Introduction

Anchovy is a tiny fish and salt water is where it lives most of the time. The fish possesses a slim physique and greenish gleaming skin. Anchovies are of different sizes, with a size range of 2-40 cm. These fish live all through the world’s oceans. Nevertheless, the fauna do not just live in saltwater; in tropical areas, they can live in freshwater as well. Their favourite place of living is temperate water, so they seldom visit the very cold or warm climate.

Due to its size, anchovy provides the biggest food resource for its predators (mostly sea fishes and birds) in the area of its habitat. In living, they are almost always found in a concentrated herd as a group to facilitate their survival. They swim together and follow each other as if they share one mind, hence creating an enormous beautiful sparkling ball known as a school of fishes. The larger schools are swimming near the shallow shores in brackish water with muddy grounds of estuaries and bays.

In the human environment, anchovy is known for its wellness features. The fish contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, like vitamin D and calcium for the bones. It is in the oily fish category and has more oil as compared to whitefish (codfish, grouper, snapper). Omega-3 is the most prominent fat in fish that is highly known for its benefit for parts of your body including the heart, brain, and joints.

Nutritional facts of anchovies

Anchovies can be found in the market in raw or preserved state. The most popular are preserved in canned and dipped into an olive oil and salt mixture. Preserved anchovies come with all the nutrition in raw anchovy.²

A 100-gram serving of canned anchovy contains:¹

• Calories: 210 
• Total Carbohydrate : 0 grams
• Protein: 29 grams
• Total Fat: 10 grams

• Cholesterol: 85 milligrams
• Sodium: 3668 milligrams
• Potassium: 544 milligrams
• Vitamin C: 0% Daily Value (DV)
• Iron: 25% DV
• Vitamin B6: 10% DV
• Magnesium: 17% DV
• Calcium: 23% DV
• Vitamin D: 17% DV
• Cobalamin: 14% DV

Anchovy is high in protein and fat but still low in calories and possesses zero carbohydrates which means this is the best food option for those of you who are suffering from diabetes. Anchovies comprise of high minerals such as iron, and calcium alongside Vitamin D which is essential for strong and healthy bones. How do minerals and vitamins help to preserve healthy bones? To answer your curiosity, let’s talk about this in-depth!

Role of minerals and vitamins in bone health

According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH), the two most important nutrients of our bones’ health are calcium and vitamin D.³

Calcium

As you all may have known, the importance of calcium is to keep our bones strong because calcium helps to harden and strengthen bones. On top of that, there are plenty of benefits calcium has throughout your body that you do not realize, such as maintaining a regular heart rhythm, contracting muscles and making sure the right signal transmission in the nervous system, till helping the blood clots.

Because of its numerous benefits, calcium is one of the few minerals that are abundant in our bodies. However, 99% of its distribution is preserved in our bones. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) mentions that in order to maintain good bones, a balanced diet plays a vital role.⁴ This is true because our bodies actually cannot produce calcium on our own. Thus, the only way to give enough of this mineral to ourselves is through diet.

Here are the top 3 food sources that are high in calcium :

1. Dairy products (cow, goat) such as milk, cheese, and yoghurt
2. Leafy green vegetables such as spinach, bok choy, kale, broccoli
3. Salmon, sardines, and any small fish with bones (anchovy)

Vitamin D

There are two main roles that vitamin D plays in keeping good bones healthy: 

1. Increase bone mineral density (BMD) 
2. Modulating muscle strength and immune system

One easy indication of weak bones is that they are prone to fracture. Bone mineral density (BMD) is the amount of calcium and other minerals (usually phosphorus) in the bones. The lesser the value of BMD, the weaker the bone is.

Unlike calcium, vitamin D does not directly strengthen the bones. What the vitamin does is make sure your calcium intake does not go to waste. It helps to increase the absorption of calcium, making sure our bodies get enough of the mineral to function appropriately.

Furthermore, the risk of bone fracture does not only rely on how strong your bones are but also relies on muscle strength. Bone fracture happens because of many incidents, but mostly it occurs because of trauma from falls. Many studies and research have investigated the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the incidents of falling.

Studies show that vitamin D deficiency is highly related to muscle strength. The lower the vitamin level in one person, the weaker the muscle is, and the higher the risk of him/her falling. A trial has once been conducted to investigate the intervention of vitamin D intake alone or in combination with calcium on the risk of falls. Although the outcome of vitamin D intake in combination with calcium was better than alone, the results of both interventions showed that the consumption of vitamin D influenced the rate of falling incidences.⁵

Another benefit is immune system modulation. The immune system is very important as it gives protection to our bodies from any harmful organisms and substances. But, what is the correlation between the immune system and our bones? Here comes the interesting part.

As explained earlier, bone density is largely determined by calcium which indicates how strong our bones are. The greatest performance of bones happens between ages 25 and 35. After this peak, the density will decrease and bones are prone to fracture either caused by fall or even without the injury. This condition is called osteoporosis.

