Tilapia: Getting a bad rap?

Question: I've heard that tilapia is also known as the "garbage" fish. Why is that? Is it at all healthy to eat?

Answer: In July of this year, a study was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association indicating that tilapia may actually harm your heart due to the low levels of omega-3 fatty acids and high levels of unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids.

First of all, it's important to note that this study was isolated to farmed tilapia and it does matter how the fish were farmed. In order to keep fish prices down, farmed fish may be fed inexpensive food which affects the quality of their meat. Also, it's important to know that omega-6 fatty acid is an essential fatty acid. We need it in our diet because our body doesn't produce it. However, research does suggest that consuming too much of it may lead to heart disease among other health problems such as cancer or asthma. However, to be fair, tilapia is considered a "whitefish" and this category as a whole is a very low fat fish. In fact, tilapia only contains (on average) 36 calories and 1 gram of fat/ounce with only 16mg of cholesterol, 16mg of sodium and a whopping 7 grams of fiber! But according to Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch and the Environmental Defense Fund, they rate China, the world's leading producer of farmed tilapia as the worse quality of tilapia and they recommend avoiding eating any tilapia from Asia. However, most of the tilapia served in the United States is from the United States or Central/South America which are better sources.

Bottom line: If you have heart disease, limit the amount of tilapia as well as other high omega-6 fatty acid foods in your diet. If you do not have any heart-related problems, I think tilapia can be part of a healthy, low-fat diet as long as it comes from North, Central or South America!