7 Best Sources of DHA/EPA: Essential Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Summary
TLDRDr. Ken Berry, a family physician, emphasizes the crucial role of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically DHA and EPA, for brain and body health. He critiques the effectiveness of supplements and advocates for dietary sources, debunking the myth of converting plant-based ALA to DHA and EPA efficiently. Berry lists the top seven food sources rich in DHA and EPA, including mackerel, salmon, fish roe, cod liver, herring, oysters, and sardines, promoting their consumption for optimal health benefits.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA, are crucial for brain and body health but are often underconsumed.
- 🔬 Supplements of EPA and DHA are not as effective as consuming them through diet, often failing to raise meaningful tissue levels.
- 🌿 Plant-based sources of omega-3, like ALA, are not as efficiently converted into EPA and DHA as direct consumption of these fatty acids.
- 🐟 The best sources of EPA and DHA are cold-water fish, such as mackerel, salmon, herring, and sardines, which are rich in these essential fatty acids.
- 🥩 Cod liver oil and fish roe (like caviar) are also excellent sources of DHA and EPA, offering high concentrations in small servings.
- 🦪 Oysters are a delicious and nutritious way to obtain DHA and EPA, with added benefits of zinc.
- 🔍 It's important to consume wild-caught, sustainably sourced fish to ensure the health benefits are not offset by environmental toxins.
- 🚫 There is no risk of overdosing on omega-3 fatty acids when consuming them through whole foods, unlike with supplements.
- 👶 DHA is particularly important for the brain development of infants, making it crucial for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to have adequate intake.
- 👨⚕️ Even leading plant-based health advocates recommend DHA and EPA supplementation due to the limited conversion efficiency from plant sources.
Q & A
What are the seven best sources of DHA and EPA mentioned in the video?
-The seven best sources of DHA and EPA mentioned are mackerel, salmon, fish roe (caviar), cod liver, herring, oysters, and sardines.
Why are omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA, important for health?
-EPA and DHA are essential for reducing cellular inflammation, maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system, supporting brain and nerve health, aiding in weight management, joint health, muscle recovery, and improving overall cognitive function.
What are the benefits of EPA specifically?
-EPA helps reduce cellular inflammation, neuro inflammation, supports a healthy cardiovascular system, aids in burning excess fat, and is beneficial for joint health.
What are the benefits of DHA specifically?
-DHA is crucial for reducing blood triglycerides, supporting nerve function in the nervous system, fighting inflammation, aiding muscle recovery, and potentially lowering blood pressure.
Why might supplements not be as effective as food sources for obtaining EPA and DHA?
-Supplements may not raise meaningful tissue levels of DHA and EPA as effectively as food sources due to potential issues with the manufacturing process, sourcing, or the body's ability to absorb them.
What is the recommended daily intake of DHA and EPA?
-The recommended daily intake is at least 500 milligrams, with a preference for up to 2,000 or 3,000 milligrams of these essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Why does the body not efficiently convert ALA into DHA and EPA?
-The body's conversion rate of ALA to DHA and EPA is very low, with only about 6% of ALA converting to EPA and 4% to DHA, making it inefficient to rely solely on ALA for these essential fatty acids.
What are some misconceptions about vitamin toxicity from consuming these food sources?
-There is a common misconception that consuming these food sources can lead to vitamin A or D toxicity, but there has never been a reported case of toxicity from consuming real whole foods in medical literature.
Why is it important to choose wild-caught salmon over farm-raised salmon?
-Wild-caught salmon is preferred because farm-raised salmon may be fed low-quality diets that can affect the fish's nutritional profile and may contain contaminants.
What are some concerns regarding mercury and other toxins in fish, and which fish are considered safer?
-Small, cold-water fish that don't eat other fish, such as mackerel, salmon, herring, and sardines, are considered safer as they tend to have lower levels of mercury and other toxins.
Why is it suggested to try all the recommended food sources even if some are not initially appealing?
-It is suggested to try all the recommended food sources at least once because individual preferences can vary, and one might find they enjoy the taste or benefits of a food they initially thought they wouldn't.
Outlines
🧠 Introduction to Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Dr. Ken Berry, a family physician, introduces the video's focus on the essential omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, which are crucial for brain and body health. He emphasizes the inadequacy of many people's intake and the limitations of supplements in providing these nutrients effectively. Dr. Berry also mentions the conversion of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from plant-based sources to DHA and EPA, a process that is not as efficient as directly consuming foods rich in these fatty acids. He encourages viewers to watch the entire video for valuable information and to subscribe to his channel for health-related content.
