Tilapia, an increasingly popular choice of fish in the South, may not be a healthy diet choice after all, according to research released today by Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The researchers found that farm-raised tilapia — the fifth most popular fish consumed in the United States -- could be potentially dangerous to people dealing with heart disease, arthritis and asthma.
That's because farm-raised tilapia has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. "Perhaps worse, it contains very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids," the researchers said.
The combination "could be a potentially dangerous food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases that are particularly vulnerable to an 'exaggerated inflammatory response.' "
Inflammation is known to cause damage to blood vessels, the heart, lung and joint tissues, skin, and the digestive tract.
The researchers' report is being published this month in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
"For individuals who are eating fish as a method to control inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, it is clear from these numbers that tilapia is not a good choice," the article said. "All other nutritional content aside, the inflammatory potential of hamburger and pork bacon is lower than the average serving of farmed tilapia."
Tilapia is increasingly being raised on farms in China and South America as well as the United States, It also has been linked to health concerns regarding high PCB and mercury levels.
Dr. Floyd "Ski"Chilton, a professor of physiology and pharmacology and director of the Wake Forest Center for Botanical Lipids, said that tilapia is easily farmed using inexpensive corn-based feeds.
That ability to feed the fish inexpensive foods, together with their capacity to grow under almost any condition, keeps the market price so low that it is rapidly becoming a staple in low-income diets.
"We are all familiar with the classical Hippocratic admonition, Primum no nocere, 'First, do no harm.' " Chilton said. "I think it behooves us to consider this critical directive when making dietary prescriptions for the sake of health.
"Cardiologists are telling their patients to go home and eat fish, and if the patients are poor, they're eating tilapia. And that could translate into a dangerous situation."
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