Salmon is an amazing nutritional product. First, remove from your thinking the bias some people have in thinking that plant nutrients are superior to animal nutrients, they are not. In fact you can better use animal nutrients than plant nutrients, as you will soon see.
I want to compare the two sources of salmon, wild verses farmed. The repeated claim is that the wild is a better nutritional choice than farmed. For the record, I advocate both, and, in nutrients per dollar, farm raised fish, for most people, is a better choice because it is much more economical.
One issue is the USDA's listings show a slight nutrient edge in favor of the wild. However, tests are averages and every test comes up, as expected, with different nutrient values, not set amounts.
The data regarding which has more Omega 3 fatty acids is unclear. The debate is complex, and involves the ratio of fatty acids to each other and to protein, but it is the fatty acid content that makes salmon worth selecting over other fish, but the debate also involves fatty acid ratios and here, farm raised fish have an advantage. We tend to forget Omega 6 fatty acids in all the well-deserved excitement over Omega 3.
However, Omega 6 fats are needed for cell growth and regeneration, in hormone production and balance and also needed by the nervous system.
A major issue here is that we get most Omega 6 fatty acids from corn and safflower oils. This is not good, without Omega 3 this can cause inflammation. This is where we see an advantage of animal over plant nutrients. Most Omega 6 fats in plants are Linoleic Acid, which needs conversion from an enzyme into a useful form, Arachidonic Acid. In animals, it is in the Arachidonic Acid form, but properly balanced with Omega 3 fatty acids. Salmon is dripping in Omega 3 fatty acids, vegetable oils are not. As a side bar, this is only one of the good reasons to consume butter as opposed to margarine.
You can get the Omega 3 from plants, but you would need to browse on grass all day to get the same amount as you would from a four ounce serving of salmon because you can't digest the plant sources, you are not a cow, and there isn't much there to start with. In salmon this is concentrated from krill which get it from plankton.
But I digress.
Both wild and farm raised Salmon are excellent sources of nutrients, and, ignore the absurd label that says farm raised fish have a coloring agent added. The color comes from a very powerful antioxidant we all need more of, astaxanthin. The only difference is wild salmon eat the krill directly and farmed salmon get it in pellet form.
Unfortunately, farmed salmon have a biased group attacking them, but that misinformation is beginning to be exposed for what it is, biased and misguided. Eat salmon for a better, longer life.
I want to compare the two sources of salmon, wild verses farmed. The repeated claim is that the wild is a better nutritional choice than farmed. For the record, I advocate both, and, in nutrients per dollar, farm raised fish, for most people, is a better choice because it is much more economical.
One issue is the USDA's listings show a slight nutrient edge in favor of the wild. However, tests are averages and every test comes up, as expected, with different nutrient values, not set amounts.
The data regarding which has more Omega 3 fatty acids is unclear. The debate is complex, and involves the ratio of fatty acids to each other and to protein, but it is the fatty acid content that makes salmon worth selecting over other fish, but the debate also involves fatty acid ratios and here, farm raised fish have an advantage. We tend to forget Omega 6 fatty acids in all the well-deserved excitement over Omega 3.
However, Omega 6 fats are needed for cell growth and regeneration, in hormone production and balance and also needed by the nervous system.
A major issue here is that we get most Omega 6 fatty acids from corn and safflower oils. This is not good, without Omega 3 this can cause inflammation. This is where we see an advantage of animal over plant nutrients. Most Omega 6 fats in plants are Linoleic Acid, which needs conversion from an enzyme into a useful form, Arachidonic Acid. In animals, it is in the Arachidonic Acid form, but properly balanced with Omega 3 fatty acids. Salmon is dripping in Omega 3 fatty acids, vegetable oils are not. As a side bar, this is only one of the good reasons to consume butter as opposed to margarine.
You can get the Omega 3 from plants, but you would need to browse on grass all day to get the same amount as you would from a four ounce serving of salmon because you can't digest the plant sources, you are not a cow, and there isn't much there to start with. In salmon this is concentrated from krill which get it from plankton.
But I digress.
Both wild and farm raised Salmon are excellent sources of nutrients, and, ignore the absurd label that says farm raised fish have a coloring agent added. The color comes from a very powerful antioxidant we all need more of, astaxanthin. The only difference is wild salmon eat the krill directly and farmed salmon get it in pellet form.
Unfortunately, farmed salmon have a biased group attacking them, but that misinformation is beginning to be exposed for what it is, biased and misguided. Eat salmon for a better, longer life.
Dr. Ronald A. Newcomb, former Adj. Professor, SDSU College of Sciences, has lectured and written in the health food industry since 1987. Supplements he formulated in 1990 we taken by the cup full by Jack LaLanne who ordered them by the shipping box full, 25,000 of each at a time. He is a member of Mensa and Intertel high IQ societies. He is currently president of Marine System Inspection http://www.marinesysteminspection.com
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