If you’re looking for Omega-3 fatty acids in canned fish, the choice is simple.
Canned tuna is not a good source of Omega-3. But canned Salmon is, and so are canned Sardines.
Fresh tuna is a good source of Omega-3, but the beneficial fat content is lost in the canning process.
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in walnuts, and a researcher with Tufts University suggests that walnuts should part of a heart-healthy diet.
Dr. James Joseph is with the Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He says that walnuts offer two key health benefits; polyphenols and Omega-3s.
The actual benefit: keeping the nerve membranes flexible and pliable, avoiding inflammation.
Dr. Joseph suggests diets rich in both blueberries and walnuts:
“Together, the polyphenols in berries and walnuts and the fatty acids in the walnuts fluidize the nerve cell membrane,” he says. “They make it more responsive to a wide array of signals.”
Walnuts are particularly rich in the Omega-3 Alpha-Linolenic acid.
When we think of sources of Omega-3, we tend to think fish. Deepwater, oily fish, the richest for Omega-3.
But another source of Omega-3 has turned up. The production of bio-diesel.
At Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Assistant Professor Zhiyou Wen has found that crude glycerol, a byproduct of the bio-diesel production, delivers Omega-3 benefits.
Professor Wen is using a fermentation process to create Omega-3 fatty acids from this crude glycerol byproduct. It becomes a carbon source for the microalgae that create Omega-3 fatty acids.
Experiments are underway using this as a feed for fish. It appears fish fed with this byproduct produce higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids.
The significance: commercially raised fish are traditionally not strong sources of Omega-3s.
The next step: using this bio-diesel byproduct as chicken feed, with the goal of raising chicken rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.
Dr Anoop Misra, is the Director and Head of the Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Fortis Hospital in New Delhi, India.
He is keeping an eye on the impact of a diet rich in Omega-3:
“High intake of fruits and green vegetables can improve one’s skin and hair. High dose of omega-3 fatty acids mostly found in sea fish can decrease inflammation in some disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and reduce the amount of bad cholesterol.”
Source: The Fortis Hospital
Can a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids help control stress and combat depression?
An answer may lie in the connection between Omega-3 and inflammation.
Researchers with Ohio State University have looked at these issues, and one of their observations is centered around the typical off-balance diet most us us have.
What’s off balance is the amount of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids we consume. It is generally felt that we need to maintain a 4-to-1 or a 2-to-1 ration of Omega-6 to Omega-3. The typical ratio found in most diets is 20-1.
Scientists have isolated two ingredients of Omega-6 fatty acids which are problematic. These ingredients are called cytokines.
Cytokines are proteins which deal, among other things, with the responsiveness of the body’s immune system
Specifically, the problematic cytokines in Omega-6 have been identified as IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Eeach may be responsible for increasing inflammation in the body, which can cause a number of widespread problems.
One of the problems stemming from insufficient Omega-3 and too much Omega-6 may be depression. Team member Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, an Ohio State University Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, explains:
“The data suggest that higher depression and a poorer diet in terms of Omega-3 can work together to promote inflammation. Other researchers have shown that clinically depressed people — those with more severe depression — often have lower Omega-3 levels in their blood, and several studies have shown that supplementing diets with Omega-3 improves depression.”
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