Eating Small Fish Can Extend Your Life, New Study Says

Open up.

Fish can be a filling part of a balanced diet, and a new study out of Japan highlights the benefits of small fish specifically. Tinned fish like sardines have seemingly grown in popularity in recent years, and researchers set out with the goal to examine how eating small fish specifically can affect our health. 

The study, published in the Public Health Nutrition journal, followed more than 80,000 participants between the ages of 35 and 69 for an average of 9 years. The goal was to see how the consumption of small fish, which in Japanese meals include plates like whitebait, Atlantic capelin, Japanese smelt, and small dried sardines, can affect mortality in general as well as cancer-related mortality. 

In the end, the team found that "the intake of small fish was statistically significantly and inversely associated with the risk of all-cause and cancer mortality in females." Interestingly the findings only held up for the women, as "no statistically significant association was observed in males."

Lead study author Dr. Chinatsu Kasahara explained that there haven't been many studies centered around the health effects of small fish specifically. "I was interested in this topic because I have had the habit of eating small fish since childhood," she said, per MedicalXpress. "I now feed my children these foods."

Kasahara went on to share why she thinks these fish seemingly had a positive health impact on the study participants. 

"Small fish are easy for everyone to eat, and they can be consumed whole, including the head, bones, and organs. Nutrients and physiologically active substances unique to small fish could contribute to maintaining good health," she said. "The inverse relationship between the intake of small fish and the mortality risk in women underscores the importance of these nutrient-dense foods in people's diets."

Study co-author Takashi Tamura echoed a similar sentiment and left the door open to more research in the future to explore this phenomenon more thoroughly. "We suspect that the intake of small fish anywhere may be revealed as a way to prolong life expectancy," Tamura said. "Further evidence is necessary to elucidate the potential role of the intake of small fish in mortality risk."

It might be time to start working some small swimmers into your diet.