Welcome to week five of the Feed Your Mental Health Challenge. It’s a seven-week challenge to get the very best foods for your mental health on your plate and get you the habits that you need. I’m Dr. Drew Ramsey. I’m a board certified psychiatrist and I’m a Nutritional Psychiatrist. And this challenge is all about getting the right foods on your plate.
This week we’re going to talk about one of the nutrients that is absolutely essential. We could argue the most important brain health nutrient, omega-3 fats. And we’re going to talk about a source. I’m going to argue the best source Nutritional Psychiatry offers that doesn’t get the attention it needs to: sardines. Now, if this is not your favorite food, a new food for you, I want you to stick with me because we’re going to help you understand why sardines are amazing for your mental health and give you some great ways to enjoy them in this week’s challenge.
Why sardines? Well, your brain is made of fat. It’s about 60% fat, and that fat is very specialized. 8 to 10% of it is omega-3 fats. There are just two of them that you eat that get up into your brain, EPA and DHA and sardines are one of the best sources. I’d argue the best source. Just one 3.5 ounce serving of sardines gives you 981 milligrams of long-chained omega-3 fats, DHA plus EPA.
Why do omega-3 fats matter so much for the brain? We hear so much about them. They’re the longest chained fats that we eat. EPA helps us fight inflammation. It gives ride to what are called ocosinoids, which are anti-inflammatory compounds.
DHA is a bit more of a structural molecule, although it also has a lot of functions in the brain. But it sits in our brain cells in the membrane, and then it gives rise to lots of molecules, things like resolvins that help again fight inflammation. It also helps stimulate the production of BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor that helps our brain grow and repair itself. So this is why we hear so much about omega-3 fats. There’s been lots of research about fish oil supplements, and generally those are pretty mixed or negative. However, the research on fish is generally positive. Sardines are a wonderful source because they’re small. They’re very efficient in terms of delivering great nutrients, we’ll talk about in a second, but they’re packed with omega-3 fats. You’ve got 981 milligrams of DHA and EPA in one 3.5 ounce can serving of sardines. It’s just as efficient and as really good as it gets when it comes to omega-3 fats and foods.
We’ve talked about nutrient density throughout this challenge. It’s one of the foundational principles of Nutritional Psychiatry and sardines deliver. Along with these omega-3 fats, we’re talking about 200 calories in a 3.5 ounce serving. Here’s what else you get: 370% of your daily need of vitamin B12, we’d argue the most important B vitamin when it comes to mental health and brain health. You’re going to get 25 grams of protein. We all know protein’s really important, but what else delivers this much for so few calories and all these nutrients? Not a lot. Sardines are amazing. Vitamin D, whew, throw in 25% of that. And anybody worried about bone health, how about 30% of your daily need of calcium? Wow, that’s nutrient density, everybody. And that’s why sardines are such an amazing food.
They might be a bit of a challenge. And so I want to pull you in with all that nutrient density and then admit, you know, these were a big challenge food for me. I didn’t eat any seafood until I was in my late twenties, early 30s. I didn’t really start enjoying it and cooking at home with things like sardines until my 40s. And so if this is a new food for you, I’m just trying to say, hey, I’ve been there and it’s something that with a few other great recipes we’re going to recommend, you can get these nutrients to your table too. The bigger lesson here in week five of our Feed Your Mental Health Challenge is getting more seafood into your diet. In Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety, I recommend getting between two and four servings of seafood every week. This can be wild salmon, it can be shrimp, but I’d really encourage you to explore the small fish. They’re really wonderful because they are low in microplastics, they’re high in omega-3 fats.
So, how do we actually eat more sardines? Let’s talk a couple of my favorite ways. The first one is really simple. Get some good quality sardines that are packed in olive oil, open it up, pour off the oil, take a couple of sardines, put them on like a nice piece of sourdough toast, kind of smash them and spread them out, add on some mustard, some cucumbers, a little red onion, maybe a little hot sauce if you like that. You’ve just got an amazing sardine toast. It’s delicious. It’s got this wonderful richness. And again, all the nutrients that we just talked about. I’ll just say you don’t have to turn this into something complicated. A lot of people are maybe scared to start with something that simple.
This second dish is one of my favorites. It’s pasta con sarde. I make it with a really simple tomato sauce, the tomato paste, olive oil, garlic. I add a lot of fresh oregano. And then I’ll put in some sardines, just take them up again, pour off the oil and or put some of the oil in there. Take the sardines, kind of smush them around, kind of end up with these nice little chunks of sardine. You end up with a really delicious dish. It’s got this wonderful umami, rich filling flavor to it. So, those are two easy ways.
I’d love to hear in the comments below ways that you enjoy sardines. They are just a really wonderful food and a traditional food. Recently, I was in Sicily at the heart of the Mediterranean diet, the diet that overall keeps showing up in the research that it’s really great for brain health and for depression, even the treatment of depression. And sardines are always on the menu. It’s a big hint when one of the healthiest diets on the planet centers around this food, and it’s something that if we’re honest, we don’t eat enough of, we don’t eat much of. Maybe you haven’t even eaten a sardine this year. Well, welcome to week five of the Brain Food Challenge. I hope this helps you try a sardine this week.
Remember, the overall lesson in this week is getting more seafood into our diet, thinking where are you in that? What are the seafoods you love? Do you make it at home or is it something that you eat out? Making a plan. And I hope this week’s sardines are going to be part of it.
And that brings us to your week five, Feed Your Mental Health Challenge. I want you to try sardines once this week. Maybe you’ve never tried them, maybe it’s something you’re nervous about, maybe you love them. Please let us know in the comments below how you try them. And remember, every week of the challenge, we’re just asking three simple questions. Did you try it? Did you like it? Would you try it again? We’re here to build great habits to feed your mental health.
Everyone, I’m Dr. Drew Ramsey. Please sign up for our newsletter, which is free to get all of this information. Please subscribe, leave some comments below, and we can’t wait to see you in next week’s challenge.
