Microblog: The Nutrition Facts of Wild Atlantic Salmon

Wild vs. Farmed Salmon

⚠️I did this comparison because I want to shed light on how we often complicate things when there are many unknown variables.

📊Data around the nutritional differences between wild vs. farmed, grass-fed vs. conventional are pretty limited. Generally, the more natural meat wins in nutritional density—but only by a small (inconsequential) amount.

⭐️I used the USDA nutrient database because this is considered the gold standard for nutrient information.

👩🏻‍🏫REGARDING THE DATA:
1) Some data is outdated
2) Some data is provided by the food manufacturer (conflict of interest?)
3) Nutritional information is permitted to have a standard deviation of 20%. Meaning, nutritional facts can be incorrect by 20%. That’s a big number when some foods are very limited in individual nutrients.

🔑FARMED VS. WILD SALMON TAKEAWAYS
1) There are differences in rounding and why some numbers show differing %s.
2) There are 10 nutrients that are HIGHER in wild Atlantic salmon than farmed.
3) There are 8 nutrients that are HiGHER in farmed Atlantic salmon than wild.
4) Some of these nutrients fall within the 20% standard deviation– meaning the nutrient differences may be very inconsequential.
5) One difference was the omega 6s. But since you’re eating a very rich omega-3 food, it’s a non-concern.

🐟As a nutritional therapist, I want to say buy only wild but the nutrient profile does not justify the higher-priced fish.

❓Should we ideally buy the highest quality, sustainable meats? YES.

❗️But I’d also prefer you to eat lesser-quality meat than go back to a standard American diet.

TAKEAWAYS:
⚖️This analysis does not take into account toxins and other pros/cons of wild vs. farmed. (there are pros/cons for both).

‼️The USDA database may not be accurate which then begs the question, “Why do we focus so much on meeting daily values” and tracking nutrients in calculators?

🧬This analysis does not take into account the bio-individual human body (and genetics). Not everyone has good gut health. Not everyone absorbs all these nutrients.

💡Buy what you can and stop focusing on tracking. Eat nutrient-dense meats and let the body take care of the rest.