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Fishing for Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Photo Credit: FrenchDuck
Complicated with contaminated and poor sourced fish choices many women are skipping out on fish all together. Our seafood deficient diets are leading to deficiencies in DHA, an important form of omega-3 fatty acids, which our bodies can not make and must be obtained through our food.
DHA is also important to your baby's developing brain and your psychiatric health. Research coming out of the most recent American Dietetic Association Annual Conference reported on studies that revealed a "no sea food diet" during pregnancy resulted in children with low verbal IQ, low social development, and poor peer interactions. Women who were DHA deficient were found to be more anxious and distressed.
Fish is one of the best sources of DHA. This leaves us with a complicated task of figuring which fish are good for our bodies and the planet. Thankfully someone has done the thinking for us and created a simple pocket tool that you can use while shopping to at the grocery store: the Seafood Watch Pocket Guide.
This is a great tool to guide you to the best choices for fish that are not contaminated and fished using sustainable methods. After referring to this guide you will see that there are a lot of good options, and you can even have some canned tuna often thought to be totally off limits.
How much omega-3 fatty acids do you need each day? The Dietary Recommended Intake for non-pregnant women is 1.1 grams per day, which can come from all three types of omega-3s' - EPA, ALA, & DHA. Pregnant and breast feeding women need an additional DHA boost of .2-.3 grams per day. You can meet your needs by eating about 6-12 ounces of fish per week.
Look for the three magic letters (DHA) on the front of the package too. Many foods such organic milk and organic yogurts are now fortifying with additional DHA omega-3 fatty acids.
In addition to all these great food sources there are some supplements both over the counter and prescription that you may want to consider:
Over the counter:
- Nordic Naturals
- Spectrum Fish Oil
- Natelle Plus
- Citranatal 90 DHA
- Duet DHA
- Prenate DHA
Fish is a great whole food source of DHA. I hope you can now head to the fish market more informed and also enjoy a tuna sandwich once again.
Related Topics:
- What to Know About Omega-3s and Fish
- Health eHome
- Going Green: Eco-Friendly Tips & Advice
- Get great tips from the Parenting & Children's Health newsletter
Labels: environment, fish, food, green, health and wellness, Omega-3, pregnancy
6 Comments:
Thought you would be interested in this short omega-3 video: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=queenoffats
Great article. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish seems to be gaining more prominence now than a few years ago. Even the American pregnancy organization is now recognizing this. Nice article at:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/PEfattyacids.html
Testing
What about Krill Oil? Good, bad, indifferent?
The package indiates that one 300 mg soft gel of Krill oil is equivalent to 1000 mg of fish oil.
Anyone have any more info on this stuff?
Omega 3 saved my life. 18 months ago I had 3 arteries that were partially blocked. one @ 40% and 2 @ 30% and was looking to have another stent put in...but...due to taking 2000 units of omega 3 the angiogram that I just had came back clean...the dr said that all arteries were clean. a new person
Omega 3 fatty acids have lot of benefits. They are most essential for a healthy body and especially recommended for persons suffering from heart diseases. The main source of omega 3 fatty acids are fish and flax seeds. Pregnant women can take omega 3 supplements as it can develop the baby's brain.
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