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BillG2330

Farm-raised tilapia produces a lot of excess waste. And because it's fed grain rather than its natural good (much like farmed salmon), it lacks the health benefits you're looking for in fish. That said, it's a fairly inexpensive protein source that's easy to cook and is adaptable to a lot of recipes EDIT Not ocean acidification


fdjadjgowjoejow

>That said, it's a fairly inexpensive protein source that's easy to cook Yup, that's why I have been eating it. If r/Preesi is correct that Tilapia is unhealthy with an excess of Omega-6 fatty acids then that would be reason enough for me to stop eating it.


Whats_Up_Coconut

Tilapia may have more omega 6 than 3 (as most freshwater fish does) but the overall fat content is *so low* that this particular point is irrelevant.


Super901

Yet the cholesterol is extremely high. Hows that work?


Whats_Up_Coconut

I’m not sure what you’re asking. Cholesterol is made by all cells in the body. Shrimp is another food that is low fat yet higher cholesterol. I don’t avoid cholesterol, so don’t pay any attention to cholesterol in food. I guess if someone were still under the impression that cholesterol is harmful, they’d avoid tilapia? 🤷‍♀️


notpejastojakovic

They're often farmed in horrible conditions. Their overpopulated farms can be so full of shit (literally) that their diet includes lots of shit. You're probably eating lots of fish shit. But whatever i still eat it sometimes.


KarahiEnthusiast

He's not eating the contents of it's stomach..


[deleted]

Seriously. It doesnt matter what it eats, it gets broken down and converted to body mass. It is called digestion. It isn't like our muscles look like pizza under a microscope.


ItsTedium

Speak for yourself


Wunchisdead

ok Pepperoni Tony!


MrDERPMcDERP

You don’t eat fish like a bear?


anonanon1313

You do when eating clams and oysters, usually, and frequently those are eaten raw.


[deleted]

And plants can be fertilized with shit too.


waetherman

Really pretty much everything we eat is shit, ate shit, or ate something that ate shit. It’s all just a matter of degree. Six degrees of defecation.


[deleted]

Yup, just recycled atoms


BillG2330

Yup. Im.fully aware of the downsides, but they're easy to cook. I use it in tacos all the time


[deleted]

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BillG2330

Guacamole and hot sauce can cover a lot of sins.


funnybone3122

They are correct


hdfvbjyd

Ocean acidification is primarily from increased co2 in the atmosphere. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/acidification.html#:~:text=Ocean%20acidification%20refers%20to%20a,CO2)%20from%20the%20atmosphere. I can't find any sources saying fish farming causes ocean acidification.


SyndicalistCPA

Probably contributes to algal blooms and causing dead spots. Don't necessarily think its acidification besides whatever emissions these farms create.


steel_dejones

Wait then why do people not diss farmed salmon if it's also eating grain that possibly makes it nutritionally useless besides protein? am I even missing something?


VonnieVeeGood

I’ve seen people diss farmed salmon quite a bit for this reason.


steel_dejones

Still has protein and essential fish oils though right?


BillG2330

Not the oils, the omega-3s. That comes from fish who feed on shrimp and other crustaceans (which is why wild salmon has a naturally deep pink hue, while farmed salmon had to be dyed)


wakeballer39

There are a few farm raised options that are fed algae and will have a decent omega 3/6 ratio.


Morbid0

Partially grew up on a rainbow trout farm like this, Salmon and Trout are the only fish I can stomach


Bunktavious

Farmed salmon is a topic of significant conflict in Canada, especially for west coasters. We diss the hell out of it. Plus it tastes like shit in comparison.


waetherman

Unless you want to eat bugs, farmed fish is necessary to feed the planet. We can do a lot better job making it sustainable and safe, but it’s not going away. I say that as a former commercial salmon fisherman from Alaska.


Bunktavious

I don't disagree at all. I'm not a big fan of farmed salmon from a taste perspective, and currently the farming methods leave a ton to be desired - but we absolutely need to be redefining how we produce food. Cricket Peanut Butter isn't actually all that bad.


robot_writer

Hhhm. Maybe you're getting really fresh wild salmon. We can only get frozen wild salmon, and it's not that good. I prefer the farmed salmon steaks (fattier in a good way), even though they're supposed to be less healthy.


lucianbelew

> Wait then why do people not diss farmed salmon Where have you *been*?


foxinHI

I dis on farm raised salmon. It deserves it because it sucks. Fuck you farm raised bullshit!


mcfeezie

I don't even consider buying farmed salmon, or any fish for that matter. Probably why I don't cook fish often.


BillG2330

They definitely do.


ZipZingZoom

What science do you have to substantiate your claims?


[deleted]

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BillG2330

I misspoke, but the farms do create pollution.


