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  • July 17, 2008

    Catfish and tilapia: Healthy or harmful?

    By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.

32 comments posted

There's an interesting discussion in this month's "Journal of the American Dietetic Association." What it boils down to is this: Is the fatty acid mix in catfish and tilapia healthy or harmful? The debate has even reached the popular press. Why all the fuss?

First off, since 2000, catfish and tilapia rank as two of the most popular fish consumed in the United States thanks mainly to their taste and relatively low expense. And both contain heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Consumption of these types of fatty acids is thought to be associated with reduction in blood pressure and reduced risk for certain cancers, inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and even mental decline.

You may not have heard so much about a second ingredient they contain, omega-6 fatty acids. Like omega-3s, these are polyunsaturated and help lower blood cholesterol levels, however they are thought to play a role in clotting function, are inflammatory and susceptible to oxidation — thereby possibly increasing risk for blood clots, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and cancers.

The National Institutes of Health funded study by Weaver and colleagues looked at the favorable omega-3 fatty acid content and unfavorable omega-6 contents of commonly eaten fish and found that while catfish and tilapia contain both, they contain a high amount of unfavorable omega-6 fat.

They report that a 3-ounce portion of catfish or tilapia contains 67 and 134 milligrams respectively of the bad fat (the same amount of 80 percent lean hamburger contains 34 milligrams, and bacon 191 milligrams).

Does this mean you should give them up? No! The rebuttal by Harris is in the same journal. He says the logic of judging fatty fish by the amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fat contents is flawed. Governmental and professional organizations haven't used such a ratio for years.

He also says that to think that eating catfish or tilapia — because of its high omega-6 content — is more risky in terms of heart disease than eating bacon or hamburger is "flawed."

My take? I'm going to continue to eat fish — at least twice weekly. I'm going to choose a variety of fatty fish — including tilapia and catfish along with others especially high in the good fats such as salmon, tuna and mackerel.

P.S. When you see this on the evening news you can say that you got the scoop here.

32 comments posted

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  • November 9, 2011 2:35 p.m.

    Okay, so this article was written in 2008. A lot happens in a year, more so in three years. There could be further findings and breakthroughs. So, I would like to ask the authors of this article, are there any new developments regarding your findings since you wrote this article?

    - Maia

  • October 25, 2011 7:34 p.m.

    I am alergic to all seafood, even Tuna. I have no choice but freshwater fish! Trout has too many bones. Don't care for walleye.

    - Susie

  • July 24, 2011 10:01 p.m.

    Why is the theory "flawed"? The issue is that FARM RAISED tilapia is feed a corn food mixture (which clearly they do not eat in the wild) which alters their omega 3 and 6 compounds. The farm raised ones are also the cheap variety and the abundantly found type. so 95% of people who are saving money would be buying this variety. The theory is not flawed at all.. possibly more so that this guy doesn't understand the topic to its full extent.

    - FraNk

  • May 25, 2011 12:50 p.m.

    thank you your article really helped with my decision to continue eating tilapia which I enjoy eating!

    - Kathy

  • April 13, 2011 11:31 a.m.

    I have an Aquaponics System and grow tilapia and organic vegetables, which is an eco-system where the fish poop is pumped into the growbeds and is converted into nitrites, then nitrates by the friendly bacteria and the nitrates feed the plants, clean the water, and the clean water is returned to the fish tank. I would be interested to know if the fish tested we from a traditional farm-raised aquaculture tank. This would skew the while eco-system in my opinion and is why most farm-raised fish are not recommended for human consumption. Aquaponics and Aquaculture are quite different in that respect.

    - Victoria

  • August 28, 2010 2:50 a.m.

    i eat Tilapya everyday and i love it.i am puzzle with the findings which is which?some say it is good some say it is bad.

    - eli

  • August 13, 2010 7:46 a.m.

    Although I love the taste of both, I wonder what impact the diet of each fish has on their respective levels of Omega-3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. I read somewhere that fish don't produce much Omega-3 if their diet does not consist of certain foods...algae, kelp, etc. Is this true? If I eat catfish, I catch it myself. But if I eat tilapia, I buy it from the grocery store.

