Foods with Omega-3: Table with EPA, DHA and ALA per Serving

The most omega-3 is found in oily sea fish, above all mackerel, salmon and herring. What we mean here is EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids from the sea. According to the US nutrient database, a 150 g serving of mackerel brings around 3,450 mg of them. For adults, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considers 250 mg of EPA and DHA a day adequate. Seen that way, this one plate covers almost two weeks on paper.

Flaxseed oil, flaxseed, chia seeds, walnuts and canola oil, on the other hand, deliver ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), the plant omega-3 fatty acid that your body converts into EPA and DHA only to a small extent. Both are called omega-3, but they're not the same thing. That's why fish and plants get two separate tables here, and we calculate per serving, because nobody eats 100 g of flaxseed oil. What omega-3 actually does in your body is explained in our guide: what you need omega-3 for.

Which foods have the most omega-3?

For EPA and DHA, mackerel, farmed salmon and herring lead the way, with around 2,350 to 3,450 mg per 150 g serving. For plant ALA, it's flaxseed oil at 53.4 g per 100 g, followed by flaxseed and chia seeds.

The basis is the database of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the values apply to raw fish, and for canned tuna and sardines to the drained contents. We set the 150 g serving ourselves. If you calculate with the 120 g used by the German Nutrition Society (DGE), everything comes out a fifth lower.

Which fish has the most omega-3?

Of the usual food fish, mackerel has the most omega-3, at 2,299 mg of EPA and DHA per 100 g. Sardines are often considered a particularly good source, but in oil, at 982 mg per 100 g, they're clearly behind. With pollock, it pays to take a second look at the species. In German stores, "Seelachs" often means saithe, which comes to 632 mg per serving. Fish sticks, on the other hand, are usually made from Alaska pollock, and that brings only 353 mg.

Wild or farmed salmon: which has more omega-3?

In the US database, farmed salmon at 1,966 mg per 100 g actually has more EPA and DHA than wild salmon at 1,436 mg. That's down to the feed, because a salmon gets its EPA and DHA almost entirely from its food and hardly makes any itself. So a farmed salmon has roughly as much as its feed provides. The more vegetable oils in it, the less EPA and DHA ends up in the fillet.

Our numbers are from 2018 and vary considerably for farmed salmon, and in our estimation they tend to be lower today. It's still a good source, though, because even with a third less, one serving would still easily cover the weekly average.

Fresh or canned tuna: where is there still omega-3?

Fresh tuna is a decent source, canned tuna hardly at all. A serving of fresh bluefin tuna brings around 1,760 mg of EPA and DHA, the same amount of canned light tuna just 336 mg. To be fair, the database is also comparing two different kinds of tuna here. A tuna sandwich is still a good lunch, it just only counts as an omega-3 source on the side.

How much fish per week do you need for 250 mg of EPA and DHA a day?

With oily sea fish, one serving a week is already enough on paper. 250 mg a day is 1,750 mg a week, and a single serving of herring already brings 2,357 mg. The DGE also recommends fish once or twice a week, without specifying which kind. Roughly sorted, here's what you need per week, in servings of 150 g each:

• Mackerel, farmed salmon, herring or wild salmon: less than one serving
• Fresh tuna, sardines in oil or farmed trout: one to just under two servings
• Saithe (coley): just under three servings
• Alaska pollock, canned tuna or cod: five to just over six servings

If you eat farmed salmon, herring or mackerel twice a week, you average 673 to 985 mg of EPA and DHA a day, several times the 250 mg. Still, it's easy to miscalculate. Fish twice a week sounds like plenty, but two servings of fish sticks just aren't two servings of mackerel. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, the bar for DHA is higher. What applies then is in our article on omega-3 in pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause.

Walnuts, chia, flaxseed oil: which nuts, seeds and oils have omega-3?

With nuts, seeds and oils, it's all about ALA, and flaxseed oil is way out in front: one tablespoon brings 5.3 g. Just 10 g of flaxseed or a handful of walnuts come to around 2.3 g. For comparison, the DGE sets 0.5% of dietary energy for ALA, which at 2,000 kcal is just over 1 g a day.

So you're quickly covered for ALA. According to Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), about four walnuts or a tablespoon of flaxseed are already enough. But the EPA and DHA column says "none" all the way down, and unfortunately that's exactly the part that gets lost in many omega-3 lists. Your body makes only a little EPA from ALA and hardly any DHA, usually under five percent for DHA. According to a large review on plant omega-3, more ALA over a longer period does raise EPA levels in the blood, but not DHA levels. How much ALA actually gets converted is covered in our article flaxseed oil and omega-3: what your body makes from ALA.

Flaxseed oil even has more omega-3 than omega-6, while walnuts bring around four times as much omega-6. Whether that matters at all is put into context in our article on the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3.

Do eggs, avocado or vegetables have omega-3?

