10 seafood health benefits your customers will love in 2025
This is part of our Seafood for Life initiative to support industry reputation. Why not use these insights to inform and inspire your clients and customers as they strive to meet their wellness goals in 2025?
For many, the New Year signals a fresh start and an opportunity to make positive changes, often marked by an ambitious list of New Year’s resolutions.
This new year is no different! A recent YouGov survey1 revealed that 29% of British adults plan to make resolutions for 2025, with wellbeing taking the lead. Of those setting New Year goals:
- 50% want to eat more healthily
- 45% aim to become fitter
- 42% want to lose weight
- 32% plan to prioritise their mental health
However, maintaining resolutions is notoriously difficult. According to the survey, only one in five expect to stick with their goals beyond January, and just 16% believe they will stay on track for two to three months. Less than one in ten (9%) say they typically maintain their resolutions throughout the whole year.
The survey highlights that food and diet goals are often the hardest to sustain, perhaps because they often focus on cutting out or avoiding certain foods.
This is where seafood offers a refreshing solution. It’s a nutrient-dense option to add to diets, making healthy eating easier, tastier and more enjoyable.
Why put fish on the menu?
Healthy eating advice in the UK recommends two portions of sustainably sourced fish a week, including one portion of oily fish2. However, most adults fall short, consuming just one portion of fish a week on average, and just one portion of oily fish every three weeks3!
Increasing seafood consumption to align with health guidelines provides a fantastic opportunity to add flavour and variety to diets. Fish also has a lower environmental impact than red meat, making it a good choice for those who want to reduce their intake without switching to a vegetarian diet4.
Above all, seafood is a powerhouse of nutrients like protein, omega-3 fats and a range of vitamins and minerals, that support health in many ways.
Here are 10 health benefits to share with your clients and customers as they embark on their wellbeing goals this New Year.
10 health benefits of seafood
1. Supports weight management
White fish and shellfish are low in fat, so a great choice for lowering energy (calorie) intakes in meals without resorting to small portions. This can make it easier to manage weight.
Seafood such as pollock, lemon sole, mussels, cod, haddock, plaice and king prawns contain around 75 kcal per 100g (as a guideline, women need around 2,000kcal and men around 2,500kcal a day to keep their weight steady5).
Cooking methods with no or little oil or butter such as steaming, grilling, poaching, grilling or air frying help keep calories low.
2. Builds strong muscles
All varieties of fish are packed with protein, which is essential for muscle growth and maintenance.
Most people get enough protein in their diet but there are times when more may be needed such as during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Protein needs also increase in mid and later life when muscles naturally start to lose their bulk and strength as part of getting older.
Plus, protein plays an important part in how the body responds to exercise. For example, many activities such as regular strength and power gym workouts, can increase protein requirements6.
3. Keeps the heart healthy
All fish contain omega-3 fats. But it’s oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, pilchards and herring that have the most. Omega-3 fats help maintain normal heart function and blood triglyceride levels – good news as raised triglycerides (a type of fat) increase the risk of heart disease7.
Most seafood is also low in saturated fat. This benefits heart health as reducing intakes of saturates helps to maintain normal blood cholesterol levels.
This is significant as around half of all UK adults are thought to have high cholesterol – a major risk factor for heart disease8.
4. Helps control blood pressure
Seafood contains two important nutrients that help to maintain normal blood pressure – omega-3 fats, and potassium, the latter of which is found in many white and oily fish.
Around 30% of adults in the UK have high blood pressure, which is a key risk factor for poorer heart health8. In fact, around 50% of heart attacks and strokes are linked to high blood pressure8.
5. Benefits the brain
One of the omega-3 fats in fish – DHA – supports normal brain function and is especially important for brain development in growing babies during pregnancy and breastfed infants.
Seafood also supplies a variety of B vitamins that assist with psychological function. Many types are an important source of iodine, too. This nutrient supports cognitive function – our ability to think, remember, make decisions, solve problems and learn new information.
Yet almost 24% of 11–18 year olds, and one in 10 adults up to the age of 65, have very low intakes of iodine, so may be at risk of a deficiency3.
6. Supports vision
Omega-3 fat DHA, found in the largest amounts in oily fish, plays an important part in maintaining vision and contributes to normal development of the eye in growing babies during pregnancy and breastfed infants.
7. Reduces fatigue
Seafood is a fabulous source of many B nutrients – including vitamins B3, B6 and B12 – that help reduce fatigue and tiredness, thereby supporting energy levels throughout the day.
8. Strengthens immunity
Seafood contains many nutrients that support immune function, including zinc, iron, copper, selenium and vitamins B6, B12 and D.
Most fish provide vitamin B6 and are an excellent source of vitamin B12 and selenium; oily fish are packed with vitamin D; and many shellfish provide iron, copper and zinc.
Varying the types of fish eaten provides a diverse range of nutrients important for the immune system.
9. Supports bone health
Seafood provides protein and phosphorus – two nutrients that are important for maintaining bones. Oily fish are also one of the few foods that are naturally rich in vitamin D, also vital for bones as it helps the body to absorb and use phosphorus and calcium (another bone-friendly nutrient). The benefits of strong, healthy bones shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s thought that half of women and a fifth of men over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to lose strength and break or fracture more easily9.
10. Nourishes skin
Many varieties of seafood contain iodine and vitamin B3, while some shellfish contain zinc and copper – all nutrients that help to maintain skin from within.
Helping you help your clients and customers
Use this information to encourage your clients and customers to embrace seafood as part of a healthy balanced diet this New Year.
About Juliette Kellow
Juliette is a registered dietitian with a passion for seafood and more than a decade of providing nutrition support to Seafish.
A member of the British Dietetic Association, Juliette’s worked within the NHS, the food industry, and as the former editor of Top Santé magazine.
With over 20 years of experience as a freelance nutrition consultant, her work includes providing nutrition support for food brands, PR and marketing agencies, media outlets, health organisations, trade bodies, catering companies, and restaurants.
She regularly writes for magazines and newspapers, including Closer, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Express, and the Daily Telegraph online.
Juliette is also co-author of anti-aging book Eat Better Live Longer and Simply Nutrition For Complete Beginners, both published by DK.
REFERENCES
[1] YouGov. Health, finances and fitness: Key themes for 2025 New Year’s Resolutions. 6 December 2024.
[2] NHS. 8 tips for healthy eating. 22 November 2022.
[3] GovUK. NDNS: results from years 9 to 11 (2016 to 2017 and 2018 to 2019). 11 December 2020.
[4] Scarborough, P., Clark, M., Cobiac, L. et al. Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts. Nat Food 4, 565–574 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00795-w
[5] NHS. Understanding calories. 17 April 2023.
[6] BDA. Sport and exercise. May 2020.
[7] Heart UK. Triglycerides.
[8] British Heart Foundation. UK Factsheet. September 2024.
[9] Royal Osteoporosis Society. Key facts and statistics.
[10] GovUK. Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. 31 December 2020. Covers England, Wales and Scotland.
[11] European Commission. EU register of health claims. Covers Northern Ireland.