Eggs, pasta, bread, juice—you name it, they can figure out a way to make an omega-3 enriched food product out it
In the last handful of years, Omega 3-enriched food products have begun appearing in grocery stores more and more often. And no, I’m not talking about “mackerel milkshakes,” as the British Daily Mail once pithily put it. Though that might not be such a bad idea…
Wait, wait. Forget I wrote that. Can you say “lead balloon,” boys and girls?
Anyway: savvy manufacturers have begun enriching all kinds of products with Omega 3, and recently their equally clever marketers have been cannily drawing our attention to everything from O-3 rich gummi bear kiddie vitamins and fish sticks to fruit juice and eggs.
A Brief History
By now, you’re probably aware that the various types of Omega-3 fatty acids can make kids brainer, keep adult brains healthy, and reduce inflammation. So we all know Omega-3’s good for you, and why. So why not get as much of it as you can?
The Brits and Europeans were on the vanguard of the Omega-3 foods movement, especially once people realized that many of those countries’ citizens don’t eat enough fish. By the mid-2000s, there were dozens of pricy O3-enriched food products on UK and continental shelves
Interestingly, Omega-3 eggs were among the first such enriched products produced, when a Canadian food scientist realized all he had to do was feed flaxseed to egg-laying chickens. Specialized Omega-3 pasta, bread, cow’s milk, soy milk, yogurt, fruit juice, margarine, muesli, and salad dressing soon followed.
O-3 American Style
In the U.S. you’re most likely to find the Omega-3 eggs, fish sticks, and pasta than anything else, though a serious search may turn up some of the others. Of course, expect to pay more for these items than their normal counterparts.
Of more significance is the question of whether they really work worth a darn. You see, most contain ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), a product of flaxseed, when what you really need most are the DHA and EPA acids that come from fish oil, seal oil, and other animal sources.
The body converts the ALA to DHA and EPA, but only at 5-15% efficiency — so you have to eat lots and lots of these special foods to get significant benefits. And with most of the above products, at those consumption levels you also get all kinds of cholesterol and saturated fats that can be damaging to your health.
What’s the Verdict?
If you’re serious about getting enough Omega-3 without gaining 300 pounds and shooting your bad cholesterol levels through the roof, then either eat fish or flaxseed, or take fish oil pills.
While tasty and good for you, the Omega-3 enriched food products are really just trendy; they aren’t enough to provide all the O-3 you need.