I ran numbers (to find fat totals saturated/mono/poly percentages) on a number of proteins and fats, and while I knew that farmed salmon has a lot less Omega-3 fat, I did *not* realize that farmed fish have so much more fat than wild!  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

The blog entry with the table is here: http://astrogirl.com/2010/03/11/fat-content-of-various-protein-sources/

-Nicole


On Mar 11, 2010, at 1:03 PM, Jim Swayze wrote:

> You guys want to hear something interesting?  I am sure you’ve heard of “rabbit starvation,” the condition whereby someone who has no access to carbs but plenty of access to low fat protein slowly wastes away.  (Used to happen to those in the wilderness who only had lots of rabbits and other small, relatively fat free animals to eat).  Well, as wonderful as we always hear wild salmon is (I love it!) with all its omega 3s and such, it too can cause rabbit starvation.
> 
> The reason is that wild salmon is very low in total fat.  You’d have to consume about four whole fish per day to get sufficient calories to survive.  And remember gluconeogenesis, whereby the body converts excess protein to sugar?  We only need about 100 grams of protein a day, an amount above which is simply converted to sugar.
> 
> So how much protein is in four whole salmon?  About 340 grams!  It’s the side effects of gluconeogenesis that cause rabbit starvation and this wonderful, wild food would eventually get you there.
> 
> Humans need from about 50-120 grams a day of protein per day based on size and activity levels.  You would have to supplement a wild salmon diet with either carbs (which will in the long run cause a host of diseases) or fat – or you’d get rabbit starvation.
> 
> 
> Jim Swayze
> www.fireholecanyon.com
> Sent from my iPhone