Escolar: The hidden dangers of a popular fish in your diet

Fish likely make up a large part of our diet. Many species are indeed healthy and recommended by dietitians. Unfortunately, we still often reach for those that are best avoided. One of them is escolar.

Escolar refers to several species. Most often, we use this term to refer to butterfish, escolar, and oilfish. It's worth knowing that, for example, in Italy, the sale of this fish is prohibited.

Escolar contains a lot of tasty, fatty meat. As we read on dietetycy.org, for two species, over 90% of the fats they contain are wax esters that the human body does not digest. Worse still, for this reason, eating such fish can cause unpleasant side effects. Dietitians strongly advise against consuming this fish, especially for pregnant women, children, and the elderly.

In stores, when buying escolar, we most often get butterfish and escolar. Due to the high content of the aforementioned wax esters, frequent consumption of these fish can impact our health. In what way? It starts with digestive problems: nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pains, and headaches. Heart problems and skin changes can also occur.

Moreover, the first worrying symptoms may appear about 2 hours and 30 minutes after eating the unhealthy fish. They usually subside within 1 day.

Dietitians advise limiting the consumption of escolar. But do these species really contain no nutrients? Not at all. Escolar contains a lot of niacin, which is a vitamin from the B group. It's worth knowing that niacin is essential for our brain and nervous system to function properly.