Much like beef, not all salmon is created equal. Today, much of the salmon you buy isn’t caught in the wild but bred on fish farms. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, by 2030, fish farms will provide close to two-thirds of global food fish consumption (17).
Why It’s Unhealthy:
Due to their farming environment, farmed salmon may contain contaminants like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and antibiotics. PCBs are manmade toxic chemicals once widely used in electrical equipment and manufacturing but are now banned due to their long-lasting, harmful effects. They can build up in the body over time, potentially causing issues like cancer, immune system damage, and developmental problems (18). Ingesting traces of antibiotics over the long term may cause drug resistance, a hypersensitivity to antibiotics, and even the disruption of gut flora (19).
Additionally, farmed salmon tends to have a lower concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and may contain more omega-6 fatty acids than wild-caught salmon. When too many omega-6s are consumed, your body is thrown into an inflammatory state, leading to a heightened risk of health issues like obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disorders, cancer, depression, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and rheumatoid arthritis (20, 21, 22).
A Healthier Alternative:
Opt for wild-caught salmon, which is naturally rich in omega-3s and free from the chemicals commonly found in farmed fish.
The table below provides a good comparison. Clearly, there are some nutritional differences, most notably the fat content (23, 24).