Seafood can be part of a healthy diet because most seafood is rich in vitamins and nutrients, but one trendy fish is not the healthiest choice around. Tilapia is one of the most popular fish on menus across the U.S., but now health experts are warning people, trying to make healthy choices, to pick something else.
Tilapia Has a Harmful Fatty Acid
One of the reasons fish is a healthy choice for most diners is because of the omega-3 fatty acids found its meat. But researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine say that Tilapia actually has lots of omega-6 fatty acids, which happen to be pretty bad for you. To put that into perspective, tilapia has more omega-6 than bacon! Which means any of the benefits from omega-3 fatty acids, like lowering your Alzheimer’s risk, is probably not worth the intake of omega-6 fatty acids.
Tilapia May Raise Your Alzheimer’s Risk
Now that you know how much omega-6 fatty acids tilapia contains, you’ll be interested to know that one of those omega six acids is called arachidonic acid. This particular acid could be a large contributor to a known Alzheimer’s risk. Arachidonic acid can lead to the type of inflammatory damage that is typically found just before Alzheimer’s. There are other fish like, halibut and sardines, that reduce your risk of developing the devastating illness— but tilapia could cause it.
Tilapias are What They Eat
One of the reasons tilapia is so popular in the U.S. is because it is the second most farmed fish in the world. While the fish has taken well to farming, farmed fish aren’t the best choice for most people because of what they consume. Farmers don’t always feed tilapia the best diet, which means the fish is passing some of its food, like chicken and hog feces, to you. They have also been found to contain large doses of antibiotics.
Tilapia Comes with a Cancer Risk
Tilapia’s unhealthy diet on most fish farms leads to the meat containing up to 10 times the number of carcinogens as most fish. Their poor farm raised diet contains pesticides and industrial-grade chemicals. Researchers have found dioxin in tilapia tissue, and that is really bad news because dioxin is known for its cancer-causing risk. And get this, all of that dioxin could take a decade or MORE to finally leave your body!
It’s no wonder health experts are telling folks to leave tilapia off the menu.
Please Share With Your Friends and Family!
Featured Image Courtesy: Pexels (www.pexels.com)
Note: Peace Quarters is an open platform for contributors to share their thoughts, experiences, and wisdom. If you’d wish to contribute sign up to our expert’s program here!
