Salmon: Your favorite fish is so healthy

Basically, salmon is healthy. However, this applies above all to wild salmon, which you can hardly get in the shop. The salmon that is offered comparatively cheaply in every discounter is farmed salmon and is not necessarily comparable to wild salmon.

Salmon - that's why the fish is healthy

In addition to other nutrients, wild salmon contains a high proportion of the unsaturated fatty acids that are essential for our body. The fish is particularly convincing with long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.

• Omega-3 fatty acids lower cholesterol levels and thus prevent lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular problems, vascular diseases and heart attacks. In addition, the fatty acids are said to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the organism.
• Apart from that, the salmon provides us with important proteins and iodine, which is essential for the thyroid. Salmon also has some amino acids and antioxidants that are vital for us.
• And don't forget, the fish tastes delicious and you can conjure up a wide variety of dishes.
• In short: the salmon provides our body with a lot of important nutrients, at least the wild salmon.

Wild salmon vs. Farmed salmon - that makes the difference for health

The fish industry does not tire of reminding us regularly of how valuable salmon is for our health. However, the fact that the studies relating to the effects of salmon on our health primarily relate to wild salmon is hardly discussed. Well over 90 percent of the salmon sold in the trade come from fish farming, also known as aquaculture. The inexpensive salmon comes from aquaculture practically without exception.

• You are what you eat - an ancient saying that has lost none of its veracity to this day. Of course, the saying applies not only to us, but ultimately to every living being and thus also to the salmon.
• The wild salmon is a so-called predatory fish. Accordingly, the menu mainly includes animal food, such as crustaceans, shrimps and smaller fish.
• It looks completely different with farmed salmon. The food of the farmed fish is mainly composed of cheap vegetable food. Only a small proportion of the fish feed of around 20 percent consists of fish meal and a little fish oil.
• This ultimately results in the fact that the organism of farmed salmon contains significantly less omega-3 fatty acids than wild salmon. Instead, farmed salmon have significantly more omega-6 fatty acids, of which we already consume too much anyway. To make matters worse, the positive effects of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids cannot develop with an excess of omega-6 fatty acids.
• Most of the salmon that we have commercially come from the huge fish farms in Norway. While a high proportion of antibiotics was often found just a few years ago, the proportion of antibiotics in farmed salmon from Norway has now been drastically reduced. The Norwegians started vaccinating the young salmon a few years ago before they were released into the breeding nets.
• The problem today is ethoxyquin. The substance is added to the fish feed so that no oxidizing fatty acids form in the salmon meat. Ethoxyquin was banned as a crop protection product in Europe many years ago, but not in animal feed.
• Ethoxyquin is suspected to be toxic. However, the experts are still not sure how the substance affects the human organism. So far, the only thing that is certain is that ethoxyquin can be detected in the human body.
• Conclusion: The fact that salmon is healthy may still apply to wild salmon. The extent to which the claim also applies to farmed salmon has yet to be examined more closely.

Cold smoked salmon is a delicacy among gourmets. We'll tell you how to smoke cold salmon yourself.