🍽 Benefits and Dietary Recommendations of EPA and DHA
Dr. Berry outlines the numerous health benefits of EPA and DHA, including reducing cellular inflammation, neuroinflammation, supporting cardiovascular health, aiding in brain development and function, and assisting in burning excess fat. He also discusses the importance of these fatty acids for nerve function and fighting chronic inflammation. The doctor suggests a daily intake of at least 500 milligrams, up to 2,000 or 3,000 milligrams, of omega-3 fatty acids. He critiques the effectiveness of supplements and argues for the consumption of whole foods rich in DHA and EPA, as the body poorly converts ALA from plant sources to these essential fatty acids.
🐟 Top Food Sources of DHA and EPA
Dr. Berry lists the seven best food sources of DHA and EPA, advocating for their consumption over supplements. He recommends eating at least one serving daily from the list to ensure adequate intake. The foods include mackerel, salmon, fish roe (caviar), cod liver, herring, oysters, and sardines. He assures viewers that these small, cold-water fish are safe from mercury and other toxins due to their position in the food chain and habitat. Dr. Berry also mentions that these foods are rich in other essential nutrients like vitamins A and D, and he dispels myths about toxicity from consuming these nutrients through whole foods.
👨⚕️ Closing Remarks and Call to Action
In the concluding part, Dr. Berry reiterates the importance of DHA and EPA for brain and nerve health, particularly for infants and the elderly. He encourages sharing the video with those concerned about cognitive function and development. The doctor also addresses the ethical considerations of consuming animal products, suggesting that the listed sources can provide the necessary nutrients without the need for consuming 'cuddly' animals. He ends with a reminder to always verify health information from credible sources and to try new foods from the list for their potential health benefits.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡DHA
💡EPA
💡Omega-3 fatty acids
💡ALA
💡Inflammation
💡Cardiovascular health
💡Neuro inflammation
💡Mackerel
💡Salmon
💡Fish oil supplements
💡Sardines
Highlights
Dr. Ken Berry emphasizes the importance of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically DHA and EPA, for brain and body health.
Many people are not getting enough DHA and EPA, despite their proven benefits.
EPA and DHA supplements often do not work as effectively as hoped.
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from plant-based sources is poorly converted into DHA and EPA by the body.
EPA reduces cellular inflammation and helps maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.
DHA is essential for brain development and function, and helps fight inflammation.
The recommended daily intake of DHA and EPA is at least 500 milligrams, ideally up to 2,000 or 3,000 milligrams.
Supplements do not effectively raise tissue levels of DHA and EPA.
Dr. Berry recommends consuming DHA and EPA directly from food sources rather than supplements.
Mackerel is an inexpensive and rich source of DHA and EPA.
Wild-caught salmon is a preferable source of omega-3 fatty acids compared to farm-raised salmon.
Fish roe, or fish eggs, are highly concentrated in omega-3 fatty acids.
Cod liver oil is a rich source of DHA and EPA, and can be found in tins.
Herring is another small cold water fish rich in DHA and EPA.
Oysters are a favorite source of DHA and EPA, and also provide zinc.
Sardines in water are an affordable and accessible source of DHA and EPA.
Anchovies are a bonus source of DHA and EPA, often used in recipes like Caesar salad.
Dr. Berry encourages trying the recommended foods at least once to ensure a varied and healthy diet.
Transcripts
hi I'm dr. ken berry family physician
and in this short video I want to
discuss with you the seven best sources
of DHA and EPA essential omega-3 fatty
acids that you absolutely need for brain
and body health but many people just
aren't getting enough now it's proven
science that you need omega-3 fatty
acids and that you need BPA and DHA
especially but so many people just don't
know where to get it from also it's been
shown that epa and DHA supplements leave
a lot to be desired they leave you
lacking and oftentimes I just don't work
as well as you hope they would and then
also we're going to talk about in this
video a la alpha linoleic acid in you
hear about this all the time from
plant-based gurus that if you eat a la
you will convert that into DHA and we're
going to talk about that in this video
super important information so please
watch it till the end so that you get as
much value as you can out of this video
if you're not already subscribed to my
channel please consider doing so by
clicking the subscribe button and then
click the little Bell button right
beside it and then choose all that way
every time I make a new video that could
it help improve your health you'll get a
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know about it and you can watch it
before we get into the seven best food
sources of DHA and EPA I want to first
go over the benefits of EPA and DHA you
may have heard of a few of these but
some of these are going to blow you away
I don't think you've probably heard of
all these first of all for EPA is
absolutely reduces cellular inflammation
this is the chronic inflammation that
makes you feel terrible
it makes you die early it can also help
reduce neuro inflammation in your brain
and your nerves so many maladies of
modern society from fibromyalgia
to dementia are caused by neuro
inflammation and these epa and DHA are
