When is calling something 'fatty' not bad..?

by Christine McKinney,
M.S., R.D., C.D.E. Johns Hopkins Medicine

Just the other day, I was reading the label on a loaf of bread I bought and noticed it was fortified with omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat.

You can now find eggs, cereal, waffles, milk, margarine spreads, and even orange juice fortified with omega-3s. But do you know what these fatty acids can do for you and how much you are supposed to consume?

Researchers have identified a number of benefits from consuming omega-3 fatty acids:

• Improving inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and asthma
• Lowering blood pressure and triglycerides
• Increasing HDL (good) cholesterol
• Reducing depression, as well as the symptoms of bipolar disorder and Alzheimer's disease

The American Heart Association recommends we consume the following amounts of omega-3s:

• for people without heart disease, at least two servings each week of a fatty fish such as salmon
• for people with heart disease, 1 gram each of DHA and EPA (types of omega-3s) daily
• for people with elevated triglycerides, 2 to 4 grams each of DHA and EPA daily, in capsule form

This supplementation should be done under your doctor's supervision.

Foods that naturally contain omega-3s include fish (salmon, tuna, white fish), flaxseed, walnuts, pinto beans, and broccoli, as well as canola, soybean, and flaxseed oils. To find out how much omega-3s are in some of the foods you eat, look up particular foods in Nutrition Data.

(CMc) (photo by Amanda Rudkin)