Tilapia is a cheap, delicious, and popular fish. Unfortunately, however, America’s third most consumed fish has a much darker side involving possible heart attacks and cancers.
So why is something once believed to be so good for you actually so horrible? Well, it was not always that way. In fact, most of the health issues can be linked to Chinese fish farms.
It is almost impossible to find fresh tilapia, which is actually incredibly healthy. In Chinese fish farms, however, there are often issues with overcrowding, pollution, and being fed toxic foods.
Inflammation – Recent studies have shown that eating farm raised tilapia can both cause and increase inflammation, whereas fresh fish can help reduce it. In fact, farm-raised tilapia is worse for inflammation than a bacon cheeseburger.
Cancer – Farm raised tilapia are 10x as likely to be exposed to carcinogenic contaminants as wild tilapia. Also, they eat chicken poop!
Pesticides and Antibiotics – Farm raised tilapia are raised in giant groups and as such are given antibiotics and pesticides to keep them healthy. The problem is, this practice creates antibiotic resistant diseases, as well as the pesticides used, are enough to kill schools of wild salmon.
Low Omega-3 to Omega-6 Ratio – This ratio is caused by the inactive lifestyle of farm raised fish. It causes the fish to be much fattier and lower in protein, leading to inflammation and heart problems.
High Dioxin Levels – Farm raised tilapia are high in dioxins. While these are not immediately toxic, they can lead to later cancer development and take 7 to 11 years to clear your system.
So remember, when eating healthy try and stick to wild fish whenever possible.
Source: News Foxes