3 ms·

It's really unclear unfortunately. The correlative effect is quite clear, i.e people who have high omega 3 levels (eat a lot of fish) have health benefits. Bu

by svara 8mo ago

It's really unclear unfortunately. The correlative effect is quite clear, i.e people who have high omega 3 levels (eat a lot of fish) have health benefits. But in random controlled trials Omega 3 supplements have not had convincing effects. It might be because the supplements aren't very good, or because there's actually something completely different going on, like fish displaces less healthy foods from the diet.

deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
darkerside 8mo ago
I wonder about cultural and ethnic confounding factors
MarkMarine 8mo ago
what is "a lot of fish" in this context? Sushi for lunch every day? Thanks for engaging with this in a helpful way.
- ifwinterco 8mo ago
  Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) has quite large amounts. Some people aim for huge amounts of EPA/DHA but I don't think there's really much evidence that you need 3g/day or whatever the latest broscience is. Mackerel is particularly high although it doesn't taste great to me compared to salmon, 100g of mackerel has ~4g of EPA/DHA so eating that a couple of times a week is probably more than enough. Also there is some (although much less) in white fish, there can be significant amounts in shellfish, and tinned tuna has a surprisingly high amount. So all of that adds up if you eat those as well
  - apothegm 8mo ago
    Sardines, too, which are also fishier than salmon but tend not to be salted the way mackerel is. Unless you’re also consuming all the oil from the can, prefer fish canned in water to canned in oil — because apparently the omega-3s can leach out into oil, but they’re not water-soluble. Btw, trout is also up there (though not as high as salmon) and is a lovely mild-flavored fish.
  - birdsongs 8mo ago
    Not sure what you can find in your country but we have tinned mackerel (with tomato typically) in Norway. I can highly recommend. It's not thaaat fishy, I didn't grow up eating it. After having it a few times it really grew on me. Super cheap and an easy way to get it into my diet. I have 2-3 tins per week. I eat it for breakfast mashed on bread (our bread is like a hard cracker), sometimes with a bit of mustard, or butter spread first.
    - ifwinterco 8mo ago
      Yep this is common in the UK as well and with the tomato I do prefer it to fresh mackerel, but it's still too "fishy" for me, if I tried to eat 3 tins a week I'd get sick of it pretty quickly. Maybe genetics, I'm guessing all my ancestors grew up eating dairy and some meat and not so much fish. It used to be traditional in England to eat kippers for breakfast once a week but that's more or less gone extinct
terribleperson 8mo ago
'the supplements aren't very good' would be believable - a quick glance at the market shows a whole lot of fish oil supplements that provide low amounts of Omega 3s in large amounts of fish oil. Look closer, and you realize a bunch of them are rancid too.

by svara 8mo ago

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

darkerside 8mo ago

I wonder about cultural and ethnic confounding factors

MarkMarine 8mo ago

what is "a lot of fish" in this context? Sushi for lunch every day? Thanks for engaging with this in a helpful way.

ifwinterco 8mo ago
Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) has quite large amounts. Some people aim for huge amounts of EPA/DHA but I don't think there's really much evidence that you need 3g/day or whatever the latest broscience is. Mackerel is particularly high although it doesn't taste great to me compared to salmon, 100g of mackerel has ~4g of EPA/DHA so eating that a couple of times a week is probably more than enough. Also there is some (although much less) in white fish, there can be significant amounts in shellfish, and tinned tuna has a surprisingly high amount. So all of that adds up if you eat those as well
- apothegm 8mo ago
  Sardines, too, which are also fishier than salmon but tend not to be salted the way mackerel is. Unless you’re also consuming all the oil from the can, prefer fish canned in water to canned in oil — because apparently the omega-3s can leach out into oil, but they’re not water-soluble. Btw, trout is also up there (though not as high as salmon) and is a lovely mild-flavored fish.
- birdsongs 8mo ago
  Not sure what you can find in your country but we have tinned mackerel (with tomato typically) in Norway. I can highly recommend. It's not thaaat fishy, I didn't grow up eating it. After having it a few times it really grew on me. Super cheap and an easy way to get it into my diet. I have 2-3 tins per week. I eat it for breakfast mashed on bread (our bread is like a hard cracker), sometimes with a bit of mustard, or butter spread first.
  - ifwinterco 8mo ago
    Yep this is common in the UK as well and with the tomato I do prefer it to fresh mackerel, but it's still too "fishy" for me, if I tried to eat 3 tins a week I'd get sick of it pretty quickly. Maybe genetics, I'm guessing all my ancestors grew up eating dairy and some meat and not so much fish. It used to be traditional in England to eat kippers for breakfast once a week but that's more or less gone extinct

terribleperson 8mo ago

'the supplements aren't very good' would be believable - a quick glance at the market shows a whole lot of fish oil supplements that provide low amounts of Omega 3s in large amounts of fish oil. Look closer, and you realize a bunch of them are rancid too.