Ask Dr. Gourmet

What should I do if I don't like fish or seafood?

I am trying to better my diet and eat healthier. I see that you say we should be eating fish or seafood 3 times a week. I don't like fish or seafood, I can't eat it.

I pretty much eat chicken and wheat pasta and vegetables. I eat some red meat on occasion. I do take Omega 3 pills every day, so that should help with the health benefits of eating fish.

How many times a week should I eat chicken?

Dr. Gourmet Says...

This is a great question. We have folks that are allergic to fish or shellfish and there are those like you who simply don't like fish. The research does show that taking fish oil capsules may be almost as good as having fish 3 days a week, so using these is a good idea.

The rule of thumb is to eat fish three days a week, red meat one time and for the other three days have about half and half poultry and vegetarian. I recommend that folks have a vegetarian meal two days one week and one day the next and alternate with poultry one day the first week and twice the next.

If you are not going to eat fish, it's best to minimize the amount of poultry you eat. There's no definitive research, but a good approach would be to have red meat once per week and have poultry three days and a non-meat meal the other three days.

There are dozens of great vegetarian recipes on the Dr. Gourmet web site. I'm sure you'll find something that appeals to you.

Thanks for writing,

Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP
Dr Gourmet