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Top 6 Sources of Omega-3s Part 2

In the first half of this article I covered the top 3 sources of omega-3 fats – fish oil/fatty fish, eggs, and algae. Today we’ll look at the next the next three sources of omega-3s that made the list.

4. Krill Oil - Krill oil may be new to you but look out as I think it will be making the news more as research on it continues to build. Krill oil is similar to regular fish oil in that it contains EPA/DHA but it is also slightly different as the molecular arrangement of the fats is tweaked to contain Astaxanthin (an antioxidant). This is pretty cool (in a science nerdy way). The addition of this antioxidant to the EPA/DHA party has caused some to claim Krill Oil’s utter superiority to fish oil due it its 48x greater ORAC rating (a measure of antioxidant power). I’m not TOO excited about that as I don’t take my fish oil for antioxidants – that why I drink green tea and eat blueberries.

However, it seems as if the differing molecular structure of krill oil (compared to regular fish oil) may provide a benefit that fish oil cannot (for example krill oil has been shown to lower LDL-C, the bad cholesterol, while fish oil does not).

The glaring problem that I see with krill oil supplements is that there just isn’t enough EPA/DHA in them. The krill oil supplement that I’ve been using only contains 240mg EPA/DHA per serving. So what I have ended up doing is taking krill oil and then popping a couple extra fish oil caps to bolster my EPA/DHA intake. I do look forward to more research on Krill oil and as always – I’ll keep you posted.

5. Walnuts – These may seem like an unlikely candidate for omega-3s but they have 2.6 grams per ounce! The omega-3 fats found in are the short ones (ALA) but as mentioned before they are full of health benefits.

6. Flax – Second to fish oil flax/flaxseeds are probably the most well known type of omega-3 fatty acid. Like walnuts flax contains the short chain omega-3 ALA. You can get your omega-3s via flax in two main ways – from the oil or from the seeds. Both are beneficial. Flaxseed oil contains more omega-3s on a per gram basis but if you use the flaxmeal (ground up flaxseed) then you will also get the benefit of added fiber.

This is going to conclude our look at the Top 6 Sources of Omega-3s. Make sure that you are getting both long and short chain omega-3s: EPA/DHA and ALA as they both have great health benefits.

This article was written by Mike Roussell. Mike Roussell is a nationally renowned nutritionist and the president of the Naked Nutrition Network. He is currently a doctoral candidate in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. Learn More About Mike Click Here

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