A study showed that one characteristic of osteoporosis is inflammation. Older people are more susceptible to this condition not only because of a decreased BMD and muscle strength but also because of changes in immune and inflammatory responses. The role of vitamin D, particularly in this condition is to counteract and suppress inflammatory response in bones.

Vitamin D is present in various kinds. The naturally occurring vitamin D in our bodies is vitamin D3 which can be found abundantly in the skin. However, vitamin D3 in the skin is stored in an inactive form and needs to be activated by ultraviolet light. The cheapest and easiest way to get this UV light is from the sun. It is important to know that vitamin D takes 10-15 minutes of sun exposure during summertime for its maximal activation.

Vitamin D can also be found in certain food sources. A few foods rich in this vitamin are:⁶

1. Oily fish such as salmon, sardine, anchovy, mackerel
2. Red meat
3. Egg yolks
4. Liver (pork, chicken, beef)

What happens when I do not have enough of these nutrients?

The structure and strength of bones are dependent on the amount of calcium contained in them. As we get older, the mass and density of bones decrease. As a result, bones are at risk of fracture with or without injury and this would cause a health problem known as “osteoporosis”.

Osteoporosis is a “silent disease” that shows no symptoms until a bone is broken. However, certain groups of people are more vulnerable to this disease. Based on NIH data, a few factors that could accelerate the development of osteoporosis are :

• Sex and age

Everyone is at risk of getting the disease. Those assigned female at birth (afab) are at higher risk of getting them earlier than those assigned male at birth (amab) because of lower peak bone mass and smaller bones.

• Hormonal changes

Afab individuals in menopause are affected the most.

• Body size

Osteoporosis occurs frequently in both amab and afab individuals who have thin-boned bodies. The reason is that these groups of people have smaller bone mass and low fat in the body which is needed for vitamin D to work (vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that only works in fat).

• Family history
• Medication

Those on medications such as steroids and cancer medications are more likely to get the disease.

• Lifestyle

Poor diet, low physical activity, heavy drinking and smoking increase the chance of getting the disease.

Besides osteoporosis, another bone problem is osteomalacia. In short, osteomalacia is known as “soft-bone disease” that happens greatly because of vitamin D deficiency.

Incorporating anchovies into your diets

Now that we know all the nutrients contained in anchovys and their benefits to our bodies. The next question is, where can we get the food and how to process the food into a delicious meal?

Anchovies are everywhere. You can buy them from any local market. The fish is sold either raw or cured. The way that anchovies are cured is different in each region. In Asia, the fish are cured in salt and are sold in dry form. While in Europe, anchovies are cured in salt and olive oil and preserved inside the can.

People around the world enjoy eating anchovies because not only are they cheap and easy to get, but also they are easy to incorporate into our meals as side dishes and most importantly delicious to eat. Preserved anchovies (most commonly to eat) are known for their rich and salty taste that will make you addicted. Therefore, most anchovies are used as seasoning. However, there are many delicacies that can be made from them ranging from side to main dishes.

Here are some ideas of how to enjoy them :

• Either raw or cured dry anchovies are best fried alone or with a mix of spicy or sweet sauces as the side dishes
• Anchovies blended with butter are best for making spreads to your bread with its salty and creamy flavour
• Bored of the same taste of your salad? Incorporating anchovies into your salad will accelerate the taste of your greens without worry about the calories
• Boiling dried anchovies together with other vegetables will enrich the taste of your vegan soup bases that usually are used in many Asian dishes such as seaweed soup. The soup will warm your body, especially in cold and rainy seasons, or when you feel under the weather

Surely, there are many sorts of dishes you can look up in any cookbooks and online from anchovies that suit your palette. Yet, it is important to remember that preserved anchovies are high in sodium. Hence, you should be more careful and take them in a wise amount. Raw, unsalted anchovies are preferred for those who have high blood pressure and any cardiovascular and kidney diseases.

Summary

Anchovies are soft-bone, oily fish that have numerous benefits to health, especially for bones. The fish are rich in calcium and vitamin D which are two important nutrients to keep your bones strong and healthy.

Most calcium in our bodies is stored in bones which give bones a hard structure and strengthen them. Calcium cannot be produced in our bodies, thus we need to get them from diets. Foods that are rich in calcium include dairy, leafy green vegetables, and soft-bone fish such as anchovy.

Vitamin D helps to absorb calcium that you intake from food in the gut. Besides that, the vitamin modulates muscle strength and the immune system to prevent bones from fracture. Any outdoor physical activities are important for bones because sunlight could activate a naturally occurring vitamin D3 in the skin. Only a few foods contain this vitamin including anchovy.

Aside from ageing, having a healthy lifestyle by eating the right food and having proper physical activity could boost the health of your bones. Not only because of their affordable price, anchovies have become a choice of seafood for many people across the world because they are easy to get and are delicious.