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Thread: The truth about tilapia

  1. #1

    The truth about tilapia

    I love Tilapia.


    This popular fish is cheap and tasty … but is it good for you?

    Tilapia has risen to the top as a seafood staple on American dinner tables.

    According to the National Fisheries Institute, the mild fish has climbed to become the fourth most eaten seafood in the U.S., behind only shrimp, salmon and canned tuna.

    ...

    It’s cheap, easy to find, and it’s fish – so it’s good for you, right?

    Maybe not. There are some disturbing allegations about the fish, and one is particularly surprising: Some nutritionists have been touting a study that they implies that eating tilapia is worse than eating bacon.

    Yes, bacon.

    The report caused further concern when it stated that farmed tilapia contains high levels of arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid that, while necessary to help repair damaged body tissues, has been linked to brain disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and may exacerbate inflammation.

    Dr. Floyd Chilton, the professor of physiology and pharmacology who directed the Wake Forest study, says the comparison of tilapia to pork bacon was taken out of context.

    “We never intended to paint tilapia as the cause of anything bad. Our goal was to provide consumers with more information about their fish,” Chilton said. “If your doctor or cardiologist is telling you to eat more fish, then you should look for varieties that have higher levels of omega-3 and avoid those with high inflammatory potential.”

    The truth is, tilapia has as much omega-3 as other popular seafood, including lobster, mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna. Tilapia is also very low in fat. A 4-ounce serving of tilapia has about 1 gram of saturated fat, 29 grams of protein and around 200 mg of omega-3. By comparison, a 1-ounce serving of bacon (about 4 strips) contains 4 grams of saturated fat, 10 grams of protein and 52 mg of omega-3.

    ...

    So eating tilapia isn’t the same as eating bacon, but there’s another rumor going around the Internet: that farm-raised tilapia from China are fed animal feces.

    A 2009 study conducted by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited some alarming facts about Chinese farm-raised seafood. Researchers noted that “many of China’s farms and food processors are situated in heavily industrialized regions where water, air and soil are contaminated by industrial effluents and vehicle exhaust.” The report also stated that it “is common practice to let livestock and poultry roam freely in fields and to spread livestock and poultry waste on fields or use it as fish feed.”

    The USDA report was based on documents obtained from the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees seafood inspections.

    After the study was released, news organizations, including Bloomberg and MSN.com, reported the rampant use of animal feces as food in Chinese aquaculture – specifically calling out the practice on tilapia farms.

    But the original USDA report did not specifically cite tilapia. Asked for comment, neither the FDA nor the USDA could confirm that it is common practice in China to feed animal feces to farm-raised tilapia.

    FDA spokeswoman Theresa Eisenman said the agency was “not aware of evidence to support the claim that this practice is occurring.”

    But if it is, the next question is: How much farm-raised tilapia are we eating from China? The answer is: A lot.

    According to Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, over 95 percent of tilapia consumed in the U.S. in 2013 came from overseas, and 73 percent of those imports came from China. One reason is that the fish thrives in a subtropical climate, making it a difficult fish to farm in most of the U.S.

    In 2006, Seafood Watch listed farmed Chinese tilapia as “Avoid.” Senior science manager Wendy Norden and science analyst Brian Albaum at Seafood Watch told FoxNews.com that the recommendation was due to poor food quality enforcement and high levels of chemicals, antibacterial drugs (nitrofurans) and malachite green (used to dye silk, leather and paper) in fish samples.

    They said that the “Avoid” rating at that time was not due to what the fish were fed, although they did note that “in aquaculture, usually wastes from one animal are unfit to be fed to other animals.”

    Today, Seafood Watch gives farmed tilapia from China a “Good Alternative” rating, due to improved enforcement of food legislation. But it cautions that the fish currently tests in the “red zone” for the presence of banned or illegal chemicals such as antibiotics, malachite green and methyl testosterone hormones used in Chinese tilapia production.


    The group says tilapia raised in Ecuador, the U.S. or Canada is the best choice.

    ....

    The best way to know for sure is to ask a fishmonger directly.

    http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/...about-tilapia/



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  3. #2
    Tilapia a Frankenfish? Say it ain’t so

    by Ron Baird

    Is my favorite fish—tilapia—really a Frankenfish in disguise? Sadly, it’s true. They are given testosterone-laden food for the first few months of life and that turns them all into males, which grow larger and faster than females. Do we know this is safe? No, we do not.

