Tilapia is a delicious fish that has a mild and delicious taste. It’s cheap to buy and is one of the most popular and common types of seafood eaten in the United States. It doesn’t have the strong fish taste of many other types of seafood, either.
If you’re considering eating tilapia and are following a diet, you may be wondering how many calories are contained in tilapia. This is important to know if you’re counting calories and want to try and keep within your daily limits.
Luckily, the average serving of tilapia only contains 128 calories. There are a few factors that can affect this calorie count and to find out more, read this article!
What Is Tilapia?
Tilapia is a type of fish but it isn’t a single species of fish. Instead, it’s used as an umbrella term to describe several different species of fish that are found in freshwaters.
They all belong to the cichlid family and share enough characteristics to be grouped together.
The different species that are tilapia are native to Africa. However, they have been introduced to various locations around the world and are now farmed for food in over 130 different countries.
The largest producer of tilapia is China and this is where the majority of imported tilapia in the United States is imported from.
Tilapia is a popular fish for farming as it grows quickly, has a simple and cheap diet, and can happily survive in crowded conditions. This makes tilapia very cost-effective when compared to many other types of fish and seafood.
The Calories In Tilapia
The number of calories and the nutritional values that are present in tilapia will vary depending on the farming practices used to produce the fish. We will talk about this a little later.
However, for the average single serving of tilapia which is three and a half ounces, the calorie count is 128.
Fish is well-known for being one of the healthiest foods you can eat. It is low in calories and fat, especially when compared to meat such as beef and pork. It is high in a number of different important nutrients and minerals as well as being high in protein and fiber.
What Can Affect The Calories In Tilapia?
We just learned that tilapia is quite low in calories. However, there are several factors that increase the number of calories as well as the amount of fat and carbohydrates.
Method Of Cooking
There are so many different ways that you can prepare and cook tilapia and these can affect the calorie content.
Pan-frying is a very popular way to cook all types of fish and the type of oil you use can add more calories to your fish.
If you’re trying to avoid adding any additional calories, you should stick with plant-based oils such as olive oil or sunflower oil. Using fatty oils such as lard or butter will add calories to your fish.
You can also opt for healthier methods of cooking such as an air fryer to keep the calorie count down. Air fryers are often overlooked as a method of cooking fish but when cooked correctly, air fryer fish can taste delicious!
Additional Ingredients
Tilapia has a mild flavor and this makes it a popular choice for seasonings and sauces. All of these can add calories to your fish.
Many food items used for seasonings are low in calories and are usually used in such small quantities that they won’t have a great effect on your calorie intake. If you’re trying to mind every single calorie, however, you may want to keep this in mind!
In contrast, sauces can add a number of calories to your tilapia. These are used in larger quantities and can be soaked up by the fish so you may want to check the calorie content of any sauces before you use them.
Tilapia is a delicious fish that doesn’t really need many additional ingredients to make it taste good, so why not ditch the complicated seasonings and sauces and simply enjoy the fish?
Farming Practices
Unfortunately, the farming of tilapia isn’t always as ethical as it can be and this can also affect the calorie content and nutritional value of the fish.
Although any harmful imports are caught and blocked by the FDA, there are still concerns over the nutritional value and content of some fish that is farmed both within and outside the United States.
We would recommend choosing your tilapia carefully if you want the healthiest and best tilapia possible. Look for tilapia that is farmed organically and has assurances of the quality of its environment.
Other Nutritional Values
As we stated earlier, tilapia is a very healthy and nutrition-rich food. All fish can be healthy and tilapia is no different. It’s a great source of protein and is rich in so many different vitamins and minerals.
The average serving of tilapia will give you large amounts of several vitamins and will go a long way toward your recommended daily intake (RDI.)
Carbohydrates: Zero grams
Fats: 3 grams
Protein: 26 grams
Niacin: 24 percent of an adult’s RDI
Phosphorus: 20 percent of an adult’s RDI
Potassium: 20 percent of an adult’s RDI
Selenium: 78 percent of an adult’s RDI
Vitamin B12: 31 percent of an adult’s RDI
However, you should be careful with the fat content in tilapia.
It’s not as rich in omega-3 fatty acids as many other types of fish but is higher in omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 isn’t considered as healthy as omega-3 and can have a negative effect on inflammatory diseases.
If you’re prone to heart disease, you may want to try different types of fish instead.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we answered the question of how many calories there are in tilapia. This is a low-calorie fish that only has 128 calories in a regular serving.
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