DHA supplement versus eating fish

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Karina52
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DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by Karina52 »

The more I read about this, the more it appears we need to be eating fish as opposed to taking a DHA supplement.
Anyone else eating mackerel and/or sardines regularly? I'm planning on shooting for 5 servings a week, as, at 66, I have no time to waste trying to prevent cognitive decline.
This was an interesting article i found online regarding supplement versus fish....https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30289748
SoCalGuy
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Re: DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by SoCalGuy »

I do both, although I cut back from eating a can of sardines in every one of my salads. That was 7 servings of sardines per week! When I checked my DHA and EPA levels this summer they were both well within the reference ranges for low risk (5.6 for DHA and 1.5 for EPA). My Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio was 2.8 : 1 which is pretty solid.

Dr Valter Longo recommends three servings per week so that's what I'm currently shooting for. He recommends fish that are rich in Omega 3 but also low amounts of mercury. Dr. Gundry recommends shellfish which are good sources of Omega 3s and are low in mercury.
mike
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Re: DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by mike »

Karina52 wrote:The more I read about this, the more it appears we need to be eating fish as opposed to taking a DHA supplement.
Anyone else eating mackerel and/or sardines regularly? I'm planning on shooting for 5 servings a week, as, at 66, I have no time to waste trying to prevent cognitive decline.
This was an interesting article i found online regarding supplement versus fish....https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30289748
There is more discussion on this topic at this post https://www.apoe4.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5454
Sonoma Mike
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circular
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Re: DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by circular »

Karina52 wrote: Anyone else eating mackerel and/or sardines regularly?
Lots of Wild Planet sardines in water. One of my favorite fast meals when I'm quite hungry but have to get going: I put sardines on a plate with a bunch of avocado. I drizzle good olive oil on the sardines and salt them, then I splash balsamic vinegar on the avocado and pepper it! Yum! and Filling!
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
SoCalGuy
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Re: DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by SoCalGuy »

circular wrote:
Karina52 wrote: Anyone else eating mackerel and/or sardines regularly?
Lots of Wild Planet sardines in water. One of my favorite fast meals when I'm quite hungry but have to get going: I put sardines on a plate with a bunch of avocado. I drizzle good olive oil on the sardines and salt them, then I splash balsamic vinegar on the avocado and pepper it! Yum! and Filling!
That sounds good! I need to start buying those. I see them at Costco but I always buy the Season sardines in olive oil since they are often on sale. I buy them by the case when they are on sale. I'd imagine the olive oil isn't very good quality so I rinse the olive oil off before eating them in my salads. The Season sardines also don't include the bones which are a good source of calcium.
circular
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Re: DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by circular »

SoCalGuy wrote:I always buy the Season sardines in olive oil since they are often on sale. I buy them by the case when they are on sale. I'd imagine the olive oil isn't very good quality so I rinse the olive oil off before eating them in my salads.
I've also been leery of the quality of added olive oil in canned fish, but also about whether the fish's own oil goes rancid when it's cooked in the can. After corresponding with Wild Planet about this, I'm less concerned about the fish's own oil, and I figure I'd rather use fresh, high polyphenol olive oil even if whatever they use wouldn't be harmed much by the cooking process. Here's what they wrote:
Oxidized fats can be an issue but that is primarily for fish that is cooked such as pan fried, baked, or in a soup. You need oxygen to oxidize the fats so these cooking methods do degrade those fats. Canned tuna, salmon etc are pressure cooked in a sealed can that heats up enough to get whatever remaining oxygen in the can out. The proper processing of these seafoods is based on a certain amount of time at a certain pressure so the exact temperature is not an indicator in the process. That said, the temp of processing is usually in the mid to high 200 degree range.

We do not test for peroxides in any or our fish products.
Interestingly, their statement suggests that canned or pressure cooked fish is the healthiest way to eat cooked fish! Except when I eat out (and cringe over the way restaurants prepare the commercial fish so many customers think is a healthy meal choice!), that's about all I eat at home, canned or pressured cooked frozen wild caught. Except for those cooked, frozen wild shrimp ... wonder how they cook those before packaging.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
SoCalGuy
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Re: DHA supplement versus eating fish

Post by SoCalGuy »

circular wrote:
SoCalGuy wrote:I always buy the Season sardines in olive oil since they are often on sale. I buy them by the case when they are on sale. I'd imagine the olive oil isn't very good quality so I rinse the olive oil off before eating them in my salads.
I've also been leery of the quality of added olive oil in canned fish, but also about whether the fish's own oil goes rancid when it's cooked in the can. After corresponding with Wild Planet about this, I'm less concerned about the fish's own oil, and I figure I'd rather use fresh, high polyphenol olive oil even if whatever they use wouldn't be harmed much by the cooking process. Here's what they wrote:
Oxidized fats can be an issue but that is primarily for fish that is cooked such as pan fried, baked, or in a soup. You need oxygen to oxidize the fats so these cooking methods do degrade those fats. Canned tuna, salmon etc are pressure cooked in a sealed can that heats up enough to get whatever remaining oxygen in the can out. The proper processing of these seafoods is based on a certain amount of time at a certain pressure so the exact temperature is not an indicator in the process. That said, the temp of processing is usually in the mid to high 200 degree range.

We do not test for peroxides in any or our fish products.
Interestingly, their statement suggests that canned or pressure cooked fish is the healthiest way to eat cooked fish! Except when I eat out (and cringe over the way restaurants prepare the commercial fish so many customers think is a healthy meal choice!), that's about all I eat at home, canned or pressured cooked frozen wild caught. Except for those cooked, frozen wild shrimp ... wonder how they cook those before packaging.
That is really interesting, thanks so much for sharing! I was thinking about trying to find fresh sardines to cook at home but now that seems like a lot of unnecessary work.
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