    But we do know that a combination of hormones in creeks from the effluent of wastewater plants have turned wild fish hermaphroditic. Many of today’s diseases are caused by foreign hormones or chemicals that damage hormones.

    My poor little tilapia are also being considered to be “modified” by the anti-freeze protein gene from Arctic flatfish, as well as salmon growth hormone gene.

    In fact as of 2001 there were 20 species of wild fish being tested for genetic modification, according to a report by Jaques Diof, Director General of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.

    Continued...
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

  4. #3
    Weird. I ate Tilapia the last two nights and googled it last night looking for information. Now today it is here.

    I think the consensus on tilapia is it's not the best fish or a miracle food, but it is low calorie and a good source of protein so there is nothing wrong with eating it once or twice a week.

    at 110 calories and 25g of protein per fillet you really can't beat is as a weight loss or muscle gain food. Add a little olive oil and spice and you got a great meal.

  5. #4
    My husband is a recognized expert in this field, and knows more about this topic than anybody else you will ever meet.

    If you want to ask a fishmonger directly, I will dig out his old account and he will answer questions right here in this thread. (Well, anybody except DonnaY. She won't believe anything that doesn't come from anonymous unnamed, undocumented sources on the internet anyway.)
    Last edited by angelatc; 04-16-2014 at 12:46 PM.

  6. #5
    They are saying it is farmed tilapia that is bad for you. I would say, like EVERYTHING, it depends on what you feed the tilapia.

    Anybody know what they can be fed that will increase their omega 3 fatty acids? I've heard of farmed fish doing well on diets of anchovie or sardine pellets. Grains are probably not a good diet for fish. I don't even think grains grow in the ocean
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  7. #6
    I've always found their taste a bit fishy (no pun intended.) I can usually taste the difference between farm raised and wild caught. I much prefer the taste of wild caught fish.
    ...

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by RJB View Post
    I've always found their taste a bit fishy (no pun intended.) I can usually taste the difference between farm raised and wild caught. I much prefer the taste of wild caught fish.
    I'll bet a farm raised fish raised on anchovie/sardine pellets instead of grains would taste about as good as wild caught.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    They are saying it is farmed tilapia that is bad for you. I would say, like EVERYTHING, it depends on what you feed the tilapia.

    Anybody know what they can be fed that will increase their omega 3 fatty acids? I've heard of farmed fish doing well on diets of anchovie or sardine pellets. Grains are probably not a good diet for fish. I don't even think grains grow in the ocean
    Yep. Someone who has eaten livestock (pigs, chickens, eggs etc. fed good food, can tell the difference from animal raised on (literal) garbage.
    ...



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    I'll bet a farm raised fish raised on anchovie/sardine pellets instead of grains would taste about as good as wild caught.
    Cold be true. I avoid farm raised although I am looking into aquaponics and have been looking into this. I'd like to see if I can taste the difference between grain pellet and anchovie/sardine fed fish.
    ...

  12. #10
    I avoid farmed fish like the plague. They can feed them almost anything.

  13. #11
    I used to work for someone who owned a tilapia farm...unfortunately this is true or it was at his farm anyway.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    They are saying it is farmed tilapia that is bad for you. I would say, like EVERYTHING, it depends on what you feed the tilapia.

    Anybody know what they can be fed that will increase their omega 3 fatty acids? I've heard of farmed fish doing well on diets of anchovie or sardine pellets. Grains are probably not a good diet for fish. I don't even think grains grow in the ocean
    I would bet that 99+% of all Tilapia in stores or restaurants are farm raised,if you ever ate a wild Tilapia,odds are you caught it yourself.Corn would probably be a good bait,it is for carp.

    They eat a 99% vegetarian diet in the wild.They are a fresh-water fish,they never eat grains or anything else in the ocean,anchovies and sardines are not,they are salt-water fish.
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  15. #13
    Bacon is actually good for you. Bacon from a non-gmo, organically vegetarian fed, uncured, no nitrites one is anyhow... That fat is gold.

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by ctiger2 View Post
    Bacon is actually good for you. Bacon from a non-gmo, organically vegetarian fed, uncured, no nitrites one is anyhow... That fat is gold.
    I would add that they have to have access to a pasture to forage. Even if they are fed grains, they can be relatively healthy if they can eat grass and forage as well.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by mad cow View Post
    I would bet that 99+% of all Tilapia in stores or restaurants are farm raised,if you ever ate a wild Tilapia,odds are you caught it yourself.Corn would probably be a good bait,it is for carp.

