Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 5/27/2008

Question
In the islands where normal food is unavailable Will the abundantly available Aquatic Food meet the regular diet with all those essential nutrients required by a healthy Human? Kindly suggest with some stastitics.

Answer
I believe the question you’re asking is “can humans survive on fish and seaweed”?  The answer is probably not for long.

Seaweed is a very nutritious vegetable, but not calorie-dense.  You would have to eat a lot of it to maintain your calorie intake.  Similarly, fish and other sea creatures such as shellfish are low in calories as well.

Humans have nutritional requirements for essential vitamins, fatty acids and minerals.  We are told to eat a variety of foods in order to meet these requirements.  The more the diet is restricted, the less likely it is that we can meet all our essential needs.  

Most island cultures have more sources of nutrition than just those two food sources.  Migrating people often bring seeds of plants they ate “back home” which will supplement their diet.  Often these are calorie dense plants such as cassava, taro, yams and breadfruit.   They also would bring chickens, pigs and other animals so they would keep a varied diet.

In addition, edible plants and berries are often found on islands, as well as seabirds and their eggs.

I hope this answer has helped you.  Please write back if you have more questions.

FM Rollwagen, PhD