Are tilapia really a healthy food source,Not according to Wake forest researchers.

[Scott lemonds]

http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=892

[Kellen Weissenbach]

The various articles written about the Wake Forest study from 2008 are largely misleading and in many cases patently false, and they've been discussed quite a bit since then.  Stating bacon, burgers and doughnuts to be a healthier choice than farmed tilapia is laughable, and many credentialed and highly respected doctors quickly disputed those "articles".

In fact, a panel of 16 doctors, many being some of the most respected doctors in the world, disagree with the assertion that tilapia is unhealthy. http://south.sanfordhealth.org/visitorspatients/HealthResources/Hea...

 

You will also find a ton of information, blogs, articles, editorials, etc. by various doctors, nutritionists, health and wellness organizations and others disputing these sensationally misleading "articles".

 

[Carroll Harris]

Another thing to consider is whether tilapia grown in an aquaponics system are a more healthy food source than the ones coming out of the huge farms in China and other places.  Just a thought . . ..

:)

carroll

[Myles Harston]

When that article came out we contacted Wake Forrest to give us details about the study.   Where the fish came from,  how they were grown etc.   They would give us no information.   The article still seems to do it damage, however.   There have been several articles since then that say how good tilapia are, one of which comes from Mayo clinic.    I agree with Carroll,  I believe that tilapia grown in aquaponics will be much cleaner and safer to eat than most fish from any source.

[TCLynx]

farmed tilapia are only as unhealthy to eat as large quantities of corn and soy.  To a large extent the whole drive to eat more fish was because of the thing about getting more omega 3 as compared to omega 6.  Unfortunately a huge portion of the feed for both farm raised tilapia and farm raised catfish is Corn and Soy which both have a pretty lousy omega 3 to omega 6 ratio and the resulting fish will also have a pretty lousy ratio too.  So if your whole point of eating more fish to be healthy is based on the idea that if is high in omega 3 and that is what you are after, then farmed tilapia or catfish (being fed pellet feed instead of being raised on green water culture) are not serving your intended purpose.  The more natural the diet of catfish or tilapia, the better the Omega ratios are going to be.  Tilapia and catfish are not high on the list for providing the high omega 3 levels in the first place but they are easily farmed and fast growing fish and not particularly bad for you, just not that good at providing the Omega 3s.

 

Then there will be the question of if the fish meal to make the feed is getting too high in mercury which is a whole other heath concern.

 

Now other people will have their own views of tilapia being raised on green water culture and might not like the idea of eating fish that has been fed by applying fresh manure to the pond but that is a totally different discussion I think.

[Myles Harston]

Good thoughts,   I agree.   In fact any farm animal raised on a high corn and soy diet will have the Omega 3's and 6's out of wack.

TCLynx said:

farmed tilapia are only as unhealthy to eat as large quantities of corn and soy.  To a large extent the whole drive to eat more fish was because of the thing about getting more omega 3 as compared to omega 6.  Unfortunately a huge portion of the feed for both farm raised tilapia and farm raised catfish is Corn and Soy which both have a pretty lousy omega 3 to omega 6 ratio and the resulting fish will also have a pretty lousy ratio too.  So if your whole point of eating more fish to be healthy is based on the idea that if is high in omega 3 and that is what you are after, then farmed tilapia or catfish (being fed pellet feed instead of being raised on green water culture) are not serving your intended purpose.  The more natural the diet of catfish or tilapia, the better the Omega ratios are going to be.  Tilapia and catfish are not high on the list for providing the high omega 3 levels in the first place but they are easily farmed and fast growing fish and not particularly bad for you, just not that good at providing the Omega 3s.

 

Then there will be the question of if the fish meal to make the feed is getting too high in mercury which is a whole other heath concern.

 

Now other people will have their own views of tilapia being raised on green water culture and might not like the idea of eating fish that has been fed by applying fresh manure to the pond but that is a totally different discussion I think.

[TCLynx]

exactly!!!!  Grass fed beef, forest finished pork and pastured chickens will be far healthier sources of meat than any feed lot or industrially raised animals.

[TCLynx]

Now we just have to come up with reasonable fish feeds that will work for aquaponics without such a heavy dependence on corn, soy and unsustainable fish meal.

TCLynx said:

exactly!!!!  Grass fed beef, forest finished pork and pastured chickens will be far healthier sources of meat than any feed lot or industrially raised animals.

[AJ Grottke]

You can say that again! lol the fish feed industry really needs a makeover.

TCLynx said:

Now we just have to come up with reasonable fish feeds that will work for aquaponics without such a heavy dependence on corn, soy and unsustainable fish meal.

TCLynx said:

exactly!!!!  Grass fed beef, forest finished pork and pastured chickens will be far healthier sources of meat than any feed lot or industrially raised animals.

[TCLynx]

I've been hearing rumors of changes coming.  Testing of algae based pellets to grow out even trout.

[Scott lemonds]

Here is what i find interesting about this report.Five phd's complete a study on tilapia fed a corn based diet,and conclude that  unatural fat compositions are causing adverse health problems in humans.Then within ten days 16 different scientist announce a rebuttal. two of which have ties to wake forest.This seems like another corporate cleanup job to me.I would like to see the original published study ,can not seem to locate it. Here is an interesting link,

http://www.mydietaryfats.org/index.php/info/content/C5/   Notice any familiar names?

Tilapia are not bad for you ,but tilapia fed corn seem to be.I would surmise tilapia fed geneticaly altered corn even more so.

We researched this in a high school classroom,and the conclusion was simple.No one had ever seen corn growing in a lake,so its doubtful,tilapia ever encountered it as a food source.I have a friend  in sudan who lives on the nile river ,where you can catch the wild ones. He confirmed  the hypothesis.

[David Waite]

Never seen a fat china man or ancient egyptian. haha.

[TCLynx]

I think to a large extent we may find that many animals being fed the genetically modified corn and soy are not as healthy.  Including us.

Scott lemonds said:

Tilapia are not bad for you ,but tilapia fed corn seem to be.I would surmise tilapia fed geneticaly altered corn even more so.