Salmon may make a regular appearance at your dinner table but do you know the difference between wild salmon and the kind raised in fish farms? The most commonly eaten variety of salmon is Atlantic. According to ConsumerReports.org, Atlantic salmon generally is farm-raised and contains several additives that wild salmon do not. Salmon farming, which raises salmon in containers located under water, began in Norway about 50 years ago. Wild salmon are fish that primarily come from Alaska and Washington waters, is the best type of salmon to eat because it is captured in the wild and has only eaten natural elements.
Wild Salmon vs. Farm Raised
Although farm-raised salmon contains more fat than its wild kin, farmed fish provide "less usable" omega-3 fatty acids, the heathly fat linked to improved cardiovascular health. According to the USDA, "the fat content of farmed salmon is 30-35 percent by weight while wild salmons' fat content is some 20 percent lower, though with a protein content about 20 percent higher," making wild salmon more digestible than farm-raised salmon.
Nutrition of Salmon
The serving size for farm-raised, or Atlantic, salmon is typically a 3 oz. filet. However, it is not uncommon to see the serving size for wild salmon shown as a 4 oz. filet. A 3-oz. filet of farm-raised salmon contains approximately 170 calories, 11 g of total fat and 17 g of protein. However, a 4-oz. filet of wild salmon only contains 100 calories, 2.5 g of total fat and 19 g of protein. The differences in this nutrition can be attributed to the diet and processing of the salmon prior to being caught. Farm-raised salmon are fed many foods that are designed to improve their appearance, but it doesn't increase its health properties.
Benefits of Salmon
In comparison, wild salmon contains more beneficial nutrients and do not contain the antibiotics and pesticides used in farm-raised counterparts, says George Mateljan, founder of Health Valley Foods. "Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin," he reports. Those chemicals are passed along to humans through digestion.
Digesting of Salmon
Wild salmon is fully digestible and most people do not find difficulty in eating it regularly in their diet. HealthNewsDigest.com advises that wild salmon is a better choice over farm-raised salmon, citing a recent study of grocery stores in the U.S. found that farm-raised salmon contained 16 times more PCBs than wild salmon. Eat cooked wild salmon as a protein on a garden salad or serve with vegetables to add fiber to the meal and to aid in your digestion.
