Don’t believe everything you read online

The other day I was in the supermarket looking for fish to buy for dinner.  I saw some tilapia and for a moment I had this memory of reading that there was some problem with eating tilapia, so I didn’t buy it.  I came home with some cod instead.

When I got home, I went to my PC to see if I could find any information on why tilapia might be a bad idea.  And I came up with an article that was titled “Eating Tilapia is Worse than Eating Bacon”.  I thought that was a bit extreme, so I googled “benefits of tilapia”, and came up with an article titled “8 Miraculous Benefits of Tilapia”.  Further research landed me on another webpage called “The Truth About Tilapia”.

Between these and other sources, there’s a lot of conflicting information:

• “Tilapia has very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids and negligible omega-3s”
• “Tilapia is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been directly linked to lowering cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels in the human cardiovascular system”
• “tilapia may worsen inflammation that can lead to heart disease, arthritis, asthma and a world of other serious health problems”.

It seems like this:  If tilapia doesn’t kill you, it may save your life.

I thought I’d try this same experiment with something else, so I decided to do some internet research on beets.  I sometimes add beets to salads, since I’ve read some of these benefits (found online):

• “Lower blood pressure”
• “Fight inflammation”
• “Anti-cancer properties”
• “Rich in valuable nutrients and fiber”
• “Beets boost eye health”

Sounds like a wonder-food, doesn’t it?  Check out this title I found online: “The Horror Food Commonly Known as Beets”.  Other articles claim:

• “Beets contribute to kidney stones”
• “Beets could cause gout”
• “Beets can cause low calcium levels and kidney damage”

My point is this: If you’re looking to avoid something, you can find evidence to support your claim.  If you’re looking for evidence to support your desire to consume something, you’ll be able find that online as well.

Just as a final thought, I thought I’d ask Google how much of the information online is false.  I found these headlines:

• “50% of the internet is fake”
• “85% of statistics are false or misleading”

In that case, this blog entry may or may not be true.  I’m going to search for dinner recipes.  Maybe I can find a beet-seasoned tilapia recipe…. it’s bound to be healthy… unless it kills me…