William Atkins
Monday, 14 July 2008 21:51
Science -
Health
Page 2 of 3
To perform their research, the scientists bought fish from supermarkets from four U.S. states, South American seafood wholesalers, and fish farms from several countries.
The fish was snap-frozen so that they could be preserved for analysis. The fatty acid composition of samples of these fish was determined with the use of gas chromatography.
Thirty samples of the four types of fish contained any where from
“almost undetectable levels” of omega-3 fatty acids to nearly 4.0 grams of n-3 PUFA per 100 grams of fish.
Their research found that
trout and Atlantic salmon contained
“relatively high concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids, low amounts of omega-6 fatty acids when compared to omega-3 fatty acids, and high saturated fatty acid plus monounsaturated fatty acid when compared to fatty acids (PUFAs).”
The research also found that the
tilapia had much higher amounts of omega-6 acids than both
salmon and trout. Ratios of long-chain omega-6 to long-chain omega-3 in tilapia averaged about 11:1, compared to much less than 1:1 in both
salmon and trout.
The researchers also found that
tilapia contained only modest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Specifically they found at
tilapia contained less than 0.5 gram of omega-3 fatty acid per 100 grams of fish.
Salmon and trout, as discovered by the researchers, contained nearly 3 and 4 grams, respectively, of omega-3 fatty acid per 100 grams of fish.
As reported by ScienceDaily.com,
"In the United States, tilapia has shown the biggest gains in popularity among seafood, and this trend is expected to continue as consumption is projected to increase from 1.5 million tons in 2003 to 2.5 million tons by 2010.” [ScienceDaily.com: “
Popular Fish, Tilapia, Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination”]
The ScienceDaily article describes the research results:
“They say their research revealed that farm-raised tilapia, as well as farmed catfish, ‘have several fatty acid characteristics that would generally be considered by the scientific community as detrimental.’ Tilapia has higher levels of potentially detrimental long-chain omega-6 fatty acids than 80-percent-lean hamburger, doughnuts and even pork bacon, the article says.”
The researchers specifically stated in their article,
“Taken together, these data reveal that marked changes in the fishing industry during the past decade have produced widely eaten fish that have fatty acid characteristics that are generally accepted to be inflammatory by the health care community."
The ScienceDaily article continues,
"’For individuals who are eating fish as a method to control inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, it is clear from these numbers that tilapia is not a good choice,’ the article says. ‘All other nutritional content aside, the inflammatory potential of hamburger and pork bacon is lower than the average serving of farmed tilapia.’"
What do the Wake Field authors suggest? Please read page three.
