I was searching around the internet trying to find an interesting, low carb way to prepare tilapia when articles regarding its high levels of Omega 6s and its contribution to inflammation poped up!


"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..."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/release...80708092228.htm


As someone who is fighting high inflammation (CRP) levels through supplementation and a low carb diet, I am shocked!! I had no idea that non-fatty fish/seafood has such high levels of omega 6s! I know that non-fatty fish has very low levels of omega 3s, but I also thought it has very low levels of omega 6s...

I'm sad

I love fish/seafood (except for salmon) and now most of my favourite fish/seafood choices are out.

I'm posting this as a warning for anyone concerned about limiting their omega 6 intake and enjoys eating non-fatty fish (like tilapia) - because I had absolutely no idea.

ugh... does this include shrimp? I really love a bowl of shrimp with added fat b/c it's too lean on it's own, but that sucks about the omega 6's...

I'm trying to find some info on shrimp. From what I've quickly read so far, I think shrimp has a good omega 3 to omega 6 ratio, but I would definitely do more research.

I'm also reading disturbing things about the omega 6 levels in NON grass fed beef... sigh...

What you need is wild-caught fish, not farmed fish. Tilapia, for example, is basically exclusively farmed and that screws up the omega6/omega3 ratios. As that same article you cite says:

The same issue is true of farm-raised salmon, which most salmon sold in the US is today also. Not only cheap corn-based food, but farmed salmon is also fed chemical dyes to make their flesh the expected pink color.

So if you like fish and want to eat it then you need to find wild-caught fish. These days I mostly only eat sardines.

Shrimp is mostly farmed these days too, so it's possible the same issues apply to them as well. I have not looked into shrimp in detail.

But a lot of fish these days are farmed, fed cheap corn-based grains and lots of antibiotics - the finny equivalents of feed-lot cattle.

I've been trying to find the omega ratios in wild-caught tilapia - more for educational purposes than anything though because I've NEVER been able to find wild tilapia at the stores near me. I used to brush it off and think "oh well, I'll just eat whatever tilapia I can find" - I never realized how detrimental to my health this was.

I think I'm just disappointed b/c I've been trying really hard to do what's right for my body and eliminate omega 6s - all the while, eating A LOT of tilapia (farmed).

My god, this information should be readily available!!!

Also, when considering wild vs. farmed fish, I always thought about the mercury levels.

It never ever would have crossed my mind that farmed fish has considerably more omega 6 levels.

This document has a good list of common fish/veggies/oil and their 6/3 ratio. (Google cached HTML version of a PDF). Tilapia isn't on there, though.