What Really Happens When You Eat Salmon Every Day

Look on any list of "healthy foods" and salmon will likely show up. As the second-most eaten seafood in the United States in 2020, salmon's bright pink hue and rich taste make it a staple at dinner tables across the country and the world over. Surely, its popularity has as much to do with its nutritional profile as its flavor.

Salmon is rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids, vital for the formation and maintenance of cell structure, and helps to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and the development of a range of other health conditions. No wonder regular salmon intake is highly recommended by nutritionists worldwide. As Molly Kimball, registered dietitian for Ochsner Health System, told The New Orleans Advocate, "if someone has salmon, or any type of the Omega 3 fish, at least twice a week, that's fantastic."

Of course, it's one thing to eat food recommended to us and another to know exactly how it affects our bodies. Furthermore, although eating salmon regularly can benefit your health, should you really eat it every day? Join us as we dive in and fish out the information you need to know.

Eating salmon daily could provide your heart with some powerful benefits. It's all down to the essential omega-3s present in the fish. The two long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are found in high amounts in salmon and seafood in general (via WebMD). By eating them, they can help to improve your blood pressure, prevent blood clotting, and stabilize abnormal heart rhythms — all of which have an impact on your cardiovascular and wider health (via Harvard Health Publishing).

If not eating fish regularly, many people tend towards omega-3 or fish oil supplements to achieve the same health benefits. It's important to point out, however, that studies that have been done on the effects of eating fish and those on the effects of taking fish oils are generally "not comparable" due to the participants and study designs being vastly different, according to Eric Rimm, a professor in the departments of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Studies that focus on fish consumption generally show the benefits for those who don't already have heart disease more clearly and could be more reliable.

Eating salmon every day could have an amazing effect on your skin, according to Dr. Rachel Nazarian of Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York. Speaking to HuffPost, Dr. Nazarian said, "I consider salmon to be one of the superfoods for skin health." This is due to the presence of both omega-3 fats, vitamin D, and astaxanthin, all of which help to protect and nurture skin health.

Nazarian continued, saying, "When you have a high level of good fat in your body it feeds the skin and allows the skin to make this healthy oil and allows the skin to be healthier. That's what gives skin the glow." Astaxanthin, too, "creates more collagen, calms inflammation, [and is] also a fantastic anti-aging agent," according to Nazarian. The dermatologist admitted that if not for the mercury levels, she'd eat it daily "because that's how good it is for your skin."

Praise be to the skeleton. Quite literally providing the framework for our bodies, our bones go through a lot in our lifetimes, and it's an unfortunate fact that we may not consider our bone health until something less-than-pleasant, like a fracture, occurs. Therefore, eating foods like salmon regularly can help to keep our bones strong and healthy, according to WebMD. In addition to omega-3s potentially providing benefits to bone health, the fish's vitamin D content helps your body to use calcium correctly and to keep your bones in tip-top shape. 

Indeed, the effect of regular fish intake on bone health has been observed in studies, such as one published in Nutrients which looked at the link between dietary intake and bone mass. The study found that among premenopausal women eating fish five to seven times a week, bone mass was higher. The study's authors concluded that "increased fish consumption is helpful in maintaining an adequate bone mass."

We tend to associate intake of higher-fat foods with elevated cholesterol levels, but there's more to the story. What's important is the type of fat we're consuming. Saturated fats can raise cholesterol levels in our blood, whereas unsaturated fats (like polyunsaturated fats) can help to lower cholesterol, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Good news for salmon-lovers: The omega-3 fatty acids that are present in the fish can help bring down cholesterol levels through the lowering of triglycerides in the blood (via WebMD). The omega-3s that we consume through eating salmon can also help to reduce inflammation throughout the body and to slow plaque growth in our arteries, leading to lower blood pressure.

That said, frying your salmon in oil is not the best idea for your health. Dr. Keecha Harris, registered dietitian and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, told WebMD, "The way that you prepare any of these foods makes a big difference in your blood cholesterol level. It's always best to broil, grill, or steam these foods."

