Is Your Omega 3 Wild or Farm Raised?
Posted by Michael Byrd on Jun 30 2008 | Tagged as: Omega 3
What will it be: farm raised or wild salmon?
Some people may not even know the difference between the two, but for the more enlightened others, the answer is crystal clear – wild, of course! But do you really know why wild salmon is the better choice?
Okay, let me tell you why…
Basically, there are three major reasons why wild salmon is the better choice – they are more nutritious, they are safer to eat, and they are more taste bud-friendly, too!
Why are wild salmon more nutritious?
Wild salmon thrives in cold open water, where they are free to move about and forage as they please. They get enough exercise to keep their meat firmer, and get to eat fresh, nutritious whole foods. This natural diet keeps their omega 3 content high and their meat tasty, too! Now, that’s definitely what we’re looking for!
On the other hand, farm raised salmon live in critically cramped conditions. Their overcrowded environment gives them very little room to move about. These fish farms are overly congested to the point that these unfortunate animals breathe and swim through each other’s own bodily wastes! Can you imagine that?
As a result, they have higher bad fat and lower omega 3 fatty acid contents in their bodies. And what good are salmon if they have low levels of omega 3 oils? They’ll lose their special identity – they’ll be just like any other fish!
Why are they safer to eat?
Wild salmon live in their natural environment and get to eat their natural diet. They are less exposed to unwanted toxins and chemicals than their farm-raised counterparts. As a result, they are healthier, have improved immunity, and have higher nutrient contents, too!
And what do farm-raised salmon eat? These ill-fated creatures are given a standard fish diet – those crappy formulations that contain a load of antibiotics, coloring agents, and pesticides! With such demeaning and unhealthy living conditions, they surely need these medications to overcome the very real threat of serious infections.
These confined salmon also run a higher risk of containing harmful toxins and heavy metals such as PBDE compounds (a flame retardant additive) and mercury. Would you like to eat these toxins along with your fish? Well, I don’t think so.
Why are they more taste bud-friendly?
Natural and fresh should be the only way to have your salmon, nothing less. And this is what you get with wild salmon.
With farm-raised salmon, it’s a different story altogether! They have mushy and naturally gray meat, and coloring agents need to be added just to get the desired color. Can you believe that they even have color swatches to help them get the right one? Oh, this is bad news, if you ask me!
And finally, fish farms are just plain horrible! They are neither good for the fish nor the people who eat them. Worse, they are even bad for the environment, too. Farm-raised fish, with their high antibiotic content, contribute to the antibiotic resistance in humans, and fish farms can threaten the entire wild fish population.
So, make your choice. Will it be wild or farm-raised salmon for you? Remember, it’s your health on the line. The only omega 3 supplement I give my family is Salmon Oil Plus, which is made from the flesh of wild, health screened, disease-free salmon that live in the cold, clean waters of the Arctic Circle. That beats a fish farm any day!