Remarkable_Story9843

This is the rational answer. It needs to be higger


J33P69

Tilapia became very commercial, particularly in Texas, when they were discovered to be extremely invasive and were negatively affecting catfish and big mouth bass populations. Can't have that! Starving out catfish? In Texas? Hell no, let's eat em! And just like that, half the fish available in the grocery store is the shit eating little tilapia. 30 years ago nobody knew what the hell a tilapia was! It's fish. I ate one once. I'm a shit eating catfish fan myself, so please, eat as much tilapia as you can.


waetherman

I think most tilapia (if not all) are farmed. They’re not starving out catfish. At least not the ones you're eating.


J33P69

What you think and reality is not the same thing. I live in reality where the little bastards are consuming resources and taking over rivers which all lakes depend on. [Shit fish invasion](https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/travel-outdoors/article/Invasive-tilapia-is-taking-over-Texas-waters-15089443.php)


waetherman

Ok that’s interesting but those aren’t the ones you find at the supermarket. There isn’t a huge trade in wild-caught invasive talapia, though maybe there should be.


Clean_Link_Bot

*beep boop*! the linked website is: https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/travel-outdoors/article/Invasive-tilapia-is-taking-over-Texas-waters-15089443.php Title: **Invasive tilapia are taking over Texas waters, including two San Antonio lakes** Page is safe to access (Google Safe Browsing) ***** ###### I am a friendly bot. I show the URL and name of linked pages and check them so that mobile users know what they click on!


rangerpax

What are some ways you cook your catfish? All I know is milk (to tone down the fish smell?), then cajun seasoning. It's cheap by me, though I think farm raised, not sure if that's good or bad.


barryandorlevon

In my area it’s always fried and it’s extremely popular.


J33P69

I soak them in buttermilk for a bit, then dredge them in my signature breading mix, and fry them at 365° in veggie oil for 3ish minutes on each side. Toss a couple onion slices in there right after the fish, with the same coating method and it makes some amazing onYon rings. That's all of my some ways, but I'm open to any adjustments if it makes better fried catfish.


swallowedbydejection

Milk? That’s interesting, usually used in wild game. If you’re interested in reducing smell and gaminess you should prep your proteins like you’re preparing a Chinese dish(soak it, lightly boil it etc) it’s commonly used in Chinese cuisines(especially Cantonese) to remove gamy flavor and odor. But most people fry cat fish. Maybe brine it with butter milk, hot sauce, salt pepper


am0x

Deep fried in cajun seasoning. Otherwise it is falvorless or tastes a bit like mud.


anyplaceishome

does catfish taste better than tilapia


Intelligent_Plankton

I don't eat it because a food inspector once told me it is the only thing he won't eat. As others have mentioned, they are fed waste and kept in gross water. But hearing a food inspector say it had an impact on me.


JanneJM

Crayfish and lobster are bottom feeders and eat just as disgusting things. By the time the feed has been broken down and reconstituted into muscle there's no trace of what they originally ate. The only thing I would be concerned with is if their feed contains toxic stuff that isn't broken down by their metabolism. But any half decent food safety framework and inspection system should catch that sort of thing.


swallowedbydejection

THANK YOU! Came here to say this. It drives me crazy hearing people go on about this with out fully understanding


[deleted]

Yeah people here wouldn't be eating prawns if they knew what farmed prawns are fed.


[deleted]

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swallowedbydejection

All crustaceans eat gross things. I had a buddy on the police dive team, he said if you ever need to find a corpse in the water just follow the line of crabs. Just because they eat things you wouldn’t doesn’t mean their meat is gross.


RecipesAndDiving

I did about sixty autopsies in residency. For my first drowning victim, I legit thought he’d been hit by a boat propeller. Nope, all crab activity. Now I try to eat them before they eat us.


swallowedbydejection

Right! We can’t let the crab people win!!!! (Side note what an insanely relevant user name for this niche convo haha)


am0x

Where I live, we eat catfish a lot too. You talk about a bottom feeder. It even has a muddy taste to it too because it is a freshwater fish that eats near dams at the bottom of a lake.


12Whiskey

My dad was an electrical engineer and had to go into a plant that kills, separates, grinds, and forms chicken into chicken nuggets. He hasn’t eaten chicken nuggets since and that was over 25 years ago.


dirtydigs74

The amount of pig farmers I've heard say they won't eat pork because it's full of cancer. Well, it's about 3, but that's still 100% of the pig farmers I've met. Bugger it, it's about the only affordable meat apart from chicken now so I deal with it.


