While nutritionists and health care professionals often disagree on many issues, the health benefits of fish are pretty much understood and agreed upon by everyone. Some fish, like wild-caught salmon and tuna, are known to be very healthy to eat. Other fish, like sole fish, may not be as good for you.
Not only does sole fish not have as many healthy nutrients as other fish, but there are also many worries about its safety for both people and the environment. People have become more aware of the possible problems with this species of flatfish since it was added to the “seafood red list” of fish that come from fishing methods that aren’t sustainable in 2010.
Sole fish have become a popular fixture on restaurant menus and dinner tables around the world. With a delicate, mild flavor and a firm white flesh, it’s easy to see why cooks everywhere have taken to preparing sole in ways like sole meunière, baked sole, and sole fillets.
However despite its prevalence there are a lot of lingering questions around whether sole fish is actually healthy and good for you. With concerns about sustainability, mercury levels, and nutritional value, it’s worth taking a deeper dive on this flatfish.
In this article, I’ll walk through the key facts on sole to help you understand the health impacts – both good and bad. My goal is to provide a balanced perspective so you can make an informed decision about including sole in your diet.
What is Sole Fish?
Let’s start with the basics. Sole is a type of flatfish that lives on the ocean floor off the coasts of Europe and America. There are several varieties of sole fish, but the most common one we eat is Dover sole.
Dover sole are brown fish with a white underside that dwell at the bottom of shallow waters. They feed on crustaceans, mollusks, and worms, growing up to 30 inches long.
Sole live close to the sea floor, which exposes them to higher contaminant levels They are caught using controversial trawling methods, leading to sustainability concerns.
The sole fish taste is described as mild, sweet, and delicate. It can be prepared in many ways, like sole meunière, but is also expensive compared to other fish.
Is Sole Fish Nutritious?
When evaluating the health impacts of any food, looking at its nutritional value is key. Here’s a quick rundown of the nutrition facts on sole fish:
-
High in protein – A 3 oz serving of sole contains about 13g protein
-
Low in fat – Sole only has about 2g total fat per serving, with just 0.5g saturated fat.
-
Low calorie – A serving of sole clocks in around 70-80 calories.
-
Contains selenium, phosphorus, B12.
-
Low mercury levels compared to fish like tuna, swordfish, shark.
So in terms of nutrition profile, sole provides lean protein, is low calorie, and contains several beneficial nutrients like selenium. The low mercury content is also a plus compared to fattier fish.
However, sole is still relatively low in heart-healthy omega-3s compared to fatty fish like salmon. It also lacks some vitamins and minerals like vitamin D and potassium.
Overall, while sole offers decent nutritional value, it doesn’t stand out as a superstar. From a nutrient perspective, there are healthier fish options available.
Is Sole Fish Sustainable?
Another important consideration is the sustainability and fishing practices used to catch sole. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program rates sole as a “Good Alternative” but flags some concerns.
Most sole are caught using heavy bottom trawls. This fishing method involves dragging large nets across the seafloor, which can damage marine habitats. There are also high levels of bycatch with trawling, meaning many non-target fish get caught.
However, management of sole fishing has improved considerably in recent years. Strict quotas are now in place, and most sole fisheries have received a sustainable rating.
So while sole fishing had major sustainability issues in the past, current management practices have helped mitigate many of these concerns. Sole remains a better option than some other high-risk seafood like orange roughy.
Does Sole Fish Have Health Risks?
The main health concerns around sole revolve around contaminants like mercury and PCBs.
As bottom-dwellers, sole live and feed in close proximity to contaminated ocean sediments. This exposes them more than other fish to things like mercury, pesticides, and industrial chemicals that settle on the seafloor.
Studies show sole and other flatfish can contain elevated levels of PCBs, dioxins, and other carcinogenic contaminants. The contaminant levels directly correlate to how polluted their environment is.
However, the FDA still includes sole in its list of “Best Choices” for fish during pregnancy. Unlike larger predatory fish, sole is low on the food chain, which limits mercury accumulation.