going to help you with that it helps you
maintain a healthy cardiovascular system
your heart and your arteries and your
veins it's absolutely vital to
the mental and brain development and
function of all human beings whether
you're a newborn and you're you're
eating formula or you're drinking breast
milk or if you're a great-grandmother
your brain will function better it will
function optimally when you've got EPA
in your system in your diet in
meaningful amounts also it helps you
burn excess fat hey that's not bad it
helps joint health it helps repair and
renew and rejuvenate your joints and it
also helps to impair or to improve and
help repair the brain now this is so
brain damage is approved by EPA and this
doesn't mean that if you just you know
if you had a motorcycle wreck it had
brain damage yes it's going to help that
as well
but also just the chronic brain damage
that we get from living in our modern
society the benefits of DHA include but
are definitely not limited to a decrease
in your blood triglycerides and an
increase in your HDL eating a low-carb
keto carnivore diet moves all these
numbers in the right direction but DHA
helps it even more it is DHA is
absolutely essential for proper proper
nerve function in your nervous system
both your nerves out in your feet and
your toes and your fingers in your hands
but also the neurons in your brain
function better when you give them the
DHA they need and they deserve it also
helps fight inflammation both EPA and
DHA are anti-inflammatory now they're
not going to find acute inflammation
which is actually a good thing it's the
first step in the healing process
EPA and DHA are going to help fight
chronic inappropriate damaging
inflammation and we all need help with
that it also helps support muscle
recovery if you're starting to work out
DHA is going to help your muscles
recover faster DHA has been shown in
multiple studies to lower your blood
pressure
EPA as well it can also decrease your
all-cause mortality improve your risk of
not dying and also it's been shown in
studies to protect your telomeres which
if you're in the
hacking or the life-extension community
you know that the longer your telomeres
are the better you function and the
longer you live the second thing you
should know about DHA and EPA is that
they are essential omega-3 fatty acids
this means that your body cannot
manufacture them you have to get them in
your diet and you have to get them in
meaningful amounts in your diet
third what's the amount of DHA and EPA
you should get a day you should try to
get at least 500 milligrams and I would
prefer you get up to 2,000 or even 3,000
milligrams of these essential omega-3
fatty acids every day in your diet if
you're eating the standard American diet
and you're not going to come anywhere
close to that amount a lot of people
recommend supplements but the problem is
is that supplements don't really raise
the meaningful tissue levels of DHA and
EPA like we would like for them to we're
not sure if it's the production process
the manufacturing process the sourcing
rush or why but the supplements the fish
oil capsules that you've seen so widely
and heavily advertised just don't work
and the final point I want to make
before we get into the seven best
sources of DHA and EPA is that you hear
all the time from plant-based gurus from
vegans from vegetarians that you can get
all the DHA and EPA you need from your
diet by eating plants because there's
something in plants called ala that will
give you that that is converted by your
body into DHA EPA now there is some
conversion but it's very very poorly
done when you your body's not good at
converting ala to DHA and EPA your body
would much prefer that you eat foods
containing DHA and EPA it doesn't want
to supplement it doesn't want you to eat
plants that have ala it wants you to eat
foods that contain DHA and EPA the
research shows us that ala is converted
to e PA at about a 6% rate so if you eat
a hundred milligrams of ala you're going
to get about six milligrams of EPA same
goes for DHA you know
milligrams of ala on average er can
convert about 4 milligrams to DHA so you
can quickly see you'd have to eat pounds
and pounds of vegetables a day to get
the amount of DHA and EPA that your
brain your nerves your muscles and all
the rest of your body needs on a daily
basis even very large vegan influencers
like dr. Greger dr. Fuhrman and dr.
Dallas recommend that you take a DHA and
EPA supplement because they're well
aware that you cannot convert enough ala
into DHA RA la it's EPA to be meaningful
for your health and both physical and
mental and so if these guys recommend
that you take a DHA EPA supplement you
should at this point I would say you
know what I understand that some people
don't feel right about eating furry
animals that have faces and moms and
perhaps emotions 100% understand that
but you'll see from the seven foods I
talked about below you can get all the
DHA and EPA and actually all the
essential amino of fatty acids that you
need without eating anything that's
furry and cute and cuddly and has a mom
and a face now let's get into the seven
best food sources of DHA and EPA that
you can eat and I want you to eat at
least one serving of these on a daily
basis if you do that they're also high
DHA and EPA you're gonna get at least
500 milligrams if you love some of these
foods and you want to eat more you
absolutely can there's no such thing as
an omega-3 fatty acid overdose you can't
eat too much of these things also a lot
of these things contain vitamin A and
vitamin B you might be told by some
people oh you shouldn't eat that too
often you