Why tilapia is gross

It's entirely possible that your farm-raised tilapia is going to contain low levels of antibiotics, and while that's not enough to hurt you alone, it could possibly add to the growing problem of developing antibiotic resistance. But there's also good news. In fact, the FDA says that thanks to consistently low mercury levels, tilapia is one of the best choices for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and recommends two to three servings a week of tilapia or a number of other fish, like cod, haddock, and salmon.

But, there's a footnote to this. Healthline notes that harmful levels of chemicals — including additives and veterinary drug residue — are regularly found in tilapia imported from China, so there's another reason to ask just where your fish came from before you buy. It turns out that tilapia isn't just for eating, and in Brazil, doctors have found an absolutely brilliant use for part of the fish that's usually thrown away: the skin.

According to Scientific American , finding tissues to help protect the damaged skin of burn victims is tough in Brazil, a country that doesn't have widespread access to some of the tissues like pig skin and artificial alternatives used in other parts of the world. With skin banks only able to keep up with about 1 percent of the demand, researchers started looking elsewhere.

What they found was tilapia skin. A number of the collagens needed to treat burns exist naturally in tilapia skin, and that means the skin can be applied to patients once or a few times, for severe burns until they heal. It's been found to not only promote healing, but also to relieve pain to the point where the need for pain medication is greatly reduced. More testing via the World Innovation Summit for Health has found that it's more resistant, sturdier, and cheaper than many other options, providing a whole new use for this easily-bred fish.

Think you've never eaten tilapia? We hate to break it to you, but you probably have — when you thought you were paying for a much more expensive type of fish. Seafood fraud is rampant, and according to Oceana via CNN , as much as 21 percent of seafood is mislabeled.

And that's as of March — advocacy groups and investigators have been trying to stop the mislabeling of seafood for years. The worst offenders were restaurants and small markets, and among the most commonly mislabeled fish were sea bass and snapper. A shocking 55 percent of the time, customers weren't getting sea bass, and they weren't getting snapper 42 percent of the time.

Instead, they were getting tilapia or giant perch. Oceana also says they found tilapia substituted for fish that was labeled Alaskan or Pacific cod, and just how badly fish is misrepresented — and how often tilapia is substituted — varies. They do say that if you want to know what you're really getting, large chain grocery stores do have the best record when it comes to accurately labeling exactly what it is they're selling. So, here's the million dollar question: with all the naysayers, should you add tilapia to your menu, or skip it?

Well, that depends. If someone in your family doesn't like fish, Berkeley Wellness says that tilapia might just be the perfect gateway fish. It's super mild, very lean, and it doesn't have that strong "fishy" taste and smell that turns a lot of people off from fish. Since it'll take on the flavor of whatever you season it with, you can definitely start here for the fish-hater of the family. The National Fisheries Institute says that at the end of the day, tilapia is perfectly safe.

It's low-calorie, super sustainable, and ultra versatile. But if you're looking for fish for that nutritional punch you've heard so much about, Medical News Today says there are other fish that contain more omega-3 fatty acids and therefore might be a better option. Those are fish like red snapper, trout, cod, salmon , mackerel, and even sardines, but here's the thing — since those are fish that are often mislabeled via Oceana , you're going to want to make sure you're sourcing your fish from someone you trust.

It's all food for thought, and the more you know, the better you'll be at making informed choices for your family The Truth About Tilapia. Let's talk about those tilapia rumors you've heard Shutterstock.

The bad news about farmed tilapia Shutterstock. Is tilapia as healthy as other types of fish? But you've heard tilapia is "worse than bacon," right? What are Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia? Are tilapia really raised on poop? Should you be concerned about drug and chemical residue in tilapia? Tilapia's skin has a pretty cool use Shutterstock.

Furthermore, the role that omega-6 fats play in health is complicated. The main omega-6 fat in the diet is linoleic acid, which in the body is converted into arachidonic acid that then is further converted into a variety of compounds, some of which promote inflammation while others have an anti-inflammatory effect.

As far as doughnuts go, their sugar and saturated fat content trumps any worry about unsaturated fat ratios. It is true that wild tilapia eating algae rich in omega-3 fats have a more favourable ratio than farmed fish that are fed a diet of corn and soy in which omega-6s predominate.

Like people, fish are what they eat. It is also correct to say that other fish, such as salmon and tuna, have far more of the beneficial omega-3s than tilapia. On the other hand, since tilapia do not eat smaller fish, they have a lower mercury content than most other fish since mercury gets concentrated up the food chain.

Given that male tilapia grow larger than female, they are more profitable to produce. Interestingly, tilapia are actually born genderless and can be made to develop into males with the addition of methyltestosterone to their diet for a short time after birth. By the time the fish are marketed at the age of six months there is no residue of this hormone in the flesh.

Tilapia, the third most consumed fish in America, is under fire. Bad as Bacon The comparison to bacon first came from a Wake Forest study that revealed tilapia raised on farms in China and Central America — which accounts for most of the tilapia we get — has very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids and negligible omega-3s, thanks to their diets.

The Problems with Farming The bigger problem with tilapia is where and how this fish is frequently farmed. Almost all of the frozen fillets sold in grocery stores and served at restaurants come from China, while most fresh tilapia fillets come from Central America.

Many foreign producers in under-regulated nations have been found to raise diseased tilapia in too-tight quarters, pumping fish full of antibiotics, clearing forests to make room for on-shore tanks, and even feeding fish feces.

Such measures not only yield poor-quality fish but can cause major damage to the surrounding land and water. But how much of these practices are actually going on? Improvements in Aquaculture Even though these issues persist, Wallhoff, Rubino, and many other stakeholders agree that, by and large, tilapia farming is improving worldwide — even in China.