Why NOT to eat today’s farmed salmon….

Today's post: Wednesday, 8-15-2007

For many years, at special occasions, I liked to order salmon in restaurants.

I don’t do that anymore. Every time I ask if the salmon they use is farm raised, they always say yes. (Hopefully, that will gradually change.)

And, I’ve now learned that farm raised salmon tends to not have the full health benefits of wild caught salmon. This is largely because, like factory farm raised cattle & poultry, farmed fish are fed grain & other processed feeds instead of eating their natural diet.

Even worse, farmed fish are MUCH higher in PCB’s, & pesticides & herbicides, & other organic chemicals.

Monday, I found out, farmed fish today have even worse problems.:

>>> This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

“Why JS Should Avoid Farm-Raised Salmon (and Why You Should Too)
By Jon Herring

Last week, I received an e-mail from an ETR reader helps to illustrate a few important points. JS writes:

"First, I would like to congratulate you on an excellent newsletter. I know you're busy, so I will get straight to the point. I eat [Brand X] Pink Salmon every day. Basically, I want to know is it dangerous to eat that much?"

There should be nothing unhealthy about eating a lot of salmon. However, you shouldn't eat any food EVERY day. It can cause an allergy to that food. In fact, doctors specializing in food allergies report that many people are allergic to their favorite foods for this very reason.

But there is a bigger issue here: JS is eating a brand of salmon that I am fairly certain is farm-raised. And that could very well be detrimental to his health.

According to laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group, farmed salmon is the most PCB-contaminated source of protein in the U.S. food supply. These fish are also known to have harmful levels of mercury, DDT, and dioxin.

And that's not all. Farmed salmon are fed corn and soy meal (not exactly the natural diet of a salmon). Because of this unnatural diet, these fish have far more unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids and fewer healthy omega-3s than wild salmon.

And it has been shown that farmed salmon consume more antibiotics by weight than any other livestock.

So, instead of farm-raised salmon, be sure to insist on wild Alaskan salmon. These fish live in some of the most pristine waters on earth. They have extremely low levels (usually not a trace) of mercury and PCBs. And they are rich in heart-healthy and brain-boosting omega-3s. You can find canned wild Alaskan salmon in most grocery stores, and most health food markets will have fresh fillets.”


My comments:
Eating foods with antibiotics added is a sure way to help increase the number of antibiotic resistant or antibiotic proof bacteria. Even worse, it may well guarantee it will likely happen to you personally.

Why eat such foods? And why not eat the kind that benefits your health instead of harming it?

It may be that future farmed fish may be safe to eat & have more of the health benefits of the wild caught fish. But the challenges are considerable.

It may well be more useful to help see to it that we use sustainable methods of using wild caught fish & help protect them from environmental harm with our resources instead.