(Natural Blaze) Eating tilapia can be toxic to your health and can cause all sorts of health problems.
Here are at least 5 reasons why you should probably avoid consuming the 4th most consumed fish in America according to the National Institute of Fisheries.
1.) Eating tilapia is worse than eating bacon (HIGH INFLAMMATORY LEVELS) according to nutritionists
You may be surprised, but some nutritionists believe that an average serving of tilapia has more fatty acid than bacon
The quantity of omega-6s in tilapia is higher than in a hamburger or bacon.
In 2008, researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine released a study comparing fatty acid levels among popular farm fish. The researchers found that tilapia contained far less omega-3 fatty acid than other fish, such as salmon and mackerel.
The report stated that the “inflammatory potential of hamburger (80 percent lean) and pork bacon is lower than the average serving of farmed tilapia (100 g).” In theory, scientists believe this may contribute to heart disease, cancer, and other chronic health problems.
Related: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good
2.) Tilapia are fed a diet of feces
A 2009 study conducted by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated Chinese farm-raised fish are fed poultry and livestock feces.
“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 report said.
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.”
So how much tilapia in the U.S. actually comes from China?
You would be shocked to know the answer. According to Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, over 95 percent of tilapia consumed in the U.S. came from overseas with a whopping 70% from China.
3) Tilapia Could Cause Alzheimer’s and Cancer
Tilapia can carry up to 10 times the amount of carcinogens as other farm raised fish. This is because of the “food” the farmers typically feed the fish is — feces, pesticides, and industrial-grade chemicals.
Additionally, the fish may contain high levels of arachidonic acid, which, in excess, has been linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s.
Related: How to Improve Brain Health and Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s
4) Antibiotics are used to modify the fish to grow faster
Tilapia are fed antibiotics, malachite green and methyl testosterone hormones to keep the population safe and to grow them faster. The chemical dye malachite green is banned for food use since 1983 because it is a suspected carcinogen.
In 2007, the FDA halted imports of farmed fish from China after finding antimicrobials — nitrofuran, malachite green, gentian violet, and fluoroquinolone.
Nitrofuran, malachite green and gentian violet are chemicals that are known to treat fungal infection and have been shown to be carcinogenic with long-term exposure, while fluoroquinolones are used to increase antibiotic resistance.
Related: How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials
5) Tilapia contains the harmful chemical dioxin
Researchers have found that dioxin, which is linked to the development and progression of cancer is found within Tilapia due to the food farmers feed it. However, that doesn’t mean that Tilapia as a whole all contains contaminants it all depends on where it was raised and harvested over all.
So what are your alternatives to tilapia?
It is always best to eat wild-caught fish. If you choose to buy farmed fish, then you should look for fish that are free of hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Even so, the best solution is to avoid tilapia altogether. I wouldn’t want to eat feces or antibiotics, would you?