A little, but not much. According to the US nutrient database, an egg with around 50 g of contents brings just under 30 mg of DHA, which is just over a tenth of the 250 mg, and there's practically no EPA in it. Half an avocado delivers just over 0.1 g of ALA, about a tenth of the DGE's ALA value, and no EPA or DHA. Vegetables don't even show up in the BfR's omega-3 table.

With eggs labeled "source of omega-3 fatty acids", it's worth checking the nutrition information. In the EU, a food can carry this label as soon as it contains at least 0.3 g of ALA or a combined 40 mg of EPA and DHA per 100 g and per 100 kcal. Whether that's plant ALA or really EPA and DHA, the label alone doesn't tell you.

Vegan: are there plant foods with EPA and DHA?

The one direct plant source of EPA and DHA is oil from microalgae. On its page on fish, the DGE itself writes: "As a source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, microalgae can be a good alternative to fish." After all, the salmon didn't invent its omega-3 either. It gets it from algae through the food chain, and algae oil just picks it up right there at the source.

That it reaches your body is shown by an overview of 13 randomized studies in which algae oil raised the omega-3 index in every study, while high-dose flaxseed oil didn't. What's measured is how much EPA and DHA was built into the red blood cells over months. There were only a few studies, and they were pretty different from each other, but the direction is clear.

Dried seaweed, on the other hand, is no substitute. Because of its widely varying and sometimes very high iodine content, the BfR doesn't simply recommend it for covering your omega-3 needs. How algae oil compares with fish oil and krill oil is covered in our article algae oil, fish oil and krill oil compared. Why Sophia switched after years of fish oil capsules is told in Sophia's story.

Is omega-3 from food enough?

If you eat oily sea fish every week, food gets you comfortably to 250 mg of EPA and DHA a day, if you rarely or never eat fish, probably not. And that applies to more people than you'd think. In Germany's National Nutrition Survey II (NVS II) by the Max Rubner Institute (MRI), one in six people had eaten no fish at all in the four weeks before the survey, and among the youngest it was even around a third.

On average, men ate 15 g and women 13 g of fish a day. That's around 90 to 105 g a week, which is less than a single DGE serving. The data, however, are from 2005 to 2007. On the same basis, the BfR arrives at 127 mg of EPA and DHA a day for young women up to 295 mg for older men among adults in Germany.

If you eat oily sea fish almost every week, you're well supplied. But the same numbers also show how many people in Germany don't eat fish regularly at all. Where you stand is ultimately revealed by a blood test for the omega-3 index, more on that in our article omega-3 deficiency and the omega-3 index.

Heart, brain, eyes: what it's all good for

Whether from fish or from algae, what your body needs EPA and DHA for is laid down by the EU in reviewed and authorized claims. In the official wording: "EPA and DHA contribute to the normal function of the heart", "DHA contributes to maintenance of normal brain function" and "DHA contributes to the maintenance of normal vision". Each refers to 250 mg a day, EPA and DHA combined for the heart and DHA alone for brain and vision. What studies show beyond that on heart, brain and eyes is put into context in our article heart, brain, eyes: what studies show.

When fish rarely makes it onto your plate

We made PULSE by Fifty Five for exactly this case. Go ahead and convert it into fish: the 648 mg of EPA and DHA from two Liquid-Caps add up per week to as much as around one and a half servings of farmed salmon or just under two servings of herring, only straight from algae oil and with no fish at all.

How much EPA and DHA a day suits you is covered under daily needs for EPA and DHA. When it becomes too much, you can read under side effects and overdose, and what each of the two does under DHA and EPA compared.

FAQ

How much flaxseed oil a day is enough?

For the DGE's ALA value of just over 1 g a day, a single teaspoon of flaxseed oil is already enough. How best to use flaxseed oil in everyday life is covered in our article flaxseed oil and omega-3.

Is omega-3 lost when cooking and frying?

A little, yes, because when you fry, some fat and with it some omega-3 stays in the pan, but in our estimation that doesn't change the ranking of the fish much. Cooked or smoked fish mainly loses water, which is why the content per 100 g tends to go up. In the BfR's table, smoked salmon comes to 2,598 mg of EPA and DHA per 100 g, so 50 g on a slice of bread comes to around 1,300 mg.

Can a capsule replace fish?

For EPA and DHA, yes, because what counts is the amount, not where it comes from. The EU ties its claims on heart, brain and vision to 250 mg a day, regardless of whether it comes from salmon or from algae. And in a small two-week study, DHA from algae oil capsules reached the blood just as well as DHA from cooked salmon. How much fish a daily dose from the capsule is worth is shown above under "When fish rarely makes it onto your plate".

Disclaimer:

This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment by a physician or pharmacist. The information provided here should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. Food supplements are no substitute for a balanced, varied diet and a healthy lifestyle. For any health questions or complaints, please always consult a doctor you trust. Fifty Five accepts no liability for any inconvenience or harm resulting from the use of the information presented here.

Sources

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