Saturday, July 12, 2008

Tilapia May Be Risky

Winston-Salem, NC - Researchers from Wake Forest University Medical Center say you’re better of with a big juicy burger than with this mild, low-fat fish, which turns out to be high in an unhealthful form of fat called long-chain omega-6 fatty acids, especially when it’s produced by fish farms.
Long chain omega-6 fats promote inflammation associated with heart disease, asthma, some cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other conditions, said Floyd Chilton, professor of physiology at Wake Forest and head of the study.
Is there anything left that the experts say we should eat? Not much, said Chilton, thanks to a large-scale corruption of the American food chain with cheap corn feed. That has altered the composition of fats found in beef, chicken, eggs and farmed fish, such as catfish and tilapia.
In tests, the researchers found that grain-fed tilapia concentrated even more of the worst fats than did grain-fed beef.
One animal-based food that Chilton recommends is wild-caught fish, such as salmon and sardines, since they contain inflammation-fighting omega-3 fatty acids.
Unfortunately, he said, public health officials have been wrongly telling people to get more of this important nutrient by eating more fish without specifying what kind.

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