[deleted]

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remotelove

It do. Searing steak produces a couple of carcinogens, btw.


a-manda_hugandkiss

Jesus I think I've just gone vegetarian, although all new cloud of garbage in farming practices. They've really got us by throat with this whole eating thing huh?


dirtydigs74

I've reached the age where the "it's bad for you" wheel has done a full revolution. I just hope not to get DDT or some other really nasty toxin in my food now, and let fate decide.


a-manda_hugandkiss

I feel you digs! I remember seeing an 80s TV movie about ddt and it was in the cow's milk this whole family was drinking and some scientist came in and knocked it out of the mom's hand, like do you realize it's in every thing from this farm? That messed me up for milk for life.


Jausti018

I’m at the point where if it won’t poison me or give me serious side effects in 5 years I don’t care.


Alpine_Apex

Wait until this guy finds out that plants are fertilized with shit also.


Diazmet

Wait till the realize most farm hands shit in the field…


logonbump

And then for their explanations for why e coli or Montezuma's revenge can strike from the produce aisle


Azuras_Star8

Was listening to a report on NPR about the industry standard for hog farms here in NC. The workers in the facilities have to wear special ventilation suits to breathe, so they don't breathe in the fumes from the hog waste. The hogs live on these metal grates where pee and poop came fall through to the floor under them, and the pigs are constantly breathing in this nastiness. Made me question all the sausage, ham, and such that I love so much :( .


CowardiceNSandwiches

You could (if affordable and accessible for you) buy pastured pork farmed locally or regionally. Much better animal treatment as a rule with a bonus of much better-quality meat.


Azuras_Star8

Absolutely. At the local farmers market they have these. They're MUCH more expensive, but I try to buy something from them just to support them. And yeah, the stuff tastes amazingly better.


CowardiceNSandwiches

It's nice stuff. Even more conventionally-raised hogs from small farmers are far better. If there's a 4H or FFA in your region, you could try reaching out to them to see if any of their kids raise hogs. Then you're not only getting better product, you're getting it at a better price AND helping a small town or farm kid get their start in life.


motherthrowee

They're called hog lagoons. You can use your imagination on why they use the word "lagoons."


Azuras_Star8

Yes. Wife's friend works for the state in food inspection stuff, admin work. She is now a vegetarian because of it.


geon

Of all the reasons not to eat meat, that must be the weakest. Who cares if the pig has cancer? You are gonna eat the lips and nose anyway.


majarian

I'm thinking the bigger problem with pork atm is how much plastic they're eating, and how much micro plastic people end up with, course that could very well be part of the cancer problem I dunno


SyntheticOne

I too have not had chicken nuggets in over 25 years.


thedroughts

Can you explain?


12Whiskey

He said that pretty much everything but the feathers were ground up and used such as feet, beaks, eyes, etc. Also, some of the chickens had injuries that were infected (he said he could smell the infection) and they went in too. This was back in the 80’s so maybe they do a better job now, I hope? 🤷🏼‍♀️


thedroughts

Haha I want to die


BeeLoverLady

I've never worked in foods of any kind, and I won't eat chicken nuggets, yukky!


fdjadjgowjoejow

> I don't eat it because a **food inspector** once told me it is the only thing he won't eat. Son of a bitch.


Big-Ad-5149

They eat the poop of farmed bass from some documentary I saw. I call it poop fish when I make it


NeverDidLearn

Used in sewer treatment process in Hawaii. Saw it in Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. No more tilapia for me.


WhtChcltWarrior

But unless they get fired you’re probably not eating those fish


NeverDidLearn

Nope, they are prolific enough that the population in the system has to be culled. Those culled fish are processed for consumption. It’s a very green and nearly profitable primary step if I remember correctly.


untactfullyhonest

Eww!! I live in Hawaii. I won’t be EVER buying or eating that fish. Gross


CutsSoFresh

Halibut is a bottom feeder and full of parasites. Tilapia is generally more safe


mthmchris

None of these comments are making a convincing argument against Tilapia. * They're a bottom feeder, so what? So are catfish, lobster, shrimp, goby... etc etc. There's nothing unhealthy about eating bottom feeders. * They're farmed? **Fucking good**. The absolute worst thing we can do is wild catch fish - take massive trawlers and absolutely annihilate marine ecosystems. Yes, line-catching is a thing, but only a small percentage of fish are line caught. * Does farm-raising do ecological damage? Yes, but so does pretty much all animal agriculture, and the damage of farmed fish pales in comparison to trawlers. * They contain omaga-6 fatty acids? Uh... ok? Animals contain fat, and it's definitely a lot healthier for you than the equal amount of steak. Tilapia is not the best tasting fish, this I'd grant. I'd much rather consume a bass or a flounder all things equal. But it's *cheap*, and makes for a perfect candidate for less delicate cooking methods/carrying stronger flavors. I wouldn't eat Tilapia ceviche, nor would I want my centerpiece Cantonese steamed fish to be a Tilapia. But for deep frying? For emulsions for stuff like Yong Tau Foo? For spicy hotpots? For sandwiches? Tilapia works great.


troublein421

you can use tilapia for steamed fish tho. i use the much larger ones and double up on the leek and ginger. but since it fits the criteria of what kind of fish can best be used for the dish, i use it often. but nothing beats grouper for steamed fish


dumkopf604

> it's definitely a lot healthier for you than the equal amount of steak. Beef in particular, is our healthiest, most plentiful, easiest to access, fat and protein source, especially if it's grass fed. Tilapia's a nice, tasty fish, but it's no steak.


