A healthy diet must include lots of foods with omega 3 in them as these elements help minimize the risk of many diseases by reducing the level of inflammation in your body. Unfortunately, the traditional American diet has an overabundance of omega 6 fatty acids and a severe deficiency of omega 3. Expanding your meal plan to include the following foods will solve this problem.
Top 6 Foods with Omega 3 in Them:
- Fatty fish.
All fish is a good source of omega 3 but salmon, herring, mackerel, trout, tuna, and sardines are the best. - Flaxseed.
Flaxseed is one of the best plant sources of omega 3 as well as dietary fiber and numerous essential minerals. You can get all its benefits without finding a way to include flaxseeds into your meals every day by taking Flaxseed Oil 1000mg. - Chia seeds.
A tablespoon of chia seeds gives you about 60% of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of omega 3 essential fatty acids. This product is also very good for digestion and rich in other nutrients. - Hemp seeds.
Hemp seeds give you a boost of essential minerals, B vitamins, and 25% RDA of omega 3. - Natto.
A must have for a vegan diet and a traditional Japanese cooking ingredient, natto is highly nutritious and contains over 400 mg omega 3 in ¼ cup. - Egg yolks.
Egg yolks are rich in protein and vitamin D and they also contain small amounts of omega fatty acids. As the level of those elements isn’t high, it’s best to combine eggs with other foods from this list.
You should know that as the importance of foods with omega 3 in them has come to light, manufacturers started producing many products fortified with these essential elements. Today you can find omega 3-rich juices, dairy products, bread, and pasta.
In addition, animal-feed crops are enriched with these elements to produce fortified meat. Therefore, you should always look for meat from grass-fed animals with a certificate about the composition of their food included.
How Much Omega 3 Fats Do You Need?
Most sources state that the omega 3 RDA is around 4,000 mg a day. However, unlike with other essential nutrients, the amount of omega 3 fatty acids you must consume changes based on the level of omega 6 fats in your body. With essential fatty acids it’s all about the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio.
Consuming processed foods, fried dishes, and large amounts of animal fats can skewer this ratio up to 16-to-1 in the favor of omega 6. The best is 1-to-1, but it’s incredibly difficult to achieve considering the traditional Western diet. However, 4-to-1 is considered an acceptable level health-wise.
The imbalance of omega 6 and omega 3 in your body increases the risk of heart disease, digestive disorders, arthritis, and a variety of other conditions caused by inflammation. Therefore, in order to maximize the efficiency of your healthy diet 3, you need to not only eat foods with omega 3 in them but also reduce your intake of other fatty acids.
The best way to do this is to cut down on fat meat and processed foods of any kind. You also should replace your regular cooking oil with a healthier variety, for example flaxseed or coconut oils.
Taking an additional omega 3 supplement is a wise decision for most people, especially if you aren’t able to consume over a cup fatty fish every day. Try Omega 3 EPA/DHA or Krill Oil 500mg to get your daily fix of the essential fatty acids. Krill Oil, in particular, will be good for those struggling with joint pains. It contains a rare and potent antioxidant astaxanthin. Be aware that this supplement contains all three most important types of essential fatty acids, omega 3, 6,and 9.