Amount of essential fats in foods | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount | Food Sources | LA (g) | GLA | AA | ALA (g) | EPA/DHA |
| Daily Requirements: LA (g) Minimum 9-18g; ALA (g) **** Minimum 2-9g | ||||||
| Seeds & Seed Oils / Algae | ||||||
| 1 T | Flaxseed Oil | 1.7 g | 7.3 g | yields ~1.1.g **** | ||
| 1 tsp. (3 g) | Chia seeds | 1.7 g | ||||
| 3 T.*** | GROUND Flaxseed (3T ground equiv, to 2½ Tbsp. whole) | 1.245 g | 4.8 g | yields ~0.75g **** | ||
| ¼ tsp. /~1000mg | Borage Oil | 250mg | ||||
| ¾ tsp. | Evening Primrose Oil | 345mg | ||||
| 1 T | Hemp Oil ** | |||||
| .Red or Brown Algae | ||||||
| Fish 100g (~3.5 oz) COOKED / Fish Oil | ||||||
| ~3.5 oz. Cooked | FRESH oily Fish – Salmon, herring, albacore, sardines, rainbow trout, mackerel | ~0.9 g | Average ~0.25 g | Av.~ 1.0g DHA/EPA | ||
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Atlantic Salmon – Farmed^ | ~1.3 g | ~1.3g | ~ 0.1g | 1.5g DHA /0.7g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Chinook Salmon -Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.7 g DHA /1.0 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Coho Salmon -Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.8 g DHA /0.4 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Sockeye Salmon-Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.7 g DHA /0.5 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Chum Salmon-Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.5 g DHA /0.3 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Rainbow Trout -Farmed^ | ~1.75 g | 0 | 0.7 g | 0.83 g DHA /0.33 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Rainbow Trout -Wild^ | ~0.5 g | ~.2 g | .23 g | 1.12 g | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Other FRESH fish (E.g. Cod)^ | negligible | <0.25g | |||
| 1 tsp. | Fish Oil | 0 | 1.18g | |||
| 1 tsp. | Cod Liver Oil | ~1g | ||||
| Amount | Food Sources | LA (g) | GLA | AA | ALA (g) | EPA/DHA |
| Eggs | ||||||
| 1 Lg. (50g) | Commercial Egg^ | .57g | .02 g | .04 g | ||
| 1 Lg. | Omega-3 Enriched Egg | .7g | .4 g | |||
| 1 Average | Egg (from pasture-ranged hen) | .09 g | .09 g | |||
| Nuts | ||||||
| 20 (full ¼C) | Walnut Halves (~4C/#) | 11.4 g | 2.7 g | yields ~0.4g**** | ||
| 17 (full ¼C) | Pecans | 6.2 g | .3g | **** | ||
| Scant ¼C | Brazil nuts | 6.2 g | 0 | **** | ||
| Scant ¼C | Pistachios | 4.0g | 0.08 g | **** | ||
| 26 (Scant ¼C) | Almonds | 3.7 g | 0 | **** | ||
| 17 (Scant ¼C) | Cashews | 2.3 g | 0 | **** | ||
| 25 (Scant ¼C) | Hazelnuts | 2.3 g | 0 | **** | ||
| 23 (Scant ¼C) | Macadamias | 0.4 g | .06 g | **** | ||
^ U.S. Dept. of Agriculture 2003;
**Hemp oil’s THC content fails drug test, but is not illegal.
*** Canada is a prime grower of flax, so it is ironic that Canadian law makes it illegal to declare EFA content on a product label, which would otherwise enlighten people to the fact that flaxseed is the richest source of ALA.
**** Conversion rate of ALA to EPA and DHA is conservatively estimated at 10-15%. i.e. 5g ALA at best yields ~0.75g EPA/DHA. And vice versa 1g EPA/DHA is equivalent to consuming 6.7g ALA
Oil LA Content – in Safflower (75%), sunflower (65%), corn (59%), and sesame (45%). These oils contain <1% Omega 3
