refine the ingredients. what's worse, many former 'bad guys' have since been exonerated, and other 'replacements' have since been shown to be harmful.

i think the oldest advice is still the best: eat a variety of foods, eat foods that humans have been eating for a long time, and avoid 'foods' that have been invented recently. the more recently it's been invented or discovered, the more you should view it with suspicion.