Omega-3 Food
Foods high in omega-3s also happen to be delicious. Rich, flavorful fatty fish rank at the top of the list, but omega-3 foods include plants, too.
Introduction
In the world of nutrition, omega-3 fatty acids grab a lot of headlines. There’s still a lot left to discover, but multiple studies suggest that omega-3s can lower your risk for a range of serious health problems, including cardiac disease and Alzheimer’s.
Note: The suggestions here have been reviewed by a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). However, they should be used for general educational purposes only and not interpreted as customized medical advice or care. Always seek the guidance of a doctor or other qualified health provider to figure out what’s best for you.
How Many Omega-3s Do You Need?
As for how many omega-3s we ought to take in daily, no single official recommendation exists, but respected organizations like the World Health Organization and the USDA say that healthy adults require 250 to 500 milligrams of combined DHA and EPA.
Foods High in Omega-3s
Estimates for omega-3 content can vary wildly, depending on the source. We relied on figures from the National Institutes of Health and from the USDA FoodData Central database. To drill down into the omega-3s of any food, visit the USDA’s sub-databases for ALA content, DHA content and EPA content, organized by food name.
You may have heard that grass-fed beef and omega-3 eggs have omega-3s too, and they do—but only a fraction of what’s in fatty fish and shellfish. Also, the amount of omega-3s in any fish will vary somewhat, depending on its environment and diet.
Seafood Sources of Omega-3s
Jack Mackerel
Small but meaty, canned jack mackerel makes a great substitute for tuna in sandwiches and salads, and a 3-ounce (85-gram) serving delivers about 1,050 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids. Like sardines, mackerel are low on the ocean food chain. When you eat these small fish, you can help ease the pressure on larger, overfished species like tuna.
Omega-3 content: about 1,050 mg DHA+EPA per 3-oz serving
Wild Salmon
Wild salmon harvested right before they enter their home rivers to spawn can have even higher levels of omega-3s. That’s because they pack on layers of fat to fuel their arduous journeys. Also, you’ll probably eat more than 3 ounces as a serving (the size of a small deck of cards).
Avoid farmed salmon raised in open net pens. They can be diseased and also have higher levels of toxins like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), industrial chemicals that were banned in the 1970s but linger in our environment.
Omega-3 content: at least 1600 mg DHA+EPA per 3-oz serving (cooked)
Herring
In the United States, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, herring is often pickled (fantastic with sour cream on crunchy toast). In Great Britain, the traditional way to eat herring is smoked—aka kippered—for breakfast.
Omega-3 content: about 1700 mg DHA+EPA per 3-oz serving (cooked)
Sardines
These delicious little fish are generally canned whole, with bones, so they have large amounts of calcium as well as omega-3s. Sardines and other fatty little fish don’t have the high levels of mercury and other toxins found in larger predator fish like tuna and swordfish, making them safer to eat.
Omega-3 content: about 1200 mg DHA+EPA per 3-oz serving (canned with tomato sauce)
Anchovies
Tiny salt-cured, brownish-gray, strong-tasting anchovy filets are great in salad dressings (especially Caesar) and on pizza, and show up in condiments like Worcestershire sauce and fish sauce. Anchovies that are canned without the salt cure, like Spanish White Anchovies, have a much milder, fresher flavor— so you can eat them as a whole ingredient rather than a seasoning, and get even more omega-3s (800 mg per 4.2-oz can).
Omega-3 content: about 600 mg DHA+EPA per 1-oz serving (salt cured, canned)
Oysters
In addition to omega-3s, oysters are full of other essential nutrients, like zinc, copper and a whopping amount of vitamin B-12 (575% of the daily value).
Omega-3 content: about 720 mg DHA+EPA per 3.5-oz serving (6 medium oysters in the shell)
Mussels
Mussels, like oysters, feed directly on phytoplankton and don’t deplete other fish. They are a good source of omega-3s, and ocean farmers like Bren Smith are developing entire regenerative ecosystems using mussels. These mollusks are promising on the nutrition front, too: a British study in the journal Nutrients found that just two weeks of eating mussels three times a week raised DHA and EPA levels in young, healthy adults.
Omega-3 content: about 660 mg DHA+EPA per 1-lb serving (20-25 mussels in the shell)
Plant Sources of Omega-3s
Walnuts
A baker’s staple and great to eat by the handful as a snack, walnuts have more omega-3s than any other nut by far. Of course they’re great in cakes, cookies and breads, but throw them into salads, too, and rice pilafs. Toasting walnuts until medium golden makes them infinitely more flavorful.
Omega-3 content: about 2,700 mg ALA per 1⁄4 cup (shelled walnuts)
Flax seeds
These shiny, smooth brown or golden seeds come from the flax plant, whose fibers have been used to make linen cloth for hundreds of thousands of years. Grind the seeds before you eat them—that releases their nutrients and makes them digestible. Once ground, the meal should be refrigerated, because the high oil content makes it go rancid fast. Add ground flaxseed to smoothies or yogurt bowls as an easy way to boost your omega-3s.
Omega-3 content: about 2,200 mg ALA per tablespoon of whole ground seeds
Chia seeds
Tiny black chia seeds—yes, the same kind used to grow chia pets in the 1980s—also have super-high amounts of ALA. They don’t need to be ground and will thicken liquidy foods like kefir, smoothies or overnight cereal recipes.
Omega-3 content: about 2,140 mg ALA per tablespoon
Hemp seeds
Also called hemp hearts, these flavorful little seeds are nutty and soft, almost like chopped-up walnuts. They come from the hemp plant, which, like the flax plant, has long been used to make cloth. Try hemp hearts in cookies, banana bread, and scattered on your cereal in the morning.
