SARDINES & GOOD CHOLESTEROL.

During the last 50 years, while anchovies claimed a starring role in pizzas and nouvelle cuisine and herring held its sway in ethnic favorites, the lowly sardine languished and gathered dust on grocery store shelves. The "Atlantic" magazine says that the sardine has an image problem caused by an association with poverty in the minds of most U.S. consumers. Now the health benefits of this forgotten, maligned member of the fish family puts it on the front page, especially for Americans who have high cholesterol.

Types

Sardines come from both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Most of the sardines caught in the U.S. are Sardinops sagax, Pacific sardines. The majority of Atlantic sardines, Sardina pilchardus, live along the coast of Europe and the Mediterranean and according to JRank Science, Sardinella, the anchovy, found off the U.S. Atlantic coast is the sardine's close cousin.

Facts

During the 1950s, overfishing almost depleted the population of Pacific sardines, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that better management has helped the Pacific sardine thrive. Americans eat only about 25 percent of the annual sardine catch. The rest become food for fish farms throughout the world.

Nutrition

Whole Health MD recommends that you eat sardines because it has heart-healthy essential fatty acids and it is a rich source of calcium, vitamin B12, potassium and selenium, all in a tiny, portable package. A 3 oz. can of sardines packed in oil has 1.3 g of saturated fat, but it also has 3.3 g of monounsaturated fat, 4.4 g of polyunsaturated fat and 121 g of cholesterol.

Benefits

The University of Miami states that eating fatty fish raises your high-density lipoprotein, or HDL cholesterol, while decreasing your low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. To increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, they suggest that you aim for two or more meals that contain these healthy fish per week Medline Plus reports that fatty fish like sardines provide approximately 1 g of omega-3 acids per 3.5 oz. serving. The omega-3 fatty acids in sardines are eicosapentaenoic, or EPA and docosahexaenoic, or DHA. Your body cannot manufacture these acids, so it is critical that you get them from food sources.

Although sardines contain cholesterol, they also have a high proportion of unsaturated fats. The Linus Pauling Institute explains that replacing saturated fats in your diet with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats results in lower serum cholesterol.

Eating Sardines

Medline Plus cautions that frying fatty fish cancels the health benefits and may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Broiling and baking are two of the best methods for preparing sardines. Whole Health MD suggests grilling, sautéing or eating canned sardines in sauces or salads.