DHA + EPA in some foods

From my Fish vs Flax blog, we learned that all omega 3s aren’t created equally. It’s the DHA and EPA that are linked to a lower risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, eye disorders and other health problems. ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), although high in fibre, isn’t as beneficial. The conversion from ALA to EPA is low but is better than the conversion of ALA to DHA.

Generally, you should be aiming for 500mg (0.5g) DHA and EPA a day. Remember that intakes of 650-700mg DHA and EPA a day has been correlated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. If you have heart disease, you should be aiming for 900mg/day. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, aim for a minimum of 300mg a day.

Included below is the amount of DHA and EPA in different fish and other products if you don’t eat fish. I’ll talk about some of the Brand-name products below. Note that considerable differences may exist with respect to the reported levels of DHA and EPA, even for a given fish source, due to various factors (ie. geographical origin).

FOOD (170g for fish unless noted)	DHA+EPA (mg)	FOOD (170g for fish unless noted)	DHA+EPA (mg)
Atlantic salmon, farmed	3650	Scallops	620
Atlantic salmon, wild	3130	Skipjack tuna, fresh	560
Gold Seal Pacific Sockeye Salmon (100g)	2900	Pacific cod or yellowfin tuna, fresh	470
Compliments Sliced Smoked Atlantic Salmon (55g)	2450	Blue crab (85g) or haddock	400
Gold Seal Pacific Pink Salmon (100g)	2400	Catfish, wild	400
Coho salmon, farmed	2180	V-Pure algae supplements (3)**	270 mg DHA/89 mg EPA
Rainbow trout, farmed	1960	Shrimp (85g) or Atlantic cod	270
Coho Salmon, wild	1800	Naturegg Break-Free Omega 3 Liquid Eggs (50mL, 1 egg)	250
Rainbow trout, wild	1670	Clams (85g)	240
Swordfish	1390	Naturegg Omega Pro Large Eggs (1)	130*
Sardines (in tomato sauce) (85g)	1190	Naturegg Omega 3 Large Eggs (1)	80
Pacific oysters (85g)	1170	Lobster (85g)	70
Mackerel, canned (85g)	1050	Becel Omega 3plus margarine 2tsp	50
Compliments Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon (55g)	900	President’s Choice Blue Menu Oh Mega j Orange Juice (1cup)	50
Pollock or whiting	900	Danone Danino Yogourt with DHA (100g)	40*
Flounder or sole	850	Silk Plus Omega 3 DHA Fortified Soy beverage (1cup)	30*
Sardines in vegetable oil, drained (85g)	840	Egg (1 large)	20
Halibut	790	Minute Maid Fruit Solutions Omega-3 Orange juice	20*
Rockfish	750	Tropicana Essentials Omega-3 Orange juice (1 cup)	20*
Fish sticks (6)	680	Neilson Dairy Oh! 1% milk with DHA	10*

* DHA only.
** V-Pure supplement is the first vegan source of DHA and EPA, is made from algae and is recommended by Vesanto Melina, RD specializing in vegetarian and vegan nutrition.

Many brand name products are jumping onto the omega-3 bandwagon and claiming their products are great sources of omega 3. Maybe... but remember to read the ingredient list and NOT the nutrition facts table to find out the omega 3 source. This will tell you if the product has any DHA.

If you see fish oil or algal oil, the product has DHA. We'll look at 2 products today:

Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA Fortified soy milk: The ingredient list show the product has both flaxseed oil and algal oil. So the product contains some DHA. The nutrition facts table says that 1 cup provides 400mg of omega 3- but the small print indicates that only 300mg of that is DHA. Many other ‘Omega-3’ soymilks have no DHA so be aware.

Omega 3 eggs. Many eggs now have omega 3- the chickens are fed flaxseeds and they actually convert some of that ALA to DHA. Some packages tell you how much DHA is present in one egg, some don’t. On average, omega 3 eggs have about 75mg of DHA. However, this DHA doesn’t compensate for the high cholesterol found in the egg yolks (average of 210mg/yolk). Omega 3 eggs have pretty much the same amount of fat and cholesterol than regular eggs and cost 3 times as much. Although recent research has found that total fat and saturated fat have a greater impact on our cholesterol than cholesterol, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada still recommends 2 egg yolks/week. These omega-3 eggs are not worth it, in my opinion.

Sources: http://dhaomega3.org/ ; Liebman, B. Omega Medicine: is fish oil good for what ails you? Nutrition Action Health Letter. Vol 34: 8, Oct 2007 ; http://www.nutrispeak.com/omega_3s__epa___dha.htm ; http://www.lesliebeck.com/ingredient_index.php?featured_food=21