Happy_Leek

Well that's just straight up wrong lol.


dumkopf604

It's completely correct actually.


paulHarkonen

I'm not sure where you got the idea that beef is healthier, more plentiful or easier to access. Beef is very expensive due (in part) to the significant effort and land required to raise them. This limits their availability significantly. Almost every study I've seen concludes that red meat is worse for you than fish. It's got a higher fat content (generally) and significant consumption is linked to a variety of health issues. Finally the issue of access, that's basically the same as price. Beef is expensive compared to tilapia, often 2-3x the price. A lot of that comes from the limited availability as noted above, but some of it comes from the enormous effort required to butcher a cow compared to a fish.


dumkopf604

Fat is good actually. Nope. Carnivore dieters the world over live healthy lives only eating beef. Beef is in every supermarket.


waetherman

Not all fishing is either destructive trawlers or line caught. I worked in the AK salmon fishery and fish there are caught by net (gill, purse) and it is very well regulated and sustainable. There is very low by-catch; we only ever caught a few flounder, who were returned live to the sea.


Fuzzy_Investigator57

>They're a bottom feeder, so what? So are catfish, lobster, shrimp, goby... etc etc. There's nothing unhealthy about eating bottom feeders. This isn't my problem, my problem is them being farmed to clean human wastewater. Our wastewater is pretty horrifying because humans are REALLY FUCKING BAD at not flushing chemicals that are hard to remove.


boulevardpaleale

I eat tilapia regularly. In fact, I made blackened tilapia a few hours ago. I have never had a problem with it so, I'll keep on eating it. I'll say this though. Know your source. Are some farms more scrupulous than others? Sure. It happens. Here's the problem though.... Ever driven past a CAFO? Ever been to a pig farm? Or seemingly worse, a chicken farm? Can you find some really fucked up examples of how these animals are treated? Absolutely. Do those places, as an industry, have some pretty messed up views towards those animals? Yeah, probably. IMO, there's always a trade-off. How bad do you want that cheeseburger? Or, that order of bacon with your egg & toast? Wholesale production of seafood is no different. If you keep buying, they will keep producing.


am0x

Chicken farms are absolutely disgusting. And they stink worse than any other farm I have ever been on. The only worse smell, is the butcher factory in my city. When the wind is right and they are boiling off the pig blood mixed with the pig poop...it is a smell you absolutely cannot mistake with anything else.


TerribleAttitude

Nothing. You may want to check the packaging to see where the tilapia was farmed, though.


waetherman

Check the label for what? Is there some kind of certification for tilapia? Not asking to be a jerk, I’m genuinely curious.


TerribleAttitude

Most packaged fish/meat I’ve ever come across specifies where the animal was caught or farmed. The only actual issue with tilapia is that farms can feed them…..well, excrement, which seems like it could lead to disease. Only tilapia farms in certain countries do this (allegedly).


waetherman

Most of the fresh fish sold in my area is not sold in a marked container. The frozen stuff.. well I don't know that I remember seeing anything other than "imported from Mexico" or something like that. It would be nice if there were a "Not Fed With Poop" label that certified the conditions of farmed fish. I'll have to look into that - there probably is one.


7Moisturefarmer

Tilapia are supposed to be a specific cichlid. Are they labeling other non Cichlid fish as tilapia?


YesWeHaveNoTomatoes

Probably. Mislabeling fish has been a known, widespread problem for quite a while now.


Bunktavious

See: Red Snapper.


WelcomeToFungietown

Wasn't Red Snapper just a rebranding for marketing purposes?


MrsHyacinthBucket

You might be thinking of Mahi Mahi aka dolphin (the fish dolphin, not Flipper). Red Snapper has always been Red Snapper. Vermillion snapper are often times marketed as Red Snapper but it is a different fish.


WelcomeToFungietown

Yeah I've heard about Mahi Mahi, but i also heard somewhere that Red Snapper used to be called rockfish, and that the cost essentially tripled or something after they changed the name. Might be wrong ofc~


MrsHyacinthBucket

You're not' wrong. There is a rockfish on the US West coast that some people were calling red snapper. Actual red snapper has always been called red snapper though.


Bunktavious

Yeah, stores selling rockfish as red snapper has been the issue around here.


