Short Stuff: Sardines!

Josh implored Chuck to try sardines. Did he? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:04Josh Clark?

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• 0:35Speaker 02

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• 1:21Josh Clark?

  Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and we're just sucking out sardines and the short stuff because Jerry's sitting in for Dave. This means it's short stuff about sardines.

• 1:32Speaker 02

  That's right. Uh, I picked this because a couple of weeks ago, you mentioned sardines because I had mentioned I'd been eating tend, uh, like salmon and tuna for lunches, for light lunches.

• 1:42Josh Clark?

  Uh huh.

• 1:43Speaker 02

  You said, try sardines. I got, said, I got some sardines and I tried them today, finally.

• 1:48Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 1:49Speaker 02

  And I have to say this, I, I liked, like the flavor was, was good.

• 1:54Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 1:54Speaker 02

  But I got skeeved out.

• 1:57Josh Clark?

  Yeah, the same thing happens to me, man. I have zero recollection of telling you to try sardines. And I find them difficult to eat because of the texture.

• 2:09Speaker 02

  You did not mention any of that when you told me to try sardines.

• 2:11Josh Clark?

  I, I, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not.

• 2:14Speaker 02

  Last week or the week before.

• 2:16Josh Clark?

  That is bizarre.

• 2:17Speaker 02

  I think you're even like, oh, sardines are good. You go eat them.

• 2:19Josh Clark?

  Huh. That sounds like me.

• 2:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 2:21Josh Clark?

  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.

• 2:26Speaker 02

  Yeah. So the idea was to, uh, I got some bagels when I was just in New York from my favorite Essa Bagel. Everything's bring them home in the suitcase, put them in the freezer, cut them in half, put them in the freezer because eating a whole giant bagel like that is a lot. So.

• 2:38Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 2:39Speaker 02

  Uh, 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 tend tuna on top. 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 because there are tiny little fish looking at you.

• 3:04Josh Clark?

  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. 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.

• 3:23Speaker 02

  It wasn't unlike tuna taste wise.

• 3:25Josh Clark?

  No, it's, no. And 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. I saw some recipes because I got into sardines before I ever tried them and we still have 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.

• 3:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:51Josh Clark?

  And I'm like, if they crisp up a little bit, I might be able to, to handle them better.

• 3:56Speaker 02

  Agreed. And grilling them, had I maybe just placed them on that bagel and toasted it in the toaster oven, it might've been a little better. But yeah, I'm with you. So we're talking sardines.

• 4:06Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 4:07Speaker 02

  Uh, these are tiny little fish, of course, very silvery. Uh, they're very nutrient dense, which we're going to talk about because 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 bunk bed that you twist open.

• 4:29Speaker 02

  I wish you still twisted open things like that with a little key, but unfortunately it's the stupid pull tab now.

• 4:34Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 4:35Speaker 02

  But one benefit of a sardine, if you're into like a light, uh, tend fish for lunch is that you don't have to worry about mercury because 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.

• 4:49Josh Clark?

  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 bio accumulates. 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 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.

• 5:17Speaker 02

  Yeah. Which is a shame because if not for that, I would honestly eat a little tin of nice tuna every day for lunch.

• 5:23Josh Clark?

  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?

• 5:31Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Anytime it's on the menu, a whole branzino at the table for everyone to share, that's what I do.

• 5:36Josh Clark?

  Okay. My friend, uh, you can go to a certain, um, alternative grocery store, I guess you could call it.

• 5:44Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 5:44Josh Clark?

  That has a lot of their own, own brand stuff. Basically that's all they sell is their own brand.

• 5:50Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 5:50Josh Clark?

  And they have frozen branzino fillets and like just put a little salt, a little pepper.

• 5:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 5:57Josh Clark?

  Maybe not even olive oil and eat it and you will just be in seventh heaven.

• 6:02Speaker 02

  Throw it in the oven or just eat it cold?

• 6:04Josh Clark?

  You can throw it in the oven. I throw it in the air fryer sometimes.

• 6:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, sure.

• 6:08Josh Clark?

  You, I don't, yeah, I don't recommend eating it cold. It's not like sashimi.

• 6:11Speaker 02

  Oh, okay. That's what I thought because you didn't mention cooking it.

• 6:14Josh Clark?

  No, I'm sorry.

• 6:15Speaker 02

  But you, you know, you're not supposed to eat that much tuna. I hope you're not, because that's a serious thing, like eating more than one, like tin of tuna a week is not great.

• 6:22Josh Clark?

  I didn't know that, but I don't think I eat a tin of tuna every week now.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  All right, good. You don't want to turn into a.

• 6:31Josh Clark?

  The Mad Hatter?

• 6:32Speaker 02

  No, the guy that ate too much tuna, Ari from, uh, Entourage.

• 6:37Josh Clark?

  Do you know plotlines from Entourage?

• 6:38Speaker 02

  No, the Ari, the, the agent in Entourage, uh, what's the guy from all the John?

• 6:46Josh Clark?

  I know who you're talking about. Go ahead.

