Are You Getting the Most Omega-3 Possible from Your Fish?
You eat fish to load up on omega-3, but are you really getting as much as you think?
Are you concerned with getting the right amounts of omega-3? If you're eating fish to keep your essential fatty acids amount high, you might be short-changing yourself without ever knowing it. Here are some surprising facts about the fish you eat.
Get the Most Omega-3 Possible
According to the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions from 2009, if you eat your fish fried, salted or dried, you're not getting as much omega-3 as you think. The best way to preserve the essential fatty acids in fish that you eat is to either broil or bake the fish.
Another important finding from this study shows that omega-3 affects both the sexes and ethnic groups differently. In other words, white men and black men need different levels of omega-3. The same applies to men and women. The level of omega-3 helpful to women is different from the level that helps men.
This study took place over 3 years with 11.9 years of follow up. It also involved 82,243 men and 103,884 women. The men and women included African-Americans, Caucasians, Japanese, Native Hawaiian and Latinos. The researchers divided the participants into to 3 groups and gave them canned tuna, fish without shellfish, or soy products.
Overall, men that ate 3.3 grams of omega-3 per day lowered their risk of heart attack. Women appeared to get the most heart health protection from low-sodium soy products like shoyu and tofu. Dried and salted fish was a risk factor for women.
Confused?
Information from studies gets confusing. With such a large study as this, there were many different results for each group. The important thing to know is that when deciding what type and how much omega-3 to add to your diet, you need to get specific information. Talk to your doctor and be sure he takes into consideration your sex and ethnic group.
Omega-3 is still healthy for you and gives you many health benefits. Avoid seafood contaminated with mercury and also avoid fried and salted fish. To get the benefits from omega-3, get your essential fatty acids from healthy sources or take a quality fish oil supplement.
