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Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

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Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're incredibly intelligent, and there's a healthy debate around whether they're actually conscious[1]. I tend to question whether I should be eating something that might reasonably be aware, were it alive, that it's about to die. 1. see e.g. https://qz.com/1045782/an-octopus-is-the-closest-thing-to-an...

I’m pretty certain the mammals we eat are conscious, and that doesn’t seem to bother most of us.

Plus sometimes an animal eats another animal with a higher degree of consciousness than himself. A tiger eating a monkey for example.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#112

Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them. The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese sardines no problem. Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon

I stopped eating them because my roommate can’t stand the smell. Same for smoked oysters. I miss them both a lot

Yeah they smell strong, that's why I had to stop bringing them to my job's kitchen office.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#113

Another plus is that you can pretend that sardines are regular-sized fish and that you are a giant who is eating them whole.

That's why I like to eat brussels sprouts! I feel like a giant eating whole heads of cabbage! I even got a tiny little grater so I can pretend to make slaw as a giant.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#114
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a growing suspicion that even plants have more 'awareness' than we give them credit for. You still gotta eat, though.

They are certainly aware . At the simplest level, we know for a fact they respond to their environment. On accelerated time scales, it is also fairly obvious to see them compete with other plants and branches of themselves . We also know they communicate with other plants, warning them of the danger of insect predators, to which they respond by increasing the production of natural insecticides. Though I can't prove i…

Do really people not consider mammals--even mammals they have regular exposure to such as dogs and cats--to be conscious? I know people tend to have a superiority complex when it comes to other animals but I have a hard time believing that they don't consider them to be conscious.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#115
post #12
post #2

“Sardines will therefore have a protective element because they are rich in the aforementioned nutrients, whereas nutrients taken in isolation in the form of supplements won’t work to the same extent” : to me this reads as “we found a correlation but we are clueless about the root cause”.

True. The "root cause" could be that one improves one's diet: - if you take "sardine" supplement pills and go on eating burgers and fries, do not expect a miracle with respect to type 2 pre-diabetes, - if you eat sardines as part of a meal, I suspect that you are likely to *replace* parts of your current diet with the (fatty) fish, rather than keep your usual diet and add fish on top of it. For instance, a funny para…

> - if you take "sardine" supplement pills and go on eating burgers and fries, do not expect a miracle with respect to type 2 pre-diabetes,

The way I generally describe the result of switching from no intentional diet to any trendy/FOTM/recent diet is mostly just that a person begins to give a shit about what they're eating, which results in an array of positive benefits not directly related to that diet. Ketogenic diets are a good example. People go from not caring about what they eat, regularly eating fast food, sugary snacks/drinks, deep fried carbohydrates, etc. to spending a bunch of money on expensive butter and grass fed beef. They then lose weight. Sure, ketosis is a big deal, but in reality the biggest factor in a person's weight loss/health improvement is just replacing high calorie, high sugar, high carb, high fat food with no sugar, low/no carb, reasonable calorie food. (This is not an attack on the ketogenic diet. There is plenty of research for and against it. As with all diets, if you find positive outcomes while trying it, keep doing it! The goal is health).

I think the real test would be, what positive benefits _do exist_ when a person changes nothing else but includes a pack (tin? can? box?) of high quality sardines weekly. If nothing, I feel like it kind of just falls into the category of "being specific and intentional about dietary choices brings health benefits", which isn't necessarily new or ground breaking.

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

canned sardines are already cooked!

Steam cooked. Parasites (especially their eggs) are very resilient. Meat that isn't fried or pressure cooked is not safe to eat.

> very resilient

Aren't canned fish heated to 100C+ and then sealed in an anaerobic environment? What parasite can survive this?

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#118

My uncle used to come over and visit my family. He would play chess on our laptop (wasn't tech savvy but was amazing at chess) with a stack of sardines and a gallon of water. He'd then comment "haha your dog loves me! I wonder why?" as he tosses our dog another sardine. He was a funny and strange guy, but he loved those sardines! He did tell me back in the 90s that processed carbohydrates were really bad for you, so…

Did the sardines ever win?

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#119
post #87

If anyone in the US is new to sardines, of the choices available in US grocery stores, Matiz is by far the best. I recommend ordering online, where you’ll find other great choices like La Gondola, Angelo Parodi, Nuri/Pinhais, and Bela. (If you’re in Europe, try Rödel sardines at least once in your life. They’re completely unavailable in North America.)

What do you do with them? I’ve never made or had anything with sardines in my life.

I usually just eat them straight on a cracker or toast, maybe with some mustard or mayo or some other nice spread

Re: Eating sardines regularly helps prevent type 2 diabetes

#120

Sardines are a household favorite for us. My kids love them. The secret is, don't buy cheap ones. Look for brisling or any other small fish packed in olive oil. $3-5/can is a good sweet spot, although you can pay $9 for a can of imported Portuguese sardines no problem. Speaking of Portugal, they do grilled fresh sardines. My 3 year old insisted on eating them daily when we were in Lisbon

I’m no connoisseur but Trader Joe’s lightly smoked sardines are quite good, and the price is right.
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