How Safe Is It To Eat Farmed Fish?

We all know that eating fish is extremely healthy. Packed with healthy proteins and essential fats like Omega 3 and Omega 6, fish is considered to be a storehouse of nutrients. Also Read: I Ate Only One Meal A Day For 10 Days

But in reality, how much do you really know about the fish you order at the restaurant? It looks great, probably tastes even better, but is it really all that healthy for you?

The truth is that you might be paying premium bucks for that salmon you ordered, but instead of coming from the ocean where the fishes live wild and pack all the healthy nutrients you want to ingest, you could be actually eating farmed fish.

If that doesn’t seem so bad because after all fish-is-fish, here we have 4 facts about Farmed Fish that will make you want to reconsider your menu for the day.

The truth is that farmed fish has 3 times more saturated fat as compared to wild fish.

Farmed Fish Is High In Saturated Fat

We all know that fish is the best way to get some meat in to your diet – it’s all healthy fats and lean protein after all; and that’s why we prefer it over lamb, pork or maybe even corn-fed chicken. Also Read: This Is The Best Detox Diet ( Will Not Make You Hangry, We Promise)

Unlike in the ocean where fish follow the laws of nature and eat whatever they can catch, farmed fish are often overfed. They are fed at regular intervals which means they always tend to eat more than they should.

Farmed Fish Don’t Have As Many Omega 3s

Wild fish get their omega 3s by eating aquatic plants. But on the other hand, farmed fish are fed a diet that consists of soy, corn and other livestock feed foods that result in their accumulating the wrong kinds of fats. Also Read: Can A Vegetarian Diet Cause Severe Fatigue And Lower Back Pain? Yes, It Can

In all earnestness, farmed fish never offer as much omega 3 fatty acids as wild fish can, even though you might be paying a premium price for a high quality expensive fish you have chosen only because it is considered healthier with a higher percentage of healthy fats.

Items like sushi if made from farmed fish can make you sick.

Farmed Fish Could Make You Sick

Farmed fish live in tight quarters; the more fish these farms can pack in a smaller space, the more profits they make. These unhygienic living quarters results in quick spread of diseases and parasites within the fish. And as we consume the diseased fish, we increase our risk of falling sick.

Most fish farms think they are smarter than that; they routinely dose their fish with antibiotics, so as to contain or treat that infection.
But when we regularly eat fish that has been heavily treated with antibiotics over a period of time, our own bodies become antibiotic resistant.
This aggravates the symptoms of even simple illnesses that are treated easily with mild antibiotics.

If you are a nature lover and think that our environment is worth protecting, say no to farmed fish.

Farmed Fish Disturb the Laws of Nature

As mentioned above, treating captive fish with antibiotics is an important aspect of fish farming. However, the antibiotics aren’t just constrained to the fish farm, but also affect all marine life around the farm.

These heavy duty chemicals disrupt nature’s balance and the toxins affect the entire ecosystem as a result.
Additionally, as more and more fishes are caught to live and breed in captivity, this results in scarcity of wild fish.
As a result, many predators who survive on fish alone are also driven to the brink of extinction, along with their prey.

If the fish you love to eat is not locally found and caught by fishermen to be sold in open markets, chances are high that you are regularly eating the farmed variety.

So until and unless you can get all the information you need and get your fish supplier to tell you where the fish comes from, it is best to err on the side of caution and only eat locally caught fish that you know comes from the wild.