ABSTRACT
Similar to the plant- and fungi-based foods, animal-based food is also necessary for humans. Among the common animal-based foods, several of them not only have nutritional value but also exert functional benefits. Nonetheless, a negative relationship is found between meat consumption and carcinogenesis. Comparably, fishes and shrimps are greatly suggested to be included in the human diet as they provide many healthy nutrients from their proteins and oils. The essential fatty acids such as omega-3 fatty acids—are the most important ingredients as they have multiple health benefits, including anticarcinogenic activity, decreased incidence of heart and artery diseases, and overall improvement to the brain and nervous system. This chapter emphasizes eight unique aquatic animal-based foods, which are mostly consumed by small populations in several locals and demonstrate highly effective functionality in health promotion and cancer prevention on top of their rich nutritional value. Scientific evidence regarding their anticarcinogenic, anticancer, and immunoenhancing properties are extensively summarized in this chapter and shows that these eight functional foods contribute remarkably to health benefits for body protection and cancer prevention.