The risks of contaminants in sole can be minimized by choosing sole from less polluted waters and limiting consumption to 1-2 times per week. As always, a varied seafood diet is ideal.
Healthier Alternatives to Sole
While sole can be part of a healthy diet in moderation, there are also healthier fish options to consider:
-
Salmon – Rich in omega-3s and low in contaminants. Has more healthy fats than sole.
-
Sardines – Also high in omega-3s and sustainably fished. Contains lots of calcium and vitamin B12.
-
Rainbow trout – Has a similar flavor to sole but with more omega-3s. Less contaminant risk as it’s farmed in freshwater.
-
Atlantic mackerel – Full of omega-3s, lean protein, vitamin B12, and selenium. It’s well-managed and low in mercury.
All these fish provide tremendous nutritional benefits with less contaminant risks compared to sole. Prioritizing them in your seafood rotation is a smart move for health.
Should You Avoid Sole Fish Entirely?
Based on all the information we just covered, should sole fish be avoided altogether?
In my opinion, sole can still be part of a healthy, balanced diet when eaten in moderation. For most people, having sole 1-2 times per month is fine. However, there are a few cases where sole fish is better to avoid:
-
Children and pregnant/nursing women should avoid sole and prioritize low mercury fish due to risks from contaminant exposure on developing brains and bodies.
-
People who already eat a lot of fish high up the food chain like tuna and swordfish. The mercury can accumulate, so best not to overdo sole consumption.
-
Individuals with high PCB/dioxin levels. Those with known contaminant exposure may want to limit or avoid bottom-feeding fish like sole as an extra precaution.
-
People who simply want to maximize omega-3 intake. You’ll get more bang for your buck nutritionally from salmon, trout, and other fatty fish.
Healthy Ways to Enjoy Sole Fish
If you do want to work some sole into your diet, here are some tasty and nutritious ways to prepare it:
-
Baked sole – Coat fillets with breadcrumbs or parmesan cheese and bake until flaky.
-
Sole tacos – Bake or fry sole fillets and add to soft corn tortillas with jalapeno salsa and cabbage.
-
Sole ceviche – “Cook” pieces of sole in lime juice and toss with cucumber, tomato, onion, avocado.
-
Sole provençal – Simmer sole fillets in a tomato sauce with olives, garlic, and herbs.
-
Panko-crusted sole – Dredge sole in egg and panko breadcrumbs and pan fry for a crispy texture.
Stick to healthier cooking methods like baking, broiling, or grilling. Avoid deep frying sole to prevent adding unnecessary calories and fat.
The Final Verdict on Sole Fish
In closing, is sole fish healthy? It can be when enjoyed responsibly. Sole provides lean protein, some beneficial nutrients, and has relatively low mercury levels compared to many fish.
However, concerns around contaminants, sustainability, and nutrition mean sole is not the prime option. Fish like salmon and trout deliver much more omega-3s and minerals with fewer downsides.
Eating a serving of sole 1-2 times per month is likely fine for most healthy adults. Just be sure to buy sustainable sole, trim off any excess fat, and cook it in a healthy way without frying. Then, round out your diet with plenty of other nutritious seafood.
With the right knowledge, sole can be incorporated as part of your healthy lifestyle. Now pass the tartar sauce – bon appétit!
4 Reasons to Avoid It
One of the biggest concerns with eating any type of fish is contamination. Heavy metals and toxins can build up in fish, and when people eat them, they can cause serious health problems.
Because of high amounts of pollution and industrial waste, flatfish varieties like sole fish are more likely to contain dangerous contaminants that could wreak havoc on health. Studies analyzing biomarkers of contaminant exposure have found that sole fish in some areas may be exposed to high amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toxic chemicals associated with damage to the DNA and cancer development.
In addition to being potentially risky in terms of health, sole fish is also overfished and unsustainable. In fact, sole fish were featured on Food
This is because most sole fish are caught in demersal trawls, which are large nets that are pulled through the ocean and used to target bottom-living fish. This method of fishing can have a serious negative environmental and ecological impact as the fishing gear can cause long-term damage to sensitive habitats on the ocean floor.
