Fish, health and omega-3 fatty acid

Omega 3 fatty acids: what do we need to eat to get the recommended amount

A report of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia estimated omega-3 fatty acid intake of Australians to be in the order of 0.1-0.2g/day, although other work from this country suggested that the lower figure was a more likely level. This report recommended that Australians increase their consumption of marine and plant omega-3 fatty acids. A recent report from the UK Department of Health recommended that the intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids should be at least 210mg/day (Sinclair et al. Aust J Nutr Diet 1998; 55: 3: 116-20). 

Canned and smoked fish are valuable and convenient sources of omega-3 marine fatty acids – just 60g will provide the recommended amount of 200mg. In contrast, one would have to eat 14 slices of fish oil enriched Hi-Q bread to get the same amount. This bread is not necessarily superior to wholegrain breads because it is made with white flour and therefore will probably be lower in phytochemicals e.g. lignans and phenolic acids usually located in the outer layers of the grain which is removed during refining. Consuming a variety of breads (especially wholegrain) is still sound advice.

Approximate amounts of EPA/DHA per 60g serve (60 g of fish/meat looks like the size of 2 match boxes) (Sinclair et al. Aust J Nutr Diet 1998; 55: 3: 116-20):

salmon (fresh Atlantic) 1200mg, smoked salmon 1000mg, sardines 1500mg, smoked mackerel 1000mg, fresh trevally 1000mg, gemfish 700mg, snapper 275mg, trout (fresh rainbow) 300mg, canned salmon 500mg, canned tuna 145mg, fresh tuna 600mg, fresh whiting/blue eye/shark 250mg, sea mullet/abalone 200mg, orange roughie 70mg, crayfish 150mg, oysters (12) 500mg, prawns 100mg, blue mussel 250mg, squid/scallop/calamari 200mg

2 slices of HI-Q white bread 27mg

lean beef/lamb 40mg, chicken breast 25mg, lean pork 15mg, kidney (lamb) 100mg, liver (beef) 300mg, 1 enriched eggs (e.g. new start) = 200mg, 1 regular egg = 40mg.

Adult Australians should aim to include 1-2 fish/seafood meals per week – oily fish may be preferable. It is important that the fish meal NOT contain excessive amounts of saturated fat through frying in animal or hydrogenated vegetable fats. Oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, trout, tuna, sardines, herring and gem fish have more n-3 fatty acids than white fish. Just 15g of oily fish will supply the same amount of n-3 fats found in 100g of white fish. How you cook fish can be important. It appears that pan-frying and deep-frying fish can decrease the n-3 content of the fish.

 

Last Updated: June , 2002.