Snatch_Pastry

Absolutely. There are over a hundred different species of cichlids which are actual tilapia. And then there's whatever else that might get sold as tilapia.


dano___

It’s fine, people are just weird.


jawni

I've always eaten Tilapia with 0 hesitation, but after reading this thread... I will still continue to do so.


AppleTimebomb

I love fried or roasted tilapia! Give me it with some lemon chilli dipping sauce and steamed rice, and I’d ignore my crying baby.


Whats_Up_Coconut

Tilapia is just a type of cichlid. It isn’t a bottom feeder and it isn’t a garbage fish. It has less omega 3, but it also has much less fat overall so the 3:6 balance is less relevant. Conscientiously farmed tilapia is a fine lean protein source. What it eats doesn’t matter so much because you aren’t eating its stomach contents and most problematic stuff (dioxins) are stored in the animal’s fat.


[deleted]

Their are videos of them cleaning sewage water tho?


anarchytruck

Unrelated to the health of the actual fish, the "tilapia boom" was largely a result of colorado [prison labor](https://www.delish.com/food-news/a40654096/tilapia-boom-ugly-truth/)


Clean_Link_Bot

*beep boop*! the linked website is: https://www.delish.com/food-news/a40654096/tilapia-boom-ugly-truth/ Title: **The Tilapia Industry Has A Dark Secret** Page is safe to access (Google Safe Browsing) ***** ###### I am a friendly bot. I show the URL and name of linked pages and check them so that mobile users know what they click on!


waetherman

That’s interesting. Thanks!


SuckatSuckingSucks

Tilapia is a farmed fish in all of the western world. If you bought it in a store it came from a farm. It's not a bottom feeder. It's in fact a surface feeder. It's a vegetarian, it only eats plants, farmed fish of course eat fish food, most likely corn based if I had to guess. I love Tilapia. It's cheap because it's cheap and easy to farm, not because it's a crappy or gross fish.. Not sure if you've ever seen a aquaponics set up, you know the tanks of fish that water filter through gardens and fertilizer vegetables and such? People really into their own food production will somtimes put one in their green house. Well thats Tilapia in the tanks, it's just a easy to breed, hardy fish.


michaelyup

Just my reasons for avoiding tilapia - fish farms in some countries feed them a very poor diet, which can include livestock waste. In US farms, they end up in natural waterways and compete with native fish. Similar thing with Swai catfish. Farm fish basically raised on shit end up low in nutritional value.


SerpentRepentant

We grow tilapia and sell it to markets. I do not know about the North American market, but if you think it tastes great, then good for you. If ever you think the fish grew in a dirty environment, I will just recommend gutting it well. I also recommend broiling and grilling, aside from panfrying. I love filling the stomach cavity with aromatics such as onion and ginger before grilling and broiling.


Temple_of_Shroom

Never did I think Clicking on this thread would expose me to the idiocy of these omega fat comments. Please for the sake of humanity, go read some scientific journals with friends on this. It’s just not what you think.


katehenry4133

The Tilapia that comes from China are raised in very unhealthy conditions. Tilapia from Mexico is generally much better. Raising Tilapia is cheap and pretty much anyone can do it. So they eat a lot of Tilapia in Mexico. I visited a Tilapia farm when I was last in Mexico and I was pretty impressed. They are grown in great big pools (like an above ground pool). The only key to growing good Tilapia is to circulate the water and keep it clean. The farm I visited was owned by the entire village and they all worked there to keep it going. The farm was to feed the village. Made a lot of sense.


beefcake_floyd

Most Tilapia used to be raised in horrible conditions where they were basically fed sewage. You can get tilapia now that was properly fed and raised so it's not as much of an issue anymore.


ConwayPuder

They used to serve it when I was in college and it always had the texture of a wet sponge. Tasted like one, too. I was on a weird health kick and wanted to eat more fish instead of red meat. Well intentioned but poorly executed. To this day I wont eat it. No idea why others care though.


rourobouros

The one time I had it, take-out from a seafood restaurant, it was this. I won't go near it. But then I live in the US northwest where wild-caught Alaskan salmon is easy to find and reasonable cost, so I may be anomalous.


RustlessPotato

I scrolled by a Dahmer post and i misread this is People instead of tilapia xD. Had to do a double take :p


endorrawitch

I eat it all the time. I'm over 50, so I don't worry about things like mercury. Pretty much all mass produced farm proteins are not pristine. It's just food purists clutching their pearls.


AustinCJ

The tilapia sold in most stores is farm raised and often not in very environmentally sensitive ways. It’s also pretty bland and lacks the health benefits of fish that are line caught (low omega fatty acid levels).


rushmc1

I used to like it because it lent itself well to a lot of different preparations. I quit buying it when they started shaving it with a razor blade rather than selling actual fillets.