    They eat a 99% vegetarian diet in the wild.They are a fresh-water fish,they never eat grains or anything else in the ocean,anchovies and sardines are not,they are salt-water fish.
    lol that's true, they are omnivores and occasionally will reside in saltwater, but ya they are mostly fresh water.

    According to wikipedia, adding flax seed to their diet can improve omega 3s.

    I would probably feed them a mix of afalfa, flax and sardine/anchovy pellets if I had a tilapia farm or was into aquaponics.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post

    I would probably feed them a mix of afalfa, flax and sardine/anchovy pellets if I had a tilapia farm or was into aquaponics.
    No marijuana?



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  20. #17
    Why You Should Never Eat Tilapia

    Tilapia has become the ubiquitous fish in America today. It’s cheap, not “fishy” tasting, boneless and skinless, and is hard to mess up by overcooking, which is a problem with many other fish varieties.

    However, the tilapia we’re eating is almost entirely a farmed fish, meaning you cannot find wild tilapia in any grocery store or on any restaurant menu. And the farming is usually done on an industrial scale, with thousands of fish being harvested every day. Their feed is not natural — in the wild, tilapia would eat algae and lake plants, but the farms fatten up the fish on GMO corn and soy pellets. The amount of healthful fish oils in these creatures is almost non-existent, negating the main reason why fish is so good for us.

    Why Farm-Raised Tilapia is So Bad for You

    1.Recent Studies have found that farm-raised Tilapia may cause more inflammation – Farm-raised tilapia has always been a popular source for fish, not only because it is widely available in the US, but it is also very inexpensive. However, before you stock up on Tilapia, you may want to know about its correlation to inflammation.

    Continued...
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by eduardo89 View Post
    No marijuana?
    Hemp seed maybe if it were cheaper.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by donnay View Post
    Why You Should Never Eat Tilapia

    Tilapia has become the ubiquitous fish in America today. It’s cheap, not “fishy” tasting, boneless and skinless, and is hard to mess up by overcooking, which is a problem with many other fish varieties.

    However, the tilapia we’re eating is almost entirely a farmed fish, meaning you cannot find wild tilapia in any grocery store or on any restaurant menu. And the farming is usually done on an industrial scale, with thousands of fish being harvested every day. Their feed is not natural — in the wild, tilapia would eat algae and lake plants, but the farms fatten up the fish on GMO corn and soy pellets. The amount of healthful fish oils in these creatures is almost non-existent, negating the main reason why fish is so good for us.

    Why Farm-Raised Tilapia is So Bad for You

    1.Recent Studies have found that farm-raised Tilapia may cause more inflammation – Farm-raised tilapia has always been a popular source for fish, not only because it is widely available in the US, but it is also very inexpensive. However, before you stock up on Tilapia, you may want to know about its correlation to inflammation.

    Continued...
    Ya I had a feeling their diet in the wild was algae (like spirulina, high in protein and all sorts of nutrients) and plants. Doesn't seem like it would be hard to replicate in a fish farm, maybe a little more expensive than corn and soy.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  23. #20
    That it may contain Omega 3 is not the issue. The issue is the RATIO of Omega 3 to Omega 6. If the farm raised fish is fed with grain pellets, it's probably going to have lots of Omega 6 and a poor Omega 6/Omega 3 ratio. Omega 3 & 6 compete for the same receptor sites in the body. Too much Omega 6 is inflammatory.
    Last edited by anaconda; 04-17-2014 at 05:12 PM.

  24. #21

  25. #22
    When we get moved to our new home and land in a different state, we intend to raise tilapia using aquaponics and growing duckweed to feed them and our rabbits and chickens.

    I love tilapia, and apparently they're about a year and half investment but hearty and pretty easy to raise. Between the chickens, the rabbits, and the tilapia, I think we'll be pretty happy campers when it comes to raising our own meat.

    Here's a website for raising your own: http://www.backyardtilapia.com/ and http://www.tilapiafarmingathome.com/Pages/default.aspx

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  26. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by angelatc View Post
    (Well, anybody except DonnaY. She won't believe anything that doesn't come from anonymous unnamed, undocumented sources on the internet anyway.)
    As opposed to some undocumented, unnamed source on the internet introduced as, 'My husband [who] knows more about this topic than anybody else...'
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    We believe our lying eyes...



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