In terms of nutritional value, especially in the context of PUFAs, individual fish vary according to whether they are:
- high-fat, medium-fat or low-fat
- freshwater (river, lake, pond) vs. seawater
- warmwater vs. coldwater
- hunted vs. bred
- carnivores / omnivores / herbivores
- fresh vs. frozen, smoked, canned
In particular, it affects:
- ω-3:ω-6 ratio
- whether there is more LC PUFA (EPA and DHA) or SC PUFA (ALA) in the fish
In general, fish should be consumed:
- ideally fresh (fat has not enough time to oxidize)
- if it is a choice, better hunted than from a farm breeding (less heavy metals, less stress, no antibiotics, natural feed – less SFA, better omega ratio, more LC PUFA)
- more ω-3 is in marine, high-fat (or medium-fat), coldwater, hunted, predatory fish
- in case of freshwater, focus on river fish
Regarding fish as an EPA and DHA source:
- ideally, fatty coldwater seafish such as: salmon, herring, mackerel (preferably not king mackerel), anchovies, sardines, tuna (preferably not yellowfin tuna) – significant dominance of ω-3 (may not apply to some farm breedings)
- a good source of ω-3 is also a few freshwater river fish such as trout, eel, or catfish (about half the ω-3 content compared to seafish, ω-6 can be slightly predominant up to 1: 2)
- in the cans, most of the fat is removed (in the worst case, supplemented with poor quality oil), so cans are not a good source of ω-3
It’s recommended to eat fish 2-3 times a week. Due to today’s polluted sea and river environments (mercury, heavy metals) as well as an excessive fish hunt, combine fish with other protein and omega-3 sources.
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