What Happens To Your Body When You Go Pescatarian For A Month

1. Pescatarian: What Does It Mean?

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With more and more people considering a meatless diet these days, there are a lot of words being thrown around for certain things you can eat. A pescatarian diet is when you give up any animal meat apart from fish. So you'll give up red meat like beef, white meat like chicken - any meat, but you'll eat fish.

2. Can You Still Eat Dairy?

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When you're thinking about being a vegan versus being a vegetarian, one key difference is that vegans don't eat any dairy produce at all, but veggies do. In terms of being a pescatarian, it's very similar to a vegetarian - you don't eat any meant or poultry, but you can still have dairy like cheese, eggs milk etc!

3. You're Likely To Feel Differences Over The Long-Term, Than A Quick Change!

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The thing with a pescatarian diet is it's not going to be a quick change - you may switch to this diet plan and not feel much different for a while and might be tempted to go back to meat, but stick with it! The pescatarian diet is in it for the long haul, with long-term benefits.

4. Here's What You Need To Know: First, You'll Be Helping The Environment

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So, first up - outside of the benefits for your body, you'll also want to know that you'll be giving the environment a helping hand! This is because it takes a lot less resources to produce seafood than it does to produce meat, so the impact on the planet will be less for fish production.

5. Seafood Is One Of The Healthiest Animal Proteins

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If you still want to get your protein from animal meat in your diet, then fish is one of the best choices you can make, compared to red meat or poultry. It's considered to be one of the healthiest animal proteins you can have because fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

6. You'll Lower You Risk Of Heart Disease

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What you eat obviously has a huge impact on your risks for heart disease down the line - but the good news is, a pescatarian diet is going to lower that risk. Because of the high amount of omega-3 fatty acids in fish, when you consume this over the long-term, the risks of heart disease decrease over time.

7. Your Blood Pressure Will Go Down, Too

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Speaking of the heart - your blood pressure is important, too! And with seafood, you're going to lower any risks of high blood pressure as well. The lower blood pressure goes hand in hand with a healthy heart, and as we know, low blood pressure also promotes better overall health.

8. Your Cholesterol Levels Will Drop

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When you get older - or even just when you consider every daily meal you're having, unfortunately - one thing you have to keep an eye on is your cholesterol levels. This is also key for keeping healthy blood pressure and heart health. Omega-3 fatty acids can help with that, too!

9. Risks Of Colorectal Cancer Will Decrease

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This particular cancer affects the rectum or colon, in which the cells grow out of control. It's a higher risk if you have a diet that's heavy on red meat, so pescatarianism can actually lower your risks of this desease, and even more so if you're switching out red meat for seafood.

10. You Might Get A Reprieve From Anxiety

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Anxiety is troubling most of us these days, with more and more pressures and the cost of daily living. What you eat can always have a difference on how you're feeling, and research has actually shown that the high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in seafood could help to improve anxiety symptoms.

11. And You Might Get A Helping Hand With Depression

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The same goes for mental health problems like depression. The high levels of omega-3 fatty acids can help to improve your mental space if you're feeling low. This is also why eating fatty foods and junk food - while good in the moment when you've had a bad day - won't improve your mood.

12. Your Mood Will Overall Be Improved!

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When you're eating healthily, we know it can make you feel so much better. It's tough to get into that good routine, but you always feel worse when you know you've eaten too much junk. With the high levels of good fatty acids in seafood, you should be feeling in a better mood overall, according to research.

13. You May Find You Have Tons More Energy, Too

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Not only that, but a mood booster goes hand in hand with having more energy levels. Not only should you have more energy if you're feeling more positive rather than anxious or depressed, but the actual energy you're getting from the healthy omega-3 will help out.

14. You'll Probably Be Less Moody

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If you're prone to having on and then off days, time and time again, and feel extremely moody a lot of the time - even if you don't have depression or anxiety - you may find that eating a seafood diet will also help you to feel less moody and more likely to feel calm.

15. Any Joint Pain Might Ease Up

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If you're struggling with joint pain, whether chronically or from time to time, maybe even after a workout, a seafood diet may be able to help ease that, too. This is because omega-3 fatty acids in a pescatarian diet are actually anti-inflammatory, which means they can help to restore the balance.