Our diet affects essentially every aspect of our health, right down to the smallest parts of our bodies. And one of the reasons why salmon's reputation as a healthy choice stands tall is due to its benefits across the board, including the nails and teeth.

The omega-3s in salmon can help keep our nails strong and shiny by providing lubrication and moisture, and they can also help to reduce inflammation in the nail bed, according to Healthline. The levels of biotin, other B vitamins, and iron that come in a serving of salmon can also help keep our nails in good shape.

When it comes to our teeth, salmon is an excellent choice due to its vitamin D and calcium content. The vitamin D in this fatty fish helps our bodies to absorb calcium, which in turn helps to strengthen our teeth and preserve health in our gums, as Portman Dental Care pointed out. The all-in-one benefit provided here means that salmon's the whole package.

One interesting and often less-talked-about health benefit from eating salmon is the benefit it can have to your gut. With your gut health able to affect your entire body and the gut microbiome affecting everything from your kidneys to your heart, keeping on top of its health is paramount (via WebMD). Luckily, eating salmon regularly will likely help to preserve your gut health due to the omega-3 fatty acids you're getting with each serving.

As dietitian and founder of NAO Nutrition Nikki Ostrower told Eat This, Not That, "Wild salmon has an abundant source of omega-3 fatty acids, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory and is critical for healing an inflamed gut and preventing future episodes." Although Ostrower was speaking specifically about wild salmon here, farmed salmon is also high — and often higher — in omega-3s, meaning that you'll not miss out on this benefit should you opt for the more common farmed variety (via Healthline).

If you've ever heard someone refer to salmon as "brain food," there's pretty good reasoning behind that. Eating salmon regularly could help to preserve your memory. The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon play a useful role in brain health, confirmed Dr. Scott McGinnis, an assistant professor in neurology at Harvard Medical School. He explained to Harvard Health Publishing, "There's evidence they can have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects as well, which means they might promote healthier brain cells and less deterioration of the brain."

McGinnis advocates eating fish for omega-3 benefits as opposed to taking an omega-3 supplement, but according to a study published in PLoS One, supplemental fatty acids could also prove useful, particularly when it comes to memory. The study, which primarily looked at the effects of DHA, found a particular improvement among older individuals who had existing memory concerns, with the authors stating, "DHA, alone or combined with EPA, contributes to improved memory function in older adults with mild memory complaints."

If you're trying to bolster your immune system, maintaining a healthy diet is essential. And of all the things you could have on the menu, salmon is one of the top choices to eat to keep your immunity fighting fit. Salmon is particularly advantageous for your immune system thanks to a few key components, as Eat This, Not That! discusses. The first is its enviable vitamin D content. Vitamin D is relatively hard to come by from natural sources in your food, but salmon is packed with the stuff, delivering your body the much-needed nutrient that is so crucial to good immune health.

Other vitamins and minerals present in the fish, like magnesium and vitamin B6, are also highly important to get enough of for strong immunity. The B6 content of salmon is especially impressive, with the fish supplying one of the highest levels of the vitamin you can find naturally in a food source, says Healthline. And if that's not enough, the DHA in salmon (also known as an omega-3 fatty acid) contributes toward proper cell construction, thereby helping immune function. See? We told you it was good for you.

There's a lot of talk about the thyroid, but what exactly does it do? As it turns out, a whole lot. Your thyroid — an unassuming, two-inch gland that sits in your neck below your larynx — is a hormone factory, producing hormones that regulate various bodily processes, like your heart rate and metabolism (per WebMD). Looking after your thyroid is therefore essential, and luckily, salmon's one of the best things you can eat to care for it.

Among salmon's other nutritional benefits are the levels of selenium it contains. Selenium, a mineral also found in other fish like halibut and tuna, eggs, and brazil nuts, is crucial to the function of your thyroid, which contains a large amount of it. Without adequate selenium levels, your thyroid is unable to produce the hormones it needs to, and when this occurs, you may develop thyroid dysfunction and disease (via Nature Reviews Endocrinology). On the other hand, you don't want to eat too much selenium — having an overabundance of the mineral can lead to selenium toxicity and may result in nausea, fatigue, and changes to your hair and nails.