Is tuna better plain or in oil? Here is the expert’s answer

Tuna is one of the most consumed foods in the world. In every Italian pantry there are boxes or jars that contain tuna in different aspects. This food is very versatile and allows us to enjoy a good dish without necessarily having to spend a lot. One of the many advantages that lead consumers to buy even large quantities of canned tuna is that it can be stored perfectly even for long periods of time. This is possible because, especially the cans, are pressed and sealed.

In general, there are two types of canned tuna: tuna in water and tuna in olive oil. Most of us have heard at least once in our lives recommend natural tuna instead of oil, because there are so many people who are convinced that this type is much lighter, digestible, healthy and above all rich in important nutrients compared to tuna in oil. Nothing could be more false: our experts confirm it, let’s see this together.

Doctors nutritionists want to emphasize that you should not believe all the fake news circulating on this subject and rather get as much information as possible from approved organizations so as not to be fooled by publicity stunts. Canned tuna is prepared from different parts of fish, those considered the most valuable are the fillet and the belly. These two parts are extremely different from each other: the fillet is the lean part of the tuna, therefore naturally defatted; while the belly contains high percentages of fat.

At the moment the law has not established the obligation to specify which parts of the tuna have been used, but in most cases if we do not find this indication on the label, it means that less valuable parts such as the head or the neck were used. . As for natural conservation or oil, the first step, that is to say cooking in salted water, is the same for both. At this point the ways are divided: for the natural tuna we proceed to the immersion of the fish in a very salty aqueous solution, so that the preservation takes place without complications, while for the tuna in oil the processing is different.

This is placed inside the container and extra virgin olive oil is added until it is submerged. Natural tuna has almost zero caloric content, since the fillet part is mainly used, but the contained salt contributes to the formation of water retention and, moreover, does not contain many nutrients. Our experts advise us to take tuna in oil because it is tastier, it is a good source of omega 3 and if we drain the oil well, it does not even provide us with a large amount of fat.