Short Stuff: Sardines! | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[music]. >> Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm. Josh, and there's Chuck, and we're just. sucking down sardines on this Short. Stuff because Jerry's sitting in for. Dave, which means it's Short Stuff about. sardines. >> That's right. Uh I picked this cuz a couple of weeks. ago you mentioned sardines cuz I had. mentioned I'd been eating tinned uh like. salmon and tuna for lunches for light. lunches. >> Uh-huh. Mhm. >> You said try sardines. I got said I got some sardines, and I. tried them today finally.

>> Yeah? >> And I have to say this, I I liked like. the flavor was was good, >> Okay. >> but I got skeeved out. >> Yeah, the same thing happens to me, man. I have zero recollection of telling you. to try sardines. And I. >> [laughter]. >> find them. difficult to eat because of the texture. >> You did not mention any of that when you. told me to try sardines. >> I I I don't know what you're talking. about. I'm not sure. >> Like last week or the week before. >> That is bizarre. >> I think you were even like, "Oh,

sardines are good. You should go eat. them.". >> Huh. That sounds like me. >> Yeah. >> But like one part of my brain was saying. it, and the rest of my brain didn't even. know that I just said it. >> Yeah, so the idea was to I got some. bagels when I was just in New York from. my favorite Ess-a-Bagel. >> Mhm. >> Everything's, bring them home in the. suitcase, put them in the freezer, cut. them in half, put them in the freezer. cuz eating a whole giant bagel like that. is a lot. So, >> Oh, yeah. >> I put a like for lunch sometimes I'll do. a half a bagel with like. um maybe sometimes nothing, just a half. a bagel, or sometimes I'll put some of. that tinned tuna on top.

>> Mhm. >> So, I was like, "Today I'm going to. throw some sardines on that, but let me. try them first." And I tried them, and. I'm glad I didn't waste that bagel. because I couldn't do it, man. They they. skeeved me out, but the flavor was still. fine. It was hard to describe why it. skeeved me. I guess cuz they're tiny. little fish looking at you. >> Well, that's the thing. Yeah, it's a. whole little fish. They don't grind it. up like tuna or salmon or anything like. that. Like it's. a little fish in a tray, a metal tray. Um that didn't skeeve me out. Again, it's the texture. The taste is fine.

Like they smell way more fishy than they. taste and they their taste is. fine. >> It wasn't unlike tuna, taste-wise. >> No, it's no. It's certainly not nothing. like anchovies, which are definitely. their own thing and they're good in. their own way. It's nothing like that. Um I saw some recipes because I got into. sardines [clears throat]. before I ever tried them and we still. have [laughter] cans left from years. back and I'm always looking for ways to. use them up and I found that you can.

just fry them up like a. Spanish tapas is to fry them. And I'm. like, if they crisp up a little bit, I. might be able to to handle them better. >> Agreed. And uh grilling them, had I. maybe just placed some on that bagel and. toasted it in the toaster oven, it might. have been a little better. Um but yeah, I'm with you. So, we're. talking sardines. Yeah. Uh these are. tiny little fish, of course, very. silvery. Uh they're very nutrient-dense, which we're going to talk about cuz. they're actually pretty good for you. Uh and you can get them, you know, you. can get fresh sardines in a lot of Asian.

countries. Usually over here in the. United States and other places in the. West, you're going to buy them in the. little, you know, their little uh bunk. bed that you twist open. Uh I wish you still twisted open things. like that with the little key, but. unfortunately, it's the stupid pull tab. now. >> Yeah. >> Um but one benefit of a uh sardine, if. you're into like a light uh tinned fish. for lunch, is that you don't have to. worry about mercury cuz they don't eat. other fish and apparently, that's where. mercury comes from is fish eating fish. They eat plankton and so, you don't have.

