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Tilapia Poor Choice in Heart-Healthy Diet

Healthcare professionals have urged Americans to eat more fish in order to consume more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids but a new study from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine warns that not all fish are created equal. In fact, one of the most popular fish sold in the United States may cause more harm that good.

Tilapia is a source of omega-3 fatty acids but it is also a very rich source of omega-6 fatty acids, which can trigger an exaggerated response to inflammation in individuals with chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma, arthritis, and other conditions that affect the blood vessels, heart, lungs, joints, skin, and digestive tract. The key to health is the ratio between the omega-3 and the omega-6 fatty acids.

The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 in tilapia is so heavy in omega-6 while being so poor in omega-3 that the beneficial effects of the omega-3 are overridden by the damaging effect of the omega-6. Of the fish and seafood consumed in the US, tilapia has enjoyed the biggest gains in recent years, with consumption at 1.5 million tons in 2003 and projected growth increasing to 2.5 million tons in 2010.

One of the main reasons for tilapia’s popularity is its cost, which is considerably less than that of many other readily available fish on the American market. A number of studies in recent years have proven that omega-6 fatty acids are detrimental to the health of people and animals with health concerns that include the effect of inflammation on quality of health. Floyd H “Ski” Chilton, PhD, says eating tilapia for its health benefits may be placing vulnerable individuals at increased risk of complications associated with inflammation. Chilton is the senior author of the Wake Forest report describing a recent study of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and is a professor of physiology and pharmacology as well as director of the Center for Botanical Lipids at Wake Forest.

Complete details of Chilton’s study are in this month’s Journal of the American Dietetic Association. His research was funded by The National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

See also:

An Open Letter regarding recent reports that low-fat fish like tilapia are unhealthy. (July 16, 2008)

http://www.sanfordhealth.org/VisitorsPatients/HealthResources/HealthArticles/

We would like to extend our thanks to our reader, Gavin, for directing us to this information!

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