Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern believes the key to America’s next health revolution isn’t a new diet or fitness trend — it’s sitting quietly in the seafood section of every grocery store.

Zimmern, best known for hosting Bizarre Foods and winning the James Beard Award, says Americans have developed one of the most dangerous eating habits imaginable: they’re ignoring fish.

“Seafood is the healthiest protein in general … from digestion to brain health to brain growth for younger people and on and on,” Zimmern said.

The Minnesota-based chef said seafood is “extremely beneficial” to the body and plays a major role in long-term health.

“It’s very low in fat, in general — and what fats that are there are very, very healthy ones,” he explained.

Zimmern’s new Blue Food Cookbook, co-written with chef Barton Seaver, argues that small shifts in American diets could have a massive impact on public health, the economy, and the environment.

“I’d love it if people ate one more meal from the water every single week,” Zimmern said. “Just one.”

After decades traveling the world studying what people eat, Zimmern has tasted just about everything — from tarantulas in Cambodia to fermented shark in Iceland. Yet, he says, the answer to better health is much simpler than people think.

“We export 75% of what American fisheries bring in,” he said. “That number’s topsy-turvy. We should be keeping more of that seafood here at home.”

Zimmern believes creating more domestic demand for seafood could lower prices, help American fishermen, and make healthier eating more affordable.

“By creating more demand for seafood, the price would drop, more people would eat it and human beings would be healthier,” he said.

Part of the challenge, Zimmern says, is that Americans have been conditioned to think red meat should always be cheap and plentiful.

“We have been almost hypnotized, in a way, in this country to assume that a steak of a certain size, individually portioned, wrapped in plastic in the supermarket, should cost $8 or $9,” Zimmern said. “And that was the case for 40, 50 years. That is no longer the case.”

He pointed out that the average retail price for ground beef has jumped from $4.63 in 2020 to $6.12 in 2025, according to government data.

“The average family in America can’t afford that,” he said.

Zimmern said he still loves red meat but eats less of it every year, choosing to balance his diet with seafood.

“I love red meat,” he said. “I’m eating less and less of it as every year goes by, but I love it.”

He also pushed back on one of America’s biggest seafood myths — that some fish are “garbage fish.”

“It’s a big myth,” he said. “At the end of the day, the important question isn’t, ‘Is it wild?’ ‘Is it farmed?’ The question should be, ‘Where was it caught, and is it sustainable and regenerative?’”

Zimmern even defended tilapia, a mild and inexpensive fish often dismissed by food critics, saying it’s one of his favorites.

“We eat it in our house once a week because it takes on flavors very well,” he said.

He added that his favorite dish is pan-seared tilapia with lemon and capers, a quick meal that surprises guests who never realize how simple it is.

“If I made tilapia with lemon and capers — which is the way I choose to serve it most of the time to my family — not only does it take me about 12 minutes to make, I serve it to company … and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, what is this fish?’ And I’m like, ‘It’s tilapia.’”

For Zimmern, the message is clear: seafood isn’t a luxury — it’s the healthiest, most overlooked option right in front of us. And eating just one extra meal “from the water” each week might be the change America needs.