    - manfrom20

  • July 2, 2010 2:34 p.m.

    Americans seem to over do it with many things, not least food. Everything in moderation. There is good and bad in everything, just as in life. So don't get so hung up on quantities of Omega 3 and Omega 6. Anyway did we concern ourselves with that when buying fish 30 or even 15 years ago. I'm cooking tilapia tomorrow using very little oil, very little salt, lets of lemon and fresh herbs and a little chili. Everything in moderation folks.

    - Michelle UK

  • March 3, 2010 1:30 p.m.

    I am on a Paleo Diet and I am researching foods that fit this diet. I would like to eat better fish like Salmon, fresh Tuna, etc. but it is so expensive. I got Tilapia at Wal-Mart for a very good price so I bought it. I will eat it a few times a week but I will get better fish with less Omega 6 fatty acids when it is on sale. I bought fish oil supplements for more Omega 3 fatty acids because I eat boiled skinless chicken breast 90% of the time and I need a healthy change up. Thanks for the article and research it has helped me feel a little better about Tilapia.

    - Jim

  • March 3, 2010 11:40 a.m.

    ...and a myth is a myth, it is not proven true.

    - Lotus

  • March 3, 2010 11:38 a.m.

    @MB 1st search on google said saturated fat is bad and on wiki also said it is bad. There are many sites that say it's bad. And what are your evidence?

    - Lotus

  • February 26, 2010 2:51 p.m.

    J - I couldn't agree with you more. We all need Omega 6 fatty acid, but when it far out weighs the content of Omega 3, the ratios are off. Same thing with eating regular eggs and eggs from pastured chickens. Regular eggs have too much Omega 6 because they are only feed corn and soy - no grass or insects. This leads to people thinking that "eggs are bad" which just isn't true. Notice a lot of "Omega 3" carton's of eggs in the stores? That's because the consumer has caught on to this ratio. We'll run into the same problems with Fish soon enough, as farmers are teaching the fish to eat corn... the same ignorant thinking that gives us "Corn fed beef" which may be the dumbest thing cattle ranchers ever did. It threw off the Omega-6 content in beef, causes increased risk of e-coli, and pumps antibiotics into your blood, which just creates "super bugs" that are resistant to antibiotics. Not to mention its terrible for the cows. And everyone on here should do some research into Saturated Fat, which is NOT BAD FOR YOU. You will not find one legit study that shows any evidence that it is bad for you. And yes "No name given" the USDA is WRONG. They and the AHA jumped on the idea long ago - who would ever trust them again if they came out to say "We were wrong, Sat. Fat is ok, sorry"? Google these terms if you don't believe me: - "Is saturated fat bad for me" - "7 Countries study myth"

    - MB

  • January 26, 2010 3:44 p.m.

    This is not rocket sciense, so let's not be so quick to shoot down what the Docs are saying. The main idea is that if you are looking to get the benefits of omega fat intake via fish, you should stick with Salmon, Tuna and Mackerel. This has always been the case! Catfish tastes awesome - I know - and from what I hear Tilapia tastes great as well, but everything that tastes good IS NOT necessarily good for your body. If you want the health benefits of fish intake, stick with the salmon, tuna, and mackerel and try preparing them in different ways, serving them with different dishes, etc. You don't totally have to eliminate catfish, tilapia, etc., but I would not consume them twice a week or more as you SHOULD with salmon, tuna and mackerel.

    - JM

  • December 16, 2009 6:55 p.m.

    I am Filipino and my husband is white and we disagree on how good is Tilapia is, but I LOVE it!!

    - Estrella

  • November 9, 2009 9:46 a.m.

    This is the worst piece of non-science that I have seen. After giving the scientific facts, we are presented with opinion to contradict the facts. Tilapia is now the main crop of the former chicken farmers on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The chicken barns now have foot deep plastic tubes that are twelve feet across to raise the tilapia. They feed them the same food the feed the chickens. There is no needs to add oxygen to the water and best of all, the fish will breed seven times a year in the filthy water.

