- Feb 5, 2002
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Anchovies and sardines are, as it turns out straight superfoods—especially for kids.
Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted was recently awarded the 2021 World Food Prize—described as the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture—for her work integrating small fish into developing nations diets: primarily she focused on this because of the incredible nutrient density of small fish, and the imperative role it plays in brain development in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, as well as in pregnant and nursing mothers.
Anchovies, sardines, and in fact many small fish species are rich in the unsaturated fats omega 3 and 6 also known as EPA and DHA, which are critical for brain health. Since sardines only eat plankton, they also contain only very low levels of mercury.
There’s also evidence they help prevent aging, and can reduce inflammation in a variety of organs. They also contain vitamin B12, a nutrient found most often in meat and particularly seafood, but that’s almost absent in all other food groups.
B12 deficiency is common in children in the developing world, a challenge that Thilsted sought to tackle with increasing access to smaller fish, which involved a little bit of stigma-breaking, since most consumers would prefer to eat larger fish like tuna, salmon, or carp species.
Continued below.
Why This World Food Prize Winner Wants You To Reconsider Anchovies
Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted was recently awarded the 2021 World Food Prize—described as the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture—for her work integrating small fish into developing nations diets: primarily she focused on this because of the incredible nutrient density of small fish, and the imperative role it plays in brain development in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, as well as in pregnant and nursing mothers.
Anchovies, sardines, and in fact many small fish species are rich in the unsaturated fats omega 3 and 6 also known as EPA and DHA, which are critical for brain health. Since sardines only eat plankton, they also contain only very low levels of mercury.
There’s also evidence they help prevent aging, and can reduce inflammation in a variety of organs. They also contain vitamin B12, a nutrient found most often in meat and particularly seafood, but that’s almost absent in all other food groups.
B12 deficiency is common in children in the developing world, a challenge that Thilsted sought to tackle with increasing access to smaller fish, which involved a little bit of stigma-breaking, since most consumers would prefer to eat larger fish like tuna, salmon, or carp species.
Continued below.
Why This World Food Prize Winner Wants You To Reconsider Anchovies
