By Chisom Ibemere
Catfish belong to a diverse group of ray-finned fish. They are named for their prominent barbells, which looks like that of a cat’s whiskers. They differs both in their sizes and behaviours and not all catfish have prominent barbells.
Catfish remains one of the most common culinary fish worldwide. They come in different types and sizes which may grow up to 100kg or more. They live in freshwater environments throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas.
Catfish has low calories but loaded with a wide range of nutrients including high amounts of some essential vitamins. It is made up of white flesh, lean with small amounts of fat. It is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, an essential fatty acid (EFA) which offers a wide-range of benefits in the human body, and they are especially crucial to the brain and cardiovascular health.
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Catfish contains the least quantity of mercury concentration compared to other popular commercial fish like mackerel, herring that are promoted as being low mercury options. Mercury build up in the body, may increase the risk of neurotoxicity as well as developmental issues in the body especially those of infants.
Catfish is extremely dense in Protein which is an important compound for building and maintaining lean muscle mass. It is known as a “building block” for the production of enzymes and hormones that affect every function of our body.
Catfish and various animal foods contain Vitamin D also known as “the sunshine vitamin” because it is primarily gotten from natural sunlight. Vitamin D helps to reduce the risk of several chronic diseases. Consuming Catfish increases the level of Vitamin D in the body and is best for areas with low levels of sunlight.
Another great benefit of catfish is the fact that it has high amount of Vitamin B especially vitamin B12 which is a common dietary deficiencies in the globe. It is an essential vitamin, which offers an important role in the production of red blood cell, improve brain health, and synthesize DNA.
Catfish comes in two forms, the Wild-caught catfish and the Farm-raised catfish, both which provide nutritional benefits, but wild-caught catfish has more nutritional content.
