October is National Pescatarian Month, an opportunity to learn more about one of the most healthful, fulfilling and tasty lifestyle options available. But first, you may be asking, “What is a pescatarian?” Pescatarians consume seafood combined with a vegetarian diet. It’s a person who eliminates all meat from their diet with the exception of fish (like a vegetarian who still loves sushi or grilled salmon or shrimp!). Making up roughly 5% of the population, pescatarians follow a diet of seafood plus grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy, fruit, veggies and eggs.
Experts say “going pescatarian” can augment your intake of vital nutrients (such as omega-3 fatty acids) and lead to numerous health benefits, including improved brain and heart health, protection against diabetes, decreased inflammation, and more. Despite its many benefits only about 5 percent of the population are pescatarians.
The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) sponsors National Pescatarian Month as a way to raise awareness about the benefits of a pescatarian diet, spread some fun tips on how to adopt a pescatarian lifestyle (for a few days, weeks, months, or even longer), and highlight all of the amazing ways fish and seafood can be an integral part of any diet or lifestyle. NFI has developed a number of resources for anyone who is pesca-curious including a newly-released e-cookbook, and tons of featured content on their popular Dish on Fish blog.
History of National Pescatarian Month
Before we dig deeper into the pescatarian lifestyle and its benefits, it might be helpful to understand where this practice comes from. The word pescatarian is a neologism combining the Italian word for fish (pesce) with the English word vegetarian. While the term may be a modern invention, the concept of pescatarianism goes back thousands of years. Among the earliest known vegetarians in written history were the Pythagoreans, who took their name from the great Greek philosopher, Pythagoras. They were believed to have subscribed to a meatless diet, but it is strongly suspected that they also ate fish, which would make them some of our first unofficial pescatarians.
Throughout the centuries, many other groups adopted a pescatarian-style diet – some by choice, others by necessity. Famously, the Benedictine monks of the Middle Ages abstained from meat but not from fish until at least the 14th century. Other religious orders over time also abstained from meat, qualifying them as pescatarians as well.
The modern vegetarian movement in the U.S. has been around since the mid-19th century. It was adopted by certain social and religious organizations and even linked to prominent abolitionists and suffragists. It was not until the early 1990s, however, that the term pescatarian would enter the discussion, coined to describe a vegetarian who also eats fish.
The full-fledged pescatarian movement subsequently caught on alongside a noted rise in the popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets. In fact, the pescatarian diet – which features fish as its main source of protein – is sometimes viewed as a plausible transition diet on one’s way to the more-limiting end of the spectrum.
Pescatarianism has flourished over the last 25 years and is now a widely accepted dietary practice that’s fed by a profusion of cookbooks, online resources, and endorsements from its followers. Numerous celebrities, including actor David Duchovny, author Margaret Atwood, and musicians Billy Corgan, Amanda Palmer and Henry Rollins, have adopted the diet. So has renowned fitness trainer Jillian Michaels.