to sweat the mercury. >> Yeah, I saw the reason why it's a. problem because plankton actually have. mercury in it, but it's very small. amounts. The problem with eating fish. with mercury is that it bioaccumulates. So, one fish eats another fish that has. mercury, that fish's mercury combines. with the fish that ate its mercury and. so on and [clears throat] so forth so. that by the time you eat a fish, you're. eating a bunch of mercury mercury. potentially. Since sardines only eat the. little bit of mercury that plankton. have, they're fine. >> Yeah, which is a shame because if not.

for that, I would honestly eat a little. tin of nice tuna every day for lunch. >> I. I yeah, I don't eat it every day, but I. eat a lot like I've been eating way more. fish than than usual. Have you ever had. branzino? >> Oh, yeah. Anytime it's on a menu, a. whole branzino at the table for everyone. to share, that's what I do. >> Okay, my friend. Uh you can go to a. certain um. alternative grocery store, I guess you. could call it. >> Okay. >> Um that has a lot of their own own brand. stuff. Basically, that's all they sell.

is their own brand. >> Okay. >> And they have frozen branzino fillets. and. like just put a little salt, a little. pepper. >> Yeah, yeah. >> maybe not even olive oil and eat it and. you will just be in seventh heaven. >> Throw it in the oven or just eat it. cold? >> You can throw it in the oven. I throw it. in the air fryer sometimes. >> Yeah, sure. >> You I don't Yeah, I don't recommend. eating it cold. It's not like sashimi. >> Oh, okay. That's what I thought cuz you. didn't mention cooking it. >> No, I'm sorry. >> Buddy, you you know you're not supposed. to eat that much tuna. I hope you're not.

cuz that's a serious thing. Like eating. more than one like tin of tuna a week is. not great. >> I didn't know that, but I don't think I. eat a tin of tuna every week now. >> All right, good. You don't want to turn. into uh. the mad hatter? No, the guy that ate too. much tuna, Ari from uh Entourage. And. >> Oh, plot lines from Entourage? >> No, the Ari, the the agent in Entourage. What's the guy from all the John. uh. >> I know who you're talking about. Go. ahead.

>> Yeah, I. what's his name? I can't remember his. name. >> Not Jon Favreau? >> No, the guy from. >> Jeremy Piven? >> Jeremy Piven, yeah. He he got sick from eating a he got like. mercury poisoning years ago from. apparently eating too much sushi. >> Uh I think you told me that before. >> Yeah. >> Did you ever see PCU? >> [laughter]. >> I saw parts of it. I never saw the whole. thing. >> I saw the whole thing multiple times for. some reason. [laughter]. >> Well, that's where you were in your life. at the time. >> I guess so. >> All right. So, back to sardines, they.

are found in shallow coastal temperate. subtropical oceans all over the world. Uh, and they're very popular in Europe. Obviously, Portugal and Spain, you can. find them a lot of tapas menus. You can. grill those things up. Throw them on a. piece of toast. You're eating the bones, by the way. They're they're very tiny, so it's you don't feel like you're. eating bones. They just sort of dissolve. in with the rest of the little. silverfish. >> I think that might be part of the. texture problem, too. >> Yeah, maybe. >> But, there's a lot of health benefits, including the bones.

The bones are chock-full of calcium. Apparently, it just eating one tin, I. think, of sardines gives you like a. third of the calcium you need as a human. being, at least according to the US. government. >> Yeah. And if you're lactose intolerant, it's a good place to get calcium. Um, also, because it's a a fish, you're. going to get lots of uh, vitamin D, B12, phosphorus, selenium, and those omega-3. fatty acids, which are great at. preventing uh, heart disease, uh, while. also being low in saturated fat.

>> Yeah, I was reading about that, cuz I. take omega-3s for cognitive stuff. Like, it helps me focus, and and it's it. really works really well. >> I've heard that. >> But, um, there's a history of atrial. fibrillation in my family. And I read. that if you have a family history of. heart disease, the, um, taking omega-3s, there was a. study recently that found taking. omega-3s actually increases your risk of. developing it yourself. >> Oh, really?

