Eating Fish is not all that it's hyped up to be

Last night we had dinner at my parents house.  There was some tilapia, among several delishious vegetable dishes.  We discussed how farm raised tilapia was not actually that good for you because it is raised on a farm and eats differently then it's wild counterpart.  I looked it up today and found an interesting article that actually validates that fact. According to the N.C. study, some seafood is not loaded with valuable omega-3 fat

When researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., recently analyzed the DHA content of 30 different kinds of wild and farmed fish, they made a startling discovery. Something in certain farmed fish was a little off. Most notably, the fats in farmed tilapia, the second most popular farmed fish in the world (right behind farmed Atlantic salmon), may not be as anti-inflammatory as they could be. Why? In the wild, tilapia eats plenty of DHA from plants. But when farmed, the food these fish are supplied with contains less of these valuable fats, so you get less of them, too.

There was also reports that farmed tilapia, among other fish has different concentrations of fatty acids, which may take away from their benefits.  I will not discuss the ALA/DHA/EPA and the ratios since it's a world of confusion in itself.   I know I heard it all in the Media and it's even more confusing.  

• Eat more fish, eat less fish. 
  
• Don't eat this particluar fish because of contamination.
  
• Eat more of a particular fish because of the beneficial fats.
  
• Don't eat this fish because it's too depleted, or for environmental reasons.
• Pay attention to the way the fish was raised caught (wild, farmed, source) since it effects it's nutritional properties

Of course there's also the taste / enjoyment factor of fish. Some people just love the taste of fish and don't really care about it's nutritional value.  Some don't really care about the potential toxins in fish since they figure they are not eating "too much".  It's however a fine line since if you didn't raise the fish yourself, you really don't know what is on your plate and cant judge when you've had too much of it.  So if you enjoy an occasional small piece of fish 1-3 oz , I think you are probably not putting your health in any terrible danger, but be mindful of the list above  if it's part of your regular diet or you buy into the alledged health benefits of eating fish.

Having said that, fat is important and you should be mindful of getting adequate fat in your diet from sources such as raw nuts/seeds , avocados, and take either DHA from Dr. Fuhrmans site or a high quality Fish oil.  To know how much fat you need, Dr. Fuhrman has some great articles and advice.

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• Dr. Furhman Online
• Eat to Live: Formula for Weight Loss
• Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right
  
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