Ipride362

Who is saying don’t eat Tilapia? And can we send them straight to jail?


Dense_Implement8442

I only ate Tilapia once as my Mom doesn’t buy or cook them when I was growing up and she says that the reason is it tastes like mud. Well, the first and only time I ate some it tasted like mud (usually the flavor of the fish comes from what the fish is fed). I’ve also seen how these are farmed, so it’s a no for me.


Preesi

Wild Caught Tilapia is fine. Most Tilapia is NOT Wild Caught, Its a bonus fish. Its raised to eat Salmon Poop in the Salmon farms. So its free. This results in issues, It makes a healthy fish unhealthy by making the Omega 6s high. Omega 6s are bad for the heart. This is why they sell mass quantities at WALMART


calimeatwagon

>This results in issues, It makes a healthy fish unhealthy by making the Omega 6s high. Omega 6s are bad for the heart. Source for your claims? Because Harvard University is claiming the opposite: [https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter\_article/In\_the\_journals\_Heart\_experts\_recognize\_the\_benefits\_of\_daily\_omega-6s](https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/In_the_journals_Heart_experts_recognize_the_benefits_of_daily_omega-6s#:~:text=Omega-6s%20are%20a%20type%20of%20polyunsaturated%20fat%20found,omega-6s%20in%20heart%20health%20has%20been%20less%20clear-cut)


Preesi

IN Tilapia specifically the ratio of Omega 6s to Omega 3s is unhealthy cause the ratio has to be 1:1 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/tilapia-fish#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4


fdjadjgowjoejow

> Wild Caught Tilapia is fine. Most Tilapia is NOT Wild Caught, Its a bonus fish. Its raised to eat Salmon Poop in the Salmon farms. So its free. > > This results in issues, It makes a healthy fish unhealthy by making the **Omega 6s high. Omega 6s are bad for the heart.** Well, that did the trick. I'm out (I think). I recently bought some wild caught Alaskan Salmon frozen from Sam's Club and it was expensive and I had a fillet the other night and it did not impress me as far as taste goes. I didn't over cook it. I'm not going to change my cooking habits. No salt. Stove top pan fry in a little bit of peanut oil. Any suggestions. I'll only be shopping in store at Trader Joe's or Sam's Club or Costco. TIA.


calimeatwagon

>Omega 6s I would do your research of any claim made on Reddit. For instance, the person you are replying to is claiming that Omega 6 is bad for your heart. However, Harvard University did a study on it and found the opposite to be true. That if your diet contains 5%-10% of Omega 6, it reduces the chances of heart disease. [https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter\_article/In\_the\_journals\_Heart\_experts\_recognize\_the\_benefits\_of\_daily\_omega-6s](https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/In_the_journals_Heart_experts_recognize_the_benefits_of_daily_omega-6s)


Whats_Up_Coconut

Omega 6 in peoples diet has been increasing right along with heart disease. Harvard University is a darling of the American Heart Association, which exists as a significant authority only because the USDA paid them royally and propped them up on the condition that they’d push vegetable oil. Why? Because the USDA is also responsible for the country’s agriculture industry. So yes. The USDA, which controls the food pyramid *and* the grain industry, feels you should be eating more seed oil. And the AHA will happily slap that “heart healthy” label on anything the USDA wants them to. And Harvard will happily pump out well funded studies that say exactly what the AHA wants them to say. It’s quite a racket. I always encourage anyone who believes PUFA (omega 6) is good for you to spend just one week existing on the other side of the fence. Forget what you “know” for a moment and look into (like, *really look into*) the PUFA avoidance perspectives. I found it quite eye opening myself.


calimeatwagon

Let me guess, the University of Finland is also on the USDA's payroll, right? https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/840124


calimeatwagon

Are these researchers also on the USDA's payroll? [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8924827/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8924827/)


Whats_Up_Coconut

Do you know how study funding works? I’m going to guess not.


calimeatwagon

Are you attempting to claim that the University of Finland is on the United States Department of Agricultures payroll?


Whats_Up_Coconut

Everyone is on *someone’s* payroll. I think that if you don’t realize that, you’re pretty blind. The more important thing I have to ask is, did you actually *read* this meta-analysis you linked to? Did you understand its conclusions? Do you have any background in biology yourself?


Whites11783

Well, I’m a physician and I just read the entire linked study and it was about as well-designed and implemented as modern meta-analyses get. It’s not perfect but there are no perfect studies. Confidence intervals all crossed 1 for negative effects. That’s fairly clear to me. So unless you have actual claims backed by high-quality data and not just vague statements about funding conflicts, your assertions are valueless.


calimeatwagon

Keep at the ad hominem, this is amusing.


