Donuts and Bacon are Healthier than Farm Raised Tilapia
Farm grown ,tilapia (the common name for nearly a hundred different species of cichlid fishes from the tilapiine cichlid tribe) is one of the most widely eaten fish in America. Tilapia, it turns out, has very low levels of healthful omega-3 fatty acids and, even worse, it contains very high levels of unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids, based on research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Individuals who are eating fish as a healthy food to control inflammatory diseases such as heart disease should be aware that tilapia is not a good choice, The harmful inflammatory potential of hamburger and pork bacon is less than the average serving of farmed raised tilapia.
The scientists say the combination of unhealthy fats could be a potentially harmful food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and others with allergic and auto-immune diseases that are at increased risk of an exaggerated inflammatory response. Inflammation is now known to cause much of the damage to blood vessels, the heart, lung and joint tissues, skin, and the digestive tract in a large number of disease states. Omega 3 fatty acids in the diet are thought to be healthy additions to the diet since they help lessen the inflammation in the body. Our modern diets contain a much greater quantity of omega 6 fatty acids and fewer omega 3 fatty acids than those of our ancestors.
Researchers state that they found that farm-raised tilapia, as well as farmed catfish, have several fatty acid characteristics that are generally be considered by medical science to be harmful. Tilapia has higher levels of potentially detrimental long-chain omega-6 fatty acids than 80-percent-lean hamburger, doughnuts and even pork bacon, the article says.
The health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids (long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids), have been scientifically documented. The American Heart Association currently recommends that everyone eat at least two servings of fish per week, and that heart patients consume at least 1 gram a day of the two most critical omega-3 fatty acids, known as EPA and DHA .
In the U.S., tilapia has become a popular inexpensive seafood item on many menus—Tilapia consumption is expected to grow from 1.5 million tons in 2003 to as much as 2.5 million tons in 2010 according to the Wake Forest scientists in research published in the July 2008 edition of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. For people increasing quantities of fish in their diet such as farm grown tilapia they may do more harm than good due to high levels of omega-6 fatty acids (these are bad or unhealthy fatty acids).
In the current study, the researchers looked at a variety of tilapia from different sources, including seafood distributors that supply restaurants and supermarkets, South American fish companies, and fish farms in several countries. The samples were flash-frozen for later analysis, which was done using gas chromatography.
The scientists found that farm grown tilapia contained very small amounts of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids - less than half a gram per 100 grams of fish, similar to flounder and swordfish. Farmed salmon and trout, by contrast, had nearly 3 and 4 grams of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, respectively.
The worse news was that the tilapia had much higher amounts of omega-6 acids generally and Arachidonic Acid than both salmon and trout. Ratios of long-chain omega-6 to long-chain omega-3, AA to EPA respectively, in tilapia averaged about 11:1, compared to much less than 1:1 (indicating more EPA than AA) in both salmon and trout.
Arachidonic acid is an omega 6 fatty acid pro-inflammatory lipid compound–Animal studies say unequivocally that if you feed arachidonic acid to animals they will show signs of inflammation and become sick. Aspirin is given to many patients as a daily medication in part because it blocks the unhealthy inflammation caused by Arachidonic acid.
Tilapia is usually raised using inexpensive corn-based fish feed, that contains short chain omega-6 fatty acidds that the fish quickly convert to omega-6 acids and Arachidonic acid (these are the unhealthy fats). The ability to grow tilapia cheaply, along with their capacity to grow quickly under almost any conditions, makes the tilapia a relatively inexpensive food source.
Literature about Omega 3 fatty acid health benefits
Literature about Omega 6 fatty acid harmful effects
