Friday fat facts - Fish oil

If you are of my vintage, you may have had the same experience I had growing up, choking down cod liver oil by the spoonful. Since that time, we have learned that there are better sources of vitamins. But we have also discovered the importance of omega-3s fatty acids found in fish oils.

Not all fish oils are created equal – at least, not in terms of the health benefits they bestow on humans. Some fish oils are toxic or just not nutritious. The potential health benefits come from cold-water fish however, are considerable. Fresh, high-fat fish that contains EPA and DHA is the best for our health. The fish should not be fried; they are best boiled so that their oils are not destroyed by light, oxygen, or high temperature. Raw is fine too. Fish kept fresh by deep-freezing preserves the oils giving maximum health benefits.

Unlike chicken and turkey, high-fat cold-water fish are best eaten with their skins on since the beneficial oils are found just under the skin.

The best fish to eat to get the richest sources of EPA and DHA are salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout and eel. The omega-3 fatty acid content of various types of salmon ranges between 18.9 and 31.4% of total fat content. Low fat fish like pike, carp, and haddock contain EPA and DHA in much smaller quantities, between 1 and 4%. (These fish are still good sources of high-quality protein.) Our cells are composed of both EPA and DHA . They are abundant in brain cells, nerve relay stations, visual receptors, adrenal glands, and sex glands – the most biochemically active tissues in the body. EPA and DHA help keep our arteries clean and our platelets sticky. EPA is the starting material for making prostaglandins, which have beneficial effects on blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, kidney function, inflammatory response, and immune function.

Farmed fish are not the same as wild fish. Farmed fish are fed commercialized, convenience foods, not the fresh live krill, copepods, plankton, and algae that feed fish in the wild. Their fat content depends on what they eat. Farmed fish contains less vitamins A and C, and less omega-3 fatty acids that wild fish. And they spoil faster. Another downside is that algal outbreaks can kill entire fish crops, because the fish are not free to escape the affected area. The upside to farmed fish is that it can reach consumers within 48 hours, whereas ocean fish may take a week or two before they come in on the boat. Also, ocean fish are only available in season. Fresh ocean fish is preferable to fresh farmed fish, but not to frozen ocean fish.

If you don’t like fish or cannot find good quality fish, taking capsules or a spoonful of fish oil is a good alternative. Ensure that the capsules are completely opaque and not fishy tasting or that the oil is not smelly. Some fish oil capsules contain partly rancid oil. If a fish oil capsule makes you burp, it is a sign that the oil is rancid. I recommend most people have both a plant and an animal source of omega-3s to ensure they get LNA and EPA - ideally, flax oil and salmon or krill oil. Also, some people with poor digestive health cannot break down the omega-3 content from flaxseed oil into its derivative, DHA, and therefore cannot reap the benefits. Taking fish oil instead can solve this problem.