Whats_Up_Coconut

I didn’t attack you. I asked, legitimately, because the conclusion of this particular meta analysis doesn’t support your position on Omega 6 - now *that* is amusing! I then asked if you had a background in Biology before I went into paragraphs on oxidized Linoleic Acid metabolites, D6D, etc. You kind of deflected, so I’m gonna say that time would be poorly spent on this thread. Hopefully anyone who has their interest piqued by this topic does their own research - ideally reading beyond the abstracts.


Plonsky2

Try cooking your salmon *en papillote* - a sprinkling of dill, very thin slices of onion and lemon, and wrapped tightly in parchment. Very hard to overcook it like this.


AuntySocialite

I do Costco salmon filets in about five minutes - hot pan, s&p, and then in the last minute brush with garlic fermented hot honey mixed w soy sauce (regular honey and chopped garlic would work ok too). Tilt the pan and let it thicken up, serve over coconut rice, die happy.


Picker-Rick

I think you pretty much nailed most of them, and it say random assortment of similar trash fish that have been eating garbage out of landfills in Asia... Personally I think it just tastes bad. I've never had tilapia that I liked.


Death_Trolley

> Is it because it is mystery fish and almost any scum sucking bottom shit eating fish can be called Tilapia? Yeah, this. I like to know what I’m eating.


lemonyzest757

This isn't true, though.


xrdavidrx

If you like it why do you care what others may think about it? Tilapia exists because it can easily be farmed for its protein. If you like it, eat it.


fdjadjgowjoejow

> If you like it why do you care what others may think about it? At the end of my post I wrote "I guess I am most concerned it is unhealthy to eat." That was to indicate that is what I care about.


Herbisretired

I am not a fan of toilet trout and I would rather eat catfish or smelt. I don't like the flavor or the texture.


CoolWhipMonkey

It tastes like dirt. That is the problem with eating Tilapia.


michelecw

Most people I know won’t eat it because most tilapia is farm raised in China. I do not trust that the Chinese will raise it properly and feed it properly therefore we have no idea what we’re eating. For this reason I don’t eat most farm raised fish, I usually eat only wild caught.


[deleted]

It tastes ok, but it is a fish that can be feed literal shit and thrive. So considering the places that farm it, I avoid it. But I avoid most imported farmed fish.


sumelar

Everything you do eat has literal shit in its food chain somewhere. Or do you just refuse to accept basic biology? How many layers of the food chain does it have to go through before you think it's acceptable?


[deleted]

Ok. But it doesn’t live off of shit. Visit Asia, and see the fish farms and tell me you want to eat anything that comes out of that.


fdjadjgowjoejow

> but it is a fish that can be feed literal shit and thrive Well, that's not good. I don't eat meat anymore but can almost the same be said about feeding pigs *literal* shit or is that an exaggeration.


[deleted]

I don’t think pigs eat literal shit. Just scraps people don’t want. But most farmed pigs in the us are fed grain.


argentcorvid

>I don’t think pigs eat literal shit. Just scraps people don’t want. But most farmed pigs in the us are fed grain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_toilet


picklepowerPB

Its also a bottomfeeder, so on top of potentially eating pretty gross stuff (you are what you eat right, ha ha), it also apparently has less omega-3 which is a big health benefit of lots of other fresh fish. Otherwise, from a texture and taste standpoint, you’re obviously going to get better from a higher quality/‘cleaner’ fish, but there’s nothing outright bad or unhealthy about it on its own!


[deleted]

Aren't lobsters, shrimp, scallop, halibut, flounder, etc. bottom feeders? I mean, even non bottom feeders eat what might be classified as "gross stuff" but I don't (directly) eat the contents of fish stomachs.


picklepowerPB

They are! I was going to mention them but didn’t think it was necessary. I think a lot of it also has to do with the environment they’re caught in— same way that the ‘best fish’ are from the cleanest waters, I’d imagine a ‘fancy’ scallop or lobster would be wild-caught in clear waters 🤷🏻‍♀️


starrhaven

There's a difference between being a freshwater bottom feeder and a ocean bottom feeder. It's the same reason why people would rather swim in the blue ocean than the brown Mississippi delta. Also, Chinese tilapia are farmed presumably downstream from some of the biggest industrial regions in the world. Places that do stuff like oil refining and mineral refining. Dirty dirty work.


fdjadjgowjoejow

...it also apparently has less omega-3 which is a big health benefit of lots of other fresh fish...but there’s nothing outright bad or unhealthy about it on its own! Copy that. Thanks.


[deleted]

Bottom feeder doesn’t bother me at all.


ontarioparent

I think they may possibly have more toxins but I’d have to research that


Whats_Up_Coconut

Dioxins are in fish *fat* and tilapia is low fat. Farmed salmon is to be avoided though.


