What Does Aquaman Eat?
Nutrition’s always an interesting topic to broach in everyday conversation. Everyone’s trying a new fad diet, or some unique culinary twist to get the most out of their meals… Goes to show, we all understand how important it is to be mindful of what we eat!
There’s no exact right way to eat, or any superhero diet that’s guaranteed to level us up, but there are some dietary staples that have been proven time & time again to be uniquely beneficial! So, in that vein, the question of the day is “What Does Aquaman Eat?”
Aquaman Ordering Fish & Chips // Aquaman (The New 52) Issue 1; Page 14
Fish it is!
That’s definitely an interesting development, but it looks like it’s paying off!
It makes a lot of sense, as well; not only is fish a great, healthy source of protein, but it’s also full of healthy Omega-3 fatty acids! The Western diet has very discreetly normalized ingesting a huge amount of highly processed seed oils made up primarily of Omega-6 fatty acids, which have been shown to significantly contribute to atherosclerosis, inflammation, and obesity (DiNicolantonio & O'Keefe; 2018)!
Of course Omega-6s have their role, but we’ve been overdoing it lately! We used to stick closer to a 4 to 1 ratio of Omega 6s to Omega 3s; lately we’re hanging around a 20 to 1 ratio on average (DiNicolantonio & O'Keefe; 2021)!
“Whether an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of 3:1 to 4:1 could prevent the pathogenesis of many diseases induced by today’s Western diets, a target of 1:1 to 2:1 appears to be consistent with studies on evolutionary aspects of diet, neurodevelopment, and genetics. A target of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio of 1:1 to 2:1 appears to be consistent with studies on evolutionary aspects of diet, neurodevelopment and genetics.”
So, why are Omega-3s so important?
There’s a ton of great research surrounding Omega-3 fatty acids! Unlike Omega-6s, Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory! Inflammation is the underlying driver for most ailments!
Similarly to how Aspirin or Ibuprofen can help you feel better after you roll your ankle or get the flu, Omega-3s play a role in modulating those same inflammatory processes! Also, consider that we’ve got a growing body of literature pointing to unchecked, chronic inflammation as a major contributor to the progression of autoimmune & cardiovascular diseases, as well as neurological decline, obesity, & cancer (Nathan & Ding; 2010)!
Because of their anti-inflammatory properties, a healthy diet full of Omega-3s can help protect you from many of the worst pathologies you could think of!
“Using long-chain omega-3s to suppress low-grade inflammation may benefit numerous chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, obesity and heart failure.”
So, more fish it is!
Even if you’re not a big seafood fan, fish isn’t the food source you want to skip out on! In addition to everything we’ve already mentioned, the current literature points to fish oil supplementation having a preventative effect against all types of cardiovascular disease (Li et. al; 2020), dementia & Alzheimer’s in the elderly (Cederholm; 2017), & even against depression in the general population(Burhani & Rasenick; 2017)!
I said there was no superhero diet, but we can surely take note from Aquaman’s – fish oil provides some life saving benefits!
Works Cited & Further Reading
DiNicolantonio, J. J., & O'Keefe, J. H. (2018). Importance of maintaining a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio for reducing inflammation. Open heart, 5(2), e000946. https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2018-000946
DiNicolantonio, J. J., & O'Keefe, J. (2021). The Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio for Reducing the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases, Asthma, and Allergies. Missouri medicine, 118(5), 453–459.
Simopoulos A. P. (2002). The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie, 56(8), 365–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0753-3322(02)00253-6
Nathan, C., & Ding, A. (2010). Nonresolving inflammation. Cell, 140(6), 871–882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2010.02.029
Li, Z. H., Zhong, W. F., Liu, S., Kraus, V. B., Zhang, Y. J., Gao, X., Lv, Y. B., Shen, D., Zhang, X. R., Zhang, P. D., Huang, Q. M., Chen, Q., Wu, X. B., Shi, X. M., Wang, D., & Mao, C. (2020). Associations of habitual fish oil supplementation with cardiovascular outcomes and all cause mortality: evidence from a large population based cohort study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 368, m456. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m456
Cederholm T. (2017). Fish consumption and omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for prevention or treatment of cognitive decline, dementia or Alzheimer's disease in older adults - any news?. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 20(2), 104–109. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCO.0000000000000350
Burhani, M. D., & Rasenick, M. M. (2017). Fish oil and depression: The skinny on fats. Journal of integrative neuroscience, 16(s1), S115–S124. https://doi.org/10.3233/JIN-170072