>> But, it has a protective function if you. already have heart disease. It's really. bizarre. >> Oh, jeez, man. The human body is so. weird sometimes. >> It is. But, so So was one study. It was. a recent study, but it was a pretty big. meta-analysis and it doesn't seem to be. being poo-pooed in the scientific press. So it might be legit, I don't know, but. it was enough to make me stop taking it. every day. All right. >> All right, well uh we'll take a little. break and we'll come back and talk a. little bit more about sardines right. after this.

>> [singing]. [singing]. [music]. [music]. >> Okay Chuck, so we talked about omega-3s. We talked about calcium. Let's talk about some other stuff that's. in in these things cuz they're basically.

like. little miracle fish essentially. >> Yeah, I mean what else you got? >> One of the things that stands out to me. is that they've got this nice balance of. protein. and fats, but healthy fats. Part of the. omega-3 thing. They have they're high in. omega-3s, but they're low in saturated. fats. So it's like the good stuff. and they have just enough protein too. that if you eat them, you're not going. to be like I I need some more food. Like. they'll satiate you.

>> Yeah, for sure. And that's what I'm. looking for with these light lunches is. something to kind of make me go like, all right, that's enough for now. >> Yep. >> Uh unfortunately sardines sardines don't. have a place in my life now. >> Yet, you have to fry them first. >> Yeah, and I'm going to try that. >> I am too. >> Uh all that that means I have to buy. more. >> I can give you some I'll loan you some. of mine. [laughter]. >> Yeah, bring some to Canada next week. >> Okay. >> Uh oh man, you probably can't sneak. sardines into Montreal. Are you kidding. me? >> I don't know. I don't know, let's find out.

>> Um it's not all rosy when it comes to. sardines though everybody because if you. have gout, uh if you have kidney stones, or high blood pressure, uh, you might. want to not to like overload on. sardines. I'm sure a little is fine, but. they are high in purines, and that is. going to create extra uric acid, which. is obviously the problem with gout and. kidneys, and how your kidneys process. uric acid. So, maybe, you know, again, in moderation. I I doubt if like. a little bit of sardine is going to be. too bad for you. >> Yeah, I think this is excess kind of.

stuff where you're just pounding like. >> Jeremy Piven level. >> Exactly. Also, if you have chronic. kidney disease, um, sar- sardines are so. packed with protein that they can. actually make it hard on your kidneys to. process all of it. So, there's essentially we've reached the. point where we want to remind all of you. that we are not doctors, nor dieticians, nor nutritionists. Uh, we're just fans. Um, and if you are like, "Well, I've got. chronic kidney disease, but these guys. have really made me curious about. sardines." Maybe talk to a professional,

or ask your AI assistant. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh, they'll tell you. Ireland is in Ireland. I know that much. Um, a lot of sodium, too, sometimes, depending on what kind you buy. So, uh, you know, buy the ones in water, um, because we didn't say they could be. packed in like oil. Sometimes it's like. different sauces and things. >> Yeah. >> Uh, I do like some of the tuna and salmon. packed in oil, and then, you know, you. drain most of that off, but, um, you. know, get sardines packed in water that. don't have a lot of added sodium. >> Yeah, the problem with like tuna packed.

in water is because you use so much more. mayonnaise. to make up for the oil that's missing. that it [laughter] it just at least. washes out, if not gets worse. >> That's right. >> Uh, there's one other problem, uh, that has to do with basically anything. that you get in a can. The can probably. has some sort of bisphenol in it. >> Oh, yeah, BPAs. >> Yeah. Uh, BPA, BP, I think F was one. All of the Remember the replacement ones. that they're like, "BPA free." But, there's other bisphenols in here, so.

don't ask too many questions about. those. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, so that's a problem with basically. any canned thing, and sardines are no. exception, so go listen to our short. stuff on BPAs. It was fairly. enlightening, I think. >> Agreed. >> Is is short stuff out? >> Yes. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from. iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, [music] or wherever you. listen to your favorite shows.