16. You Might Notice Less Spots On Your Face

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Whether you suffer from general acne or hormonal spots or not, there's no denying that what you eat can have an effect on your skin. Fatty, greasy junk foods and chocolate always run the risk of making you breakout. This is again due to the anti-inflammatory properties!

17. And Overall Less Rashes Or Blemishes

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If you also struggle with blemishes and skin-flares ups like rashes, that might not necessarily be spots, then a pescatarian diet has got your back with that, too (quite literally, if the rashes are on your back). The anti-inflammatory properties will help to reduce skin flare ups.

18. You'll Need At Least 2 Servings Of Fatty Fish A Week

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It's important to note that there's a suggested minimum you should be eating a week to reap all these benefits of seafood, and it won't just happen if you're picking at a couple of fish fingers  once a week. You need at least 2 servings of fatty fish a week - which is salmon, herring and mackerel, to name a few.

19. And You Might Struggle With The Switch From Meat At First

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It's always going to be difficult to make a huge eating switch when your mind and body is so used to one thing - not to mention your tastebuds, which might be craving the meat you've always had. If you're switching to fish only from red meat and poultry, it's going to take some time to be comfortable with it!

20. It's Better To Take It Slow

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And as always with these things, it's better to take it slow! You can't go from eating loads of red meat one day, to only fish the next - you can (and should) do it gradually, by reducing your meat intake and then eating more and more fish until you can comfortably drop other meat altogether.

21. And Make Sure You're Combining Fish With Other Protein Sources, Too

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A seafood diet has a ton of benefits as discussed, but it's not a be-all and end-all so that you can only have fish for the rest of your life! You'll need to make sure to combine seafood with many other great protein options, like wholegrains and eggs, which you can have with a pescatarian diet.

22. You Might Need To Meal Plan That First Month!

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Any sort of diet change is going to throw you off, so you want to make sure you're taking some time to sit down and plan your meals. This will help you to make sure you're having at least two portions of those fatty fish options a week, as well as mixing and matching your extras!

23. You'll Need To Avoid Fish With High Levels Of Mercury

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One issue with having a pescatarian diet is that you always need to be careful with the type of fish you're consuming in high levels - and that means risk of mercury. High levels of mercury - which come from certain fish - can have negative health impacts. Fish with high levels of mercury include swordfish and other big fish.

24. And Especially If You're Pregnant

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Risks of high levels of mercury are a problem for anybody, you should take particular care if you're pregnant. If you're considering switching to a pescatarian diet during pregnancy, then make sure to plan your meals and avoid eating too much of the fish types that may be a risk.

25. Your All-Important Omega-3 Fatty Acids Will Be Boosted

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There are many huge benefits of omega-3 fatty acid, as mentioned, which is also why this is a popular supplement with people who don't have fish in their diet. If you go pescatarian for a month (and beyond), you'll get an all-important boost of omega-3 fatty acids.

26. You'll Reduce Your Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

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You'll also be reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes, which is one of the most common health conditions people in the US are up against. You're at risk of heart and kidney problems, as well as your overall health, with diabetes, and a diet switch is one of the most important things you can do to avoid that.

27. Fight Against Any Risks Of Obesity!

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It's also considered that plant-based diets or pescatarian diets can lower your risks of obesity, too. If you're someone who struggles with their weight and puts it on very easily, or maybe a hefty diet or red meats and fatty foods have left you putting on a couple of pounds, a pescatarian diet might help you get in the right direction.

28. You Might Even Lose Weight, Too

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Not only can you better control putting on any weight to avoid becoming obese and maintain the weight you want, you can also have a better chance of losing weight if that's what your fitness plan is all about. Having a workout goal to lose weight paired with a pescatarian diet could have good results.

29. You'll Get A Huge Variety Of Nutrients

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With a pescatarian diet, you won't just get a huge boost in those omega-3 fatty acids that we keep talking about it - it'll be a huge boost in a wide variety of essential nutrients. It'll also become more varied with a seafood diet in terms of the nutrients you're consuming.

30. And You Might Reduce Your Risk Of Certain Eye Conditions

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There has been research to suggest that a pescatarian diet can also help with your eye health. Because of anti-inflammatory properties, it can also help to reduce inflammation in the eyes that could lead to vision problems. It can also help to keep your vision healthy for as long as possible!