Dear Janice and Liz,
I used to think about eating a vegetarian diet. However, I'm not so sure about nutrition, especially vitamins D and B12 because I don't want to use supplements or fortified foods. I fortunately found your web site. I have decided to consume vegetarian foods plus shrimp and/or shellfish like scallops, mussels, clams, etc. I have 2 questions: 1. I hear news about mercury and contamination in seafood. Would you please tell me which seafood is less contaminated compared to others? In other words, if I have to take a risk, can shrimp be a better choice compared to oysters or clams? 2. If shrimp is the only seafood I eat along with plant foods, do I have to worry about nutritional deficiency such as vitamins D/B12, iron, zinc, calcium, etc? Thank you very much! Minh N. Oakland, CA
Dear Minh,
The goods news is that all the seafood you mentioned including shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, and oysters are considered low mercury fish and are safe to eat. Canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish are some of the other very low mercury fish. In addition, shrimp and shellfish contain nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 which could be lacking in vegetarian diets.
Shrimp is an excellent source of high quality protein, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and the antioxidant selenium, which protects our bodies from oxidative stress. Seafood is rich in many nutrients. Consider the following:
• Clams, oysters, crab, salmon, and sardines = high in vitamin B12
• Clams and oysters = high in iron
• Oysters and crab = high in zinc
• Sardines and canned salmon with bones = high in calcium
• Salmon, mackerel, sardines, and tuna = high in vitamin D.
Eating a vegetarian diet along with some fish and shellfish should provide you with all the nutrients you need for good health.