    - William

  • November 8, 2009 2:45 p.m.

    YOU CAN NOT EAT HEALTHY.YOU CAN EAT SLOWLY,YOU CAN EAT A STEAK,BUT THER IS NO PRODUCT "HEALTHY".

    - DIETER

  • May 19, 2009 2:31 p.m.

    *UPDATE* Tilapia DOES have scales AND fins but farm raised tilapia are the ones that are high in Omega-6 probably from what they are fed.

    - brad

  • May 19, 2009 2:25 p.m.

    I am leery of this guy's reasons for not doing away with these kinds of fish. I am not surprised about the controversy as the Bible speaks of only eating aquatic animals that have fins AND scales. I know catfish have no scales and I am going to research tilapia.

    - brad

  • April 29, 2009 7:25 a.m.

    When I look at the food content of frozen talapia, the cholestoral is v. high? is it because it is frozen or it actually has a high fat content - bad fats/cholestoral. therefore this would not be good for your diet-Thank you

    - Eileen

  • April 26, 2009 2:25 p.m.

    You are missing the point. The point is, americans consumer more omega-6 than they should, therefore they should opt for fish with less omega-6 and more omega-3. We aren't saying 6 is bad, just that the ratio is off. Also, the government is the last the change any rules or regulations. Go on pubmed and type in omega-6...you'll see multiple studies on it's negative impact on health.

    - J

  • April 7, 2009 6:25 p.m.

    do talapia have fins and scales?

    - Jack

  • April 2, 2009 7:32 p.m.

    I am wondering if one boils fish,what happens to toxins?is it possible that all toxins including mercury coming out into the water ?so then you have a "cleaner"fish?

    - arina

  • February 25, 2009 11:42 p.m.

    While it may be true that there are more n-6's in Tilapia than hamburger, according to the data at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ that hamburger also has 5g (or 5000mg) of saturated fat, 6g of monos, 900mg of trans fats, and 73 mg of cholesterol, whereas tilapia has 2g total fat, with 48 mg cholesterol. Just because the author of the original paper was dishonest in his comparison (and I don't see how else to describe it), the rest of us don't have the duty to propagate his dishonesty in the name of quoting him accurately. Unless the nutrition data at USDA is completely wrong, tilapia is very lean protein and would have little impact on your lipid profile compared to a hamburger, bacon, nuts or a fatty fish like herring or salmon.

    - No name given

  • September 16, 2008 7:46 a.m.

    All the factors mentioned when taken into consideration can affect the final outcome. My family has enjoyed Tilapia every Tuesday as a tradition for several years now. I've never found a safer, more versatile or affordable fish to prepare. It's amazingly simple to fix, always yummy & delicious & everyone loves it. We even take turns planning how we'd like it cooked when it's "our week". Now maybe if I bought the fish from China I'd be worried since it's always the cheaper quality frozen or previously frozen,then thawed crap labeled "refreshed" but for a few more pennies a pound I can usually buy fresh. Our fishmonger turned me on to the fact that usually the best place to buy fresh is Publix though typically nothing is branded. I even found the website of the largest supplier for North America & ripped off this info blurb: Tropical Aquaculture's tilapia is the world’s leading source of fresh premium tilapia.Our tilapia are grown naturally, with no antibiotics, without hormones to promote growth, & no additives or preservatives to improve appearance or extend shelf life. Because tilapia is an herbivore fish & can be raised on grain it's one of the most eco-friendly, sustainable fish available today.Our tilapia is always fresh, never frozen, harvested around the clock & delivered to the market within 24hrs of harvest. Tropical Brand Tilapia is farm-raised in low density ponds,our pristine waters keep our Tilapia safe from any

    - Michael Corleone (No relation)

  • July 24, 2008 7:30 p.m.

    Chris O. raises an important and often-overlooked point -- where food comes from is often significant, especially if it comes from China (alas, most stores do not provide this information so you are on your own). How it is prepared is significant, too, and so is one's susceptibility to various illnesses. Good luck.

    - Vic

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