Also, fish that live at the bottom of the ocean often travel in mixed groups. This means that trawling can catch and throw away vulnerable fish species by accident, which hurts their populations.
To get enough omega-3 fatty acids, the American Heart Association says you should eat at least two servings of fatty fish each week. Omega-3 fatty acids are important for many parts of health and have been linked to a number of possible benefits, such as better heart health, a lower risk of cancer, and protection against cognitive decline.
Sole fish is a type of lean fish, which means it doesn’t have as many omega-3 fatty acids as some other animals. Instead, to get a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, you should eat fatty fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel, and tuna a few times a week.
There are many more nutrient-dense and sustainable types of fish that you can eat if you want to eat more of them. Wild-caught salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, black cod, and anchovies are all tasty alternatives that are better for the environment and have a lower chance of making you sick.
Not only do most of these fish have more of the good omega-3 fatty acids for your heart, but they also have more of many important vitamins and minerals. For example, one serving of salmon gives you a good amount of the vitamin B6 and selenium you need for the whole day. It also has almost 19 grams of protein. Sardines, on the other hand, have a lot of vitamin D and can give you all the vitamin B12 you need in one serving.
Feel free to use other types of healthy fish in your favorite sole fish recipes to make them more micronutrient and omega-3 dense. Similar types of fish, like red snapper, pollock fish, or Alaskan cod, can be used to make fish that tastes and feels like sole.
There are many bad things about eating sole fish, but there are also some possible health benefits to think about.
Sole fish is good for you because it is low in calories and high in protein, which can help you lose weight. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study that found that increasing protein intake by just 15% for 12 weeks made people feel fuller, lowered their body weight, and cut their daily caloric intake by an average of 441 calories.
Sole fish also contain an array of other important nutrients as well. It is especially easy to get selenium, vitamin B12, and phosphorus from sole fish. They also have a lot of other vitamins and minerals.
Also, they are usually lower in mercury than many other types of fish, though there is a high chance that they will be contaminated with certain chemicals. Mercury poisoning can be bad for your health and cause symptoms like loss of coordination, weak muscles, and trouble seeing and speaking.
In general, most people should limit how much high-mercury fish they eat. However, kids and women who are pregnant should not eat any high-mercury fish at all. People who are worried about mercury may want to avoid shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. Instead, they might want to try sole fish.
Fish is a key ingredient of both Ayurveda as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). On an Ayurvedic diet, consumption of healthy meats like fish is permitted in moderation. People with a vata constitution may benefit the most from fish, while people with a pitta or kapha constitution should only eat freshwater fish.
Fish like fillet of sole are best when combined with other light foods, like grains and vegetables. However, they may not be compatible paired with eggs or dairy products.
Traditional Chinese Medicine says that fish can help strengthen the spleen, stop diarrhea, tone the chi, stop bleeding, and even make you more sexually interested. It’s often used to treat conditions like hemorrhoids, skin lesions, fatigue, low libido and postpartum bleeding.
There are not many calories or fat in sole fish, but it has a lot of protein and some important nutrients, like selenium and vitamin B12.
A three-ounce serving of cooked sole fish (approximately 85 grams) contains about:
- Calories: 73.1
- Total Fat: 2 g Saturated Fat: 0. 5 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0. 4 g Monounsaturated Fat: 0. 6 g Trans Fat: 0. 01 g .
- Protein: 12.9 g
- Sodium: 309 mg (13% DV*)
- Selenium: 27.7 mcg (50% DV)
- Vitamin B12: 1.1 mcg (46% DV)
- Phosphorus: 263 mg (21% DV)
- Vitamin B6: 0.1 mg (6% DV)
- Niacin: 1.1 mg (7% DV)
- Magnesium: 18.7 mg (4% DV)
- Potassium: 167 mg (4% DV):
- Pantothenic Acid: 0.2 mg (4% DV)
*Daily Value: Percentages are based on a diet of 2,000 calories a day.
Along with the nutrients listed above, sole fish also has small amounts of riboflavin, zinc, vitamin E, calcium, iron, folate, and thiamine.
Tilapia and sole fish are both popular for their mild taste that works well in many different recipes. The taste of tilapia and sole fish is said to be neutral and not fishy, which makes them great for bringing out the flavors of other foods in your dish.
Both are also plagued with a bad reputation when it comes to health. Sole fish is known for not being sustainable and hurting the environment, while tilapia is usually raised in farms and has a lot of health problems.
There are more antibiotics, pesticides, and dangerous chemicals like dioxins in farm-raised fish like tilapia, salmon, and swai fish, according to studies.
However, there are some notable differences between these two types of fish. Fish like tilapia and angelfish and peacock bass are all in the same family, Cichlidae. They live in fresh water. Sole fish, on the other hand, are mostly saltwater fish and members of the flatfish family.
The sole fish price is also a bit higher than tilapia fish, making it slightly less affordable.
Because they share a similarly mild flavor, they can both be incorporated into a variety of recipes. You can use tilapia or sole fish in fish tacos, casseroles, soups, and curries. You can also grill, bake, or broil them and serve them on their own.
What Is Sole Fish?
Sole fish is a type of lean flatfish that belongs to the Soleidae family. Most of these fish live near the coasts of Europe, but some types can also be found in the water off of the Americas.
There are different kinds of sole fish, but the Dover sole fish is the most common and easy to find. It has a flat appearance and is typically brown with a white underside.
There are two small eyes on the right side of its body. It can get as long as 28 inches. The sole fish lives near the ocean floor and eats crustaceans and shellfish that are found at the bottom of the water.
Thrusters, which are big nets that scrape the ocean floor to catch fish, are often used to catch these fish. They have a mild taste and are versatile enough to use in many different recipes.
Sole fish are named for their flat appearance and resemblance to a sandal, or “solea” in Latin. In other languages, such as Greek, German, Spanish and Dutch, sole fish is named for the tongue.
The common sole, also called the Dover sole, is one of the most popular types of sole fish, especially among chefs. It’s easy to work with, can be used in a lot of different ways, and tastes mildly sweet. Classic recipes like sole meunière use it a lot. In this French dish, sole fillets are covered in flour, fried in butter, and then served with lemon and parsley on top.
Even though the common sole is a popular fish, Greenpeace International put it on its “seafood red list” in 2010 to bring attention to the harmful and unsustainable fishing methods used to catch it.
Concerns have been raised, though, about the safety of eating sole fish, as well as about its long-term viability and the possible ecological and environmental effects of the controversial ways it is caught.
5 of The Healthiest Fish to Eat and 5 to Avoid
Is sole fish safe to eat?
In addition to being potentially risky in terms of health, sole fish is also overfished and unsustainable. In fact, sole fish actually made it onto Food & Water Watch’s “dirty dozen” list of fish you should never eat due to the unsustainable and unsafe fishing practices that are commonly utilized.
Is it good to eat fish?
Fish is one of the healthiest foods on earth. It is loaded with important nutrients such as protein and vitamin D. Fish is also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are very essential for body and brain growth and development. Some fish are high in mercury, which is related to brain developmental problems. Eating fish lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Omega-3 fatty acids in fish may combat depression. Fish and fish products are the best sources of vitamin D. Eating fish has been linked to reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes and several other autoimmune diseases. Eating fish protects vision in old age, preventing age-related macular degeneration(AMD).
Why should you eat fish like sole?
Heart and Brain Support: Eating fish like sole as part of your meals can lower the risk of heart disease, including heart attacks and strokes, thanks to those omega-3 fatty acids. Plus, they’re great for keeping your brain sharp and reducing the risk of cognitive decline as you age.
Is sole fish a good source of protein?
Sole fish is rich in protein. And we’re all aware of the advantages of consuming protein-rich foods. Eating a high protein diet may increase satiety and reduce calorie intake. Furthermore, sole fishes includes a variety of other critical elements.