Omega 3, or “fish oil” supplements are among the most commonly prescribed medicines at Qwibil. Improving your body’s omega 3 stores can be helpful for reducing inflammation, improving mood, healing skin, reducing joint pain and reducing the risk of heart disease.
Many of our patients don’t want to take medicines or supplements- we understand. I’m here to explain why most people will benefit from taking omega 3 beyond what is present in their food. There are exceptions- if you are *already* healthy, and consuming a diet with sufficient omega 3 you may not need a supplement. However, most people, especially those seeking care because of health problems, will benefit.
Omega 3 vs Omega 6
If you eat a “standard” diet of processed, packaged foods, grain-fed animal proteins, cereal and even nuts and seeds you will be getting plenty of omega 6 yet deficient in omega 3. This is because most food that we eat has more omega6 than omega 3. Therefore, your cell membranes will be mostly made of omega 6, which predisposes your body to inflammation.
If your need is “therapeutic” where we need to establish healthy cell membranes rich in omega 3 fats throughout your body because of illness, or years of dietary deficiency you need a supplement because in this situation we often recommend at least 3 grams of EPA+DHA (not 3 grams of “fish oil”) daily. It will take time for your body to replace the omega 6 rich cell membranes you have now with omega 3 rich cell membranes. Omega 3 rich cell membranes are anti-inflammatory.
Healthy cells are made of omega 3
Let’s get back to why we use supplements AND food rich in omega 3. Most foods don’t have enough omega 3 to efficiently displace omega 6 from your cell membranes because you already eat way more omega 6. Here’s how much omega 3 is in various foods that you might (or might not) eat. All of the following numbers are for a THREE OUNCE SERVING, which may or may not match what you eat. As you review the information below be sure to consider how much of these foods you actually eat as a serving and compare it to what you’d need to eat over a day to get 3 grams of omega 3 as EPA+DHA.
Omega 3 in foods
- Alaskan Sockeye Salmon (canned and smoked): 1.34g EPA+DHA
- Sockeye Salmon (canned and drained) 1.08g EPA/DHA
- Wild Chinook Salmon: 1.48g EPA+DHA
- Pink Salmon (canned and drained) 1.08g EPA+DHA
- Wild Coho Salmon .9g EPA+DHA
- Wild Chum Salmon .68g EPA+DHA
- Wild Pink Salmon .52g EPA+DHA
- Farmed Atlantic Salmon (cooked) 1.83g EPA+DHA
- Pacific Herring: 1.8g EPA+DHA
- Atlantic Herring (cooked) 1.71g EPA+DHA
- European anchovies 1.75g EPA+DHA
- Sablefish/Black Cod 1.52g EPA+DHA
- Bluefin Tuna (fresh) 1.28g EPA+DHA
- Sardines (canned in tomato sauce and drained) 1.19g EPA+DHA
- Atlantic Mackerel (cooked) 1.02g EPA+DHA
- Wild Rainbow Trout (cooked) .84g EPA+DHA
- Mussels (cooked with moist heat) .66g EPA+DHA
- Sea Bass (cooked) .65g EPA+DHA
- Pacific Oysters (raw) .58g EPA/DHA
- Wild Eastern Oysters (cooked) .53g EPA+DHA
- Eastern Oysters (raw) .33g EPA+DHA
- Shrimp (cooked) .24g EPA+DHA
- Light tuna (canned and drained) .19g EPA+DHA
- Atlantic Sardines (canned and drained) .83g EPA+DHA
- Wild Sockeye Salmon .73g EPA+DHA
- White Albacore Tuna (canned and drained) .73g EPA+DHA
- Venison: .84g EPA+DHA
- Grass-fed beef: .015g EPA+DHA
- Grain-fed beef: .003g EPA+DHA
- Elk: There is likely to be significant EPA+DHA in elk but I didn’t find amounts.
So how much would you need to get a therapeutic dose of 3g EPA+DHA from food?
- 6 oz of anchovies
- 6oz of black cod
- 6oz cooked herring
- 6oz wild chinook salmon
- 7oz fresh bluefin tuna
- 9+ ounces cooked Atlantic mackerel
- 9+ ounces of canned pink salmon
- 18 oz of Pacific oysters
- 36 oz of shrimp
- 12.5 lbs of grass-fed beef
So, although this is definitely POSSIBLE, remember you’d need to do it every day to meet your needs. It’s fine to skip your supplement on days when you eat enough EPA+DHA.
What about plant sources?
It’s difficult to impossible to get therapeutic doses of omega 3 with a strict plant based diet. Most people can’t efficiently convert plant based omega 3, which is ALA, into the EPA and DHA that our bodies need. We can convert somewhere between .5 and 10% of ALA into EPA and DHA.
For example, walnuts are an excellent source of ALA. A 3oz serving is 7.7g of ALA, which could convert into about .39g of EPA/DHA, so you’d need to eat almost 13oz of walnuts daily to get a therapeutic dose. Chia seeds are also rich in ALA with about 15g in a 3oz serving, so you could get a therapeutic dose in just over 3.5 oz of chia seeds. Chia seeds are usually eaten in small amounts because of GI upset so this is also an unlikely daily dietary practice.
Walnuts, chia, flaxseeds and hemp seeds are wonderful additions to the diet but simply can’t provide adequate omega 3 in the amounts eaten. Vegans who cannot consume fish or use a fish oil based supplement will need to supplement with a plankton or algae based omega 3 supplement.
Curious about other foods? You can check the USDA database! httphttps://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-search
We’re happy to help if you have questions or need advice picking the best omega 3 supplement, and how much you need. Our doctors love to help! https://qwibil.com/meet-our-doctors/