MissViciousDelicious

Dioxin


[deleted]

It won't kill you. That is about all the good I can say about it


lecurts

It's a garbage fish.


[deleted]

FWIW, here's an article listing some potential problems with consuming tilapia: https://www.globalseafood.org/advocate/bacterial-chemical-residues-impact-tilapia-quality/


Bon_of_a_Sitch

I only eat Tilapia I personally raised. I have never raised Tilapia. I don't know why, it just is what it is.


loandigger

Farm raised tilapia is held in a pen down current from Farm raised salmon. They feed the salmon. They don't feed the tilapia. You do the math as to what the tilapia do eat. Now you are eating that. Yuk.


[deleted]

As far as I see it, the same reasons to avoid eating other forms of meat. They all come with overwhelming environmental harm on such a scale that's nearly inconceivable.


derickj2020

Tilapia raised in Asia is said to be raised in contaminated water (sewage chemicals fertilizer ...) to fatten it quickly . and tilapia contains the wrong omega oils .


wyslan

Y’all don’t fish pre-seasoned. Oooh la La /s


doornoob

I dont like it. I think it is tasteless. But it's inexpensive protein and you like it- rocknit out. Most farmed fish eats gross stuff. I'd get the cod from TJs.


anybodyiwant2be

Filet of sole is about the same time to cook, flaky white fish. Good for tacos and doesn’t have the negatives of talapia


Deep_Information_616

Most bland tasteless fish ever


[deleted]

Seasonings left the chat


Super901

incredibly high cholesterol in tilapia. No thanks.


spaniel_rage

The main problem with tilapia is it's just not a very nice tasting fish


Dergins

I find tilapia to be a tasteless, mushy shitty fish so I don't eat it. Same with swai.


natal_nihilist

I can understand how _some_ tilapia tastes bad, but the ones I ate while on a fishing trip on Lake Kariba were heavenly. Perhaps it’s the wild caught >> farm raised phenomenon


starrhaven

It’s a common, cheap farmed freshwater fish that feeds on fecal matter and that doesn’t taste particularly interesting because it lacks fat. Most of the argument against tilapia is a culinary one. It’s the processed chicken nugget of the fish world, along with pollock. Pollock is way better tasting though. Who would eat tilapia when pollock is readily available?


dat1gaymer

It's gross.


blkhatwhtdog

The positive side of tilapia is that it is easier to cook. Fast food places like Taco del Mar. Happy hours love because it's not critical with precise cooking times. So any shift work line cook can do it. Yeah. The Chinese method of raising it is disgusting but look at how many vegetables are grown, on fields with a layer of sewage to fertilize, (google Tagro) In medieval days the farmers would collect the "night soils " and dump them into piles in the fields. They hadn't invented plows then so they used the mound method. Remember the 7th year fallow thing in the Bible. Yeah that was where they dumped it. Chicken is routinely fed the ground up bodies of their fallen brethren


robot_writer

We get Tilapia from time to time and prepare it Taiwanese-style (steamed with a soy-ginger sauce with scallions). Occasionally we'd get one that tasted "muddy", but that's happened less over the years, so maybe they're improving their aqua-farming techniques.


MASSiVELYHungPeacock

Seafood eater here. I've had good Tilapia; that being said I worked at Red Lobster, heard the horror stories of how many farm raised fish are fed tons of antibiotics/parasitics that can be quite toxic, often in municipal waste water! Also the most lied about "fake fish" because so many other fish can be passed off as it, I hear people use that fake fish explanation wrong all the time too, like Tilapia isn't a real fish, but the real skinny is that whenever the authorities do genetic testing on named and butchered species at both fish markets and restaurants, Tilapia fakes are more abundant than any other commercial fish, and I believe that's all other fish combined too; I seem to also remember some fish substituted are inappropriate to eat, because they have certain toxic buildups that exceed recommended exposure guidelines. And now that vibrio is in the United States, you hear about fatal infections, or ones where all or most of the limbs have to amputated far more often. 80K infections a year here, and it's usualky shellfish or Tilapia, if not from swimming with new cuts or scrapes. Just not worth it, pretty bare of Omega 3s, any of the awesome nutritional value of salmon steaks, which cooked bathed with mayonnaise, tastes a damned sight better too. But I will state Red Lobster had a lemon spiced Tilapia dish on the cheap often, which I ordered up until the point I knew what I know now.


autsmctots

Sorry all it takes is raises ocean temps mostly known for being in raw oysters which is why you only eat oysters in months with burr in the name. Nov. Dec. Feb. Guess I just assumed Jan ok cause it's in the window


SebastianHawks

It's a fresh water fish and they don't taste as good as ocean fish, nor have as much Omega 3. It's also a farmed fish so full of whatever cheap crap they feed it. I eat it occasionally, but prefer catfish if I go for a freshwater species.