Health Benefits Of Catfish

Many people enjoy the flavor of catfish, but it offers a variety of
health benefits as well. Including the nutritious fish in your diet
helps you meet your protein needs and boosts your intake of vitamins
and healthy fats and fatty acids. Consider catfish regularly in your
meal planning.

A 3-oz. serving of catfish introduces 122 calories and 6.1 g of fat
into your diet. The low amount of calories in this fish make it a
popular choice for a healthy meal plan -- women generally require
approximately 300 to 500 calories per meal, and men need around 400 to
600 calories, so it fits in well and allows you to serve several
healthy side dishes with it. The fat content is also relatively low,
and little of it is saturated fat -- 2 g. Avoid consuming more than 16
to 22 g of saturated fat per day; too much in your diet can trigger
health problems.

Eating catfish is a tasty way to boost your intake of omega-3 and
omega-6 fatty acids. One serving of this fish provides 220 mg of
omega-3 fatty acids and 875 mg of omega-6. You will not find federal
guidelines on the consumption of these fatty acids, although the
American Heart Association suggests including fish in your diet
several times each week to increase the amount of fatty acids you eat.
Both of these nutrients play a part in heart and cognitive health.
Provides Complete Protein

The 15.6 g of protein in a serving of catfish provides you with all of
the amino acids your body needs. This high-quality, complete protein
helps your body build lean muscle mass, and it also helps improve the
effectiveness of your immune function. You may also rely on protein to
provide energy, especially if your body has used all of the
carbohydrates you have eaten for fuel.
Source of Vitamin B-12

Consume a serving of catfish, and you take in 40 percent of the daily
recommended intake of vitamin B-12. As a B vitamin, the vitamin B-12
in catfish is critical to aiding your body in the breakdown of the
foods you eat into usable energy, but this vitamin has other functions
as well. Without enough vitamin B-12 in your diet, your nerve function
suffers, and you might become lethargic.
Low in Mercury

Almost all fish contains mercury, a contaminant that may impact your
nervous system, but you may safely eat catfish unless the waters in
which it is caught are particularly high in mercury. The Environmental
Protection Agency lists catfish as one of the mostly commonly
consumed, low-mercury fish. Despite this, limiting your consumption of
fish to 12 oz. per week is recommended to decrease your exposure. This
is especially important if you are pregnant, since high levels of
mercury may harm your.