Russian entrepreneur, one of the founders of the VKontakte social network and the Telegram messenger, Pavel Durov is known for his obsession with proper nutrition in the good sense of the word. He seeks to heal the body through specific food intake systems. An ardent adherent of self-restraint, over the past 15 years he has not consumed alcohol, caffeine, has not eaten meat, has not eaten fast food, and has given up taking medications. During all this time, Durov was ill only once. A year ago, he also gave up gluten, dairy products, eggs and fructose. In his telegram channel Durov's Channel, the 34-year-old programmer said that he recently focused on eating fish - exclusively wild. In the West, such a diet is called seagan diet or seaganism.
What is the Shigan diet
As Pavel Durov writes, unlike farm meat or agricultural products that were introduced into the human nutrition systems relatively recently (about 15 thousand years ago), wild fish cooked on fire is what our ancestors used for last million years.
In 2016, Amy Kramer and Lisa McComsey published a book about this diet, Seagan Eating: The Lure of a Healthy, Sustainable Seafood ("Shigan cuisine: the temptation of healthy, organic seafood").
© seaganeating.com/book
In fact, the Shigan diet is veganism plus seafood dishes at least twice a week. For vegans avoiding omega-3 fatty acids, the authors of Seagan Eating advise eating fatty fish. Moreover, they recommend only the one that comes from “sustainable sources”. True, frozen fish is fine too.
Studies have shown that eating fish reduces the risk of heart disease by normalizing cholesterol and blood pressure.
How to choose fish
Avoid fish that are high in mercury. Generally, the lower a fish is in the food chain, the less mercury is likely to be in it. Look for fish like sardines, haddock, rainbow trout, arctic char (salmon family), black cod and Pacific salmon, as well as crabs and shellfish. Cramer and McComsey write that eating local fish will be much safer than imported fish.
© GMVozd
What to combine and how to cook
Fresh herbs go well with fish and seafood. Ideal mix: basil, tomato and sea salt. Place fish in a foil bag, top with herbs and vegetables, cover with foil and bake. You can also fry the fish over an open fire. Use fresh tarragon, a tablespoon of white wine and asparagus to make the marinade.>