• 6:48Speaker 02

  Yeah. I, uh, what's his name? I can't remember his name.

• 6:51Josh Clark?

  Not Jon Favreau.

• 6:54Speaker 02

  No, the guy.

• 6:54Josh Clark?

  Jeremy Piven.

• 6:55Speaker 02

  Jeremy Piven, yeah. He, he got sick from eating, he got like mercury poisoning years ago from apparently eating too much sushi.

• 7:03Josh Clark?

  Uh, I think you told me that before.

• 7:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:05Josh Clark?

  Did you ever see PCU?

• 7:08Speaker 02

  I saw parts of it. I never saw the whole thing.

• 7:10Josh Clark?

  I saw the whole thing multiple times for some reason.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  Well, that's where you were in your life at the time.

• 7:15Josh Clark?

  I guess so.

• 7:16Speaker 02

  All right. So back to sardines. Uh, they are found in shallow coastal temperate, uh, subtropical oceans all over the world. Uh, and they're very popular in Europe. Um, obviously Portugal and Spain, you can find them a lot on a tapas menus. You can grill those things up, though I want a pizza toast. Uh, 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. So you just sort of dissolve in with the rest of the little silver fish.

• 7:40Josh Clark?

  I think that might be part of the texture problem too.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, maybe.

• 7:44Josh Clark?

  But there's a lot of health benefits, including the bones. Um, 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 U.S. government.

• 8:00Speaker 02

  Yeah. And if you're lactose intolerant, it's a good place to get calcium. Um, also because it's a fish, you're going to get lots of, uh, vitamin D, B12, phosphorus, selenium, and those omega three fatty acids, which are great at preventing, uh, heart disease, uh, while also being low in saturated fat.

• 8:18Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I was reading about that because I take omega threes for cognitive stuff, like it helps me focus and, and it's, it really works really well.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  I've heard that.

• 8:28Josh Clark?

  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 threes, there was a study recently that found taking omega threes actually increases your risk of developing it yourself.

• 8:47Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 8:48Josh Clark?

  But it has a protective function if you already have heart disease. It's really bizarre.

• 8:53Speaker 02

  Oh geez, man. Human body is so weird sometimes.

• 8:56Josh Clark?

  It is. But so this 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.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  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.

• 9:33Josh Clark?

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• 10:36Josh Clark?

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• 11:23Josh Clark?

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• 11:52Josh Clark?

  Okay, Chuck, so we talked about omega-3s. We talked about calcium. Let's talk about some other stuff that's in these things, because they're basically like little miracle fish, essentially.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, what else you got?

• 12:04Josh Clark?

  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'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 need some more food. Like, they'll satiate you.

• 12:28Speaker 02

  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.

• 12:34Josh Clark?

  Yep.

• 12:35Speaker 02

  Unfortunately, sardines don't have a place in my life now.

• 12:38Josh Clark?

  Yet. You have to fry them first.

• 12:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I'm going to try that.

• 12:42Josh Clark?

  I am, too.

• 12:43Speaker 02

  Although that means I'll have to buy more.

• 12:45Josh Clark?

  I can give you some. I'll loan you some of mine.

• 12:48Speaker 02

  Bring some to Canada next week.

• 12:49Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 12:51Speaker 02

  Oh, man, you probably can't sneak sardines into Montreal. Are you kidding me?

• 12:54Josh Clark?

  I don't know. I don't know. Let's find out.

• 12:58Speaker 02

  It's not all rosy when it comes to sardines, though, everybody, because if you have gout, if you have kidney stones or high blood pressure, you might want to not to 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 doubt if a little bit of sardine is going to be too bad for you.

• 13:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I think this is excess kind of stuff, where you're just pounding like-

• 13:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, like Jeremy Piven level.

• 13:31Josh Clark?

  Exactly. Also, if you have chronic kidney disease, 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. We're just fans. 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.

• 14:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, for sure. They'll tell you Ireland is in Ireland. I know that much. A lot of sodium, too, sometimes, depending on what kind you buy. So, you know, buy the ones in water, because we didn't say they could be packed in like oil. Sometimes it's like different sauces and things.

• 14:16Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 14:17Speaker 02

  I do like some of the tuna and salmon packed in oil. And, you know, you drain most of that off. But, you know, get sardines packed in water that don't have a lot of added sodium.

• 14:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah, the problem with tuna packed in water is because you use so much more mayonnaise to make up for the oil that's missing, that it just, it at least washes out, if not gets worse.

• 14:39Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 14:41Josh Clark?

  There's one other problem that has to do with basically anything that you get in a can. The can probably has some sort of bisphenol in it.

• 14:49Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, BPAs?

• 14:51Josh Clark?

  Yeah, 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.

• 15:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 15:02Josh Clark?

  Yeah, so that's a problem with basically any can thing, and sardines are no exception. So go listen to our short stuff on BPAs. It was fairly enlightening, I think.

• 15:11Speaker 02

  Agreed. Is short stuff out?

• 15:13Josh Clark?

  Yes.

• 15:17Speaker 03

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