Today is for catfish lovers especially those who love point and kill. Yes, we say fish is better than meat but not all fish is good for you. Especially if you have an inflammatory disease or certain types of health challenge(s).
I remember the very first time I heard about the dangers of catfish, it was in 2012 at Daystar Leadership Academy. It was one of those days we had lectures on health and it was a doctor that came to take that class. I can’t remember his name now but I remember him saying: cook catfish and leave it overnight in your pot and tell me what you notice in the morning. I didn’t understand because I never liked that fish. To me, each time I see it at the market, it feels like I am looking at a snake. That Slippery thing.
By the next class, some catfish lovers came with their results. They all agreed that the surface of their soup had sort of coagulated (oil palava) and he made a statement I will never forget. He said: may you not point and kill yourself because you want to point and kill to eat catfish. Sounds funny but it stuck in my head like a leech.
Medical experts say that if you must eat catfish, it must not be more than twice a month, and even at that, it must be sea caught not farm bred. I think that is the one we call “Obokun fish”Please if you have a heart-related issue (hypertension, cardiovascular disease, etc) or you suffer from any inflammatory disease like arthritis, you have no business eating catfish.
Catfish contains omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Omega 3 is very much needed by the body but omega 6 is pro-inflammatory. Meaning that it causes inflammatory disease. Now you see why you should not be eating it if you have any inflammatory disease.
This is where the problem is, catfish contains much more omega 6 fatty acids than omega 3 fatty acids. So, the equation is not balanced. If it had more omega 3 than omega 6, maybe it can pass knowing that the omega 3 will nullify the effect of the omega 6 but alas, that ain’t the case. When cholesterol is high, the flow of blood is truncated and clotting can occur. Clotting leads to cardiac arrest, heart attacks, thrombosis. Generally, fish contains oil but catfish is overloaded with bad fat and high cholesterol not to mention the fact that most cultivated catfish are filled with steroids, hormonal feeds & fattening chemicals(carcinogens).
Catfish contains a lot of bad fat that causes not only obesity but also settles in the bloodstream. This is very dangerous because when blood fails to get to certain body organs, paralysis of that organ is inevitable.
That being said, if you must eat catfish, just see it as a cheat day for you but I beg you, if you have heart issues, inflammatory disease, or diabetes, please stay away from catfish. Smoked catfish is better than a fresh one because a lot of the fat would have been lost in the smoking process. Again, look for the ones that were properly smoked not the ones that you can scrape black soot as a result of the smoking technique from the fish. That soot ain’t safe for your health.
Tilapia and mackerel (popularly known as Titus) are very good fish options you can go for.