Farm-Raised Tilapia Could be a Bad Choice for Those with Heart Disease

July 15, 2008

A new report from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine that says the type of fish you eat is critical, especially if you already have heart disease. In fact, one of the most popular fish in the US, farm-raised tilapia, has dangerously low omega-3s (the good-guy fish oil) in relation to high omega-6s. Tilapia, the authors wrote, has such high levels of potentially detrimental long-chain omega-6 fatty acids that it actually has more than 80-percent-lean hamburger, doughnuts or pork-based bacon. Tilapia isn't the only fish that concerns the researchers; farm-raised catfish has several "fatty acid characteristics considered by the scientific community as detrimental."

Omega-3s are well known to be beneficial and are referred to scientifically as "long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids" (PUFAs). However, when the duet between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is unbalanced to this degree, it poses a threat to those "vulnerable to an exaggerated inflammatory response" known to cause damage to blood vessels, heart, lung, and joint tissues, the skin and the digestive tract. This means that in addition to heart disease patients, this unbalanced ratio poses a danger to those with arthritis, asthma, and many allergic and auto-immune diseases. The ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) to very long-chain n-3 PUFAs (EPA and DHA) in diets of human beings appears to be an important factor that dictates the anti-inflammatory effects of fish oils, the researchers write.

A co-author of the study, Joshua A. Chilton reported that, "The animal studies say unequivocally that if you feed arachidonic acid, the animals show signs of inflammation and get sick. A New England Journal of Medicine article three years ago said if you had heart disease and had a certain genetic makeup, and you ate arachidonic acid, the diameter of your coronary artery was smaller, a major risk factor for a heart attack," said Chilton. "My point is that it's likely not worth the risk in this or other vulnerable populations [to eat tilapia]." Some critics aver that there may be a probable gene-nutrient connection to coronary heart disease in a specific group of heart disease patients who eat tilapia.

In the study, the researchers discovered that farmed tilapia contained less than half a gram of omega-3 fatty acids per 100 grams of fish, similar to flounder and swordfish. Farmed salmon and trout, by comparison, contained nearly 3 and 4 grams, respectively. Tilapia also had much higher amounts of omega-6 acids generally and AA (arachidonic acid) specifically than both salmon and trout.

The American Heart Association recommends 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 (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

Posted on Monday 7/21 by Sharon
Farmed fish, in general, has serious problems. Farmed fresh-water fish apparently exist on a diet that encourages different fat balances than in their wild brethren. Farmed ocean fish, like farmed salmon, pollute the sea around the farms with their waste products which, among other things, endangers wild fish who are not protected from infections by the antibiotic and fungal medications administered to the captive, farmed fish.

I urge everyone to take all fat recommendations with a grain of salt (!!). The medical profession keeps reversing itself on its own recommendations. Above all, they swear to "do no harm." The margarine debacle of the '70s did a lot of harm, most of it brought about by doctors, dieticians, and nutritionists. The recent 2 year trial of low-fat versus Mediterranean versus Adkins diet that was reported in the New England Journal of Med. this month discovered that the Adkins Diet, of all things, lowered cholesterol the most, followed by the Mediterranean Diet with the American Heart Assc. low fat diet coming in last by a significant percentage. We do not yet understand enough about fat chemistry to devise safe eating choices.

When in doubt, follow a good peasant diet. What the lowest socioeconomic group in any culture thrives on is probably good for you.

Posted on Monday 7/21 by Gavin
This story is old and off base. At the end of LAST week a coalition of 16 independent researchers and cardiologists from all over the world came out with an open letter that said the comparison of tilapia to hamburger, bacon and doughnuts is nothing short of ludicrous. Even dieticians from the Mayo Clinic weighed in with a similar conclusion. This is an example of sound-bite-science at its worst. Gavin Gibbons National Fisheries Institute

Posted on Monday 7/21 by D
We guess it is going to be Salmon.

Posted on Monday 7/21 by Sharoln
This article comes to me after I purchase a "boat-load" of tilapia from Costco thinking by buying more fish I am doing good for my family including my mother who has heart problems.

Posted on Monday 7/21 by Joseph
This is very interesting. I will have to read the article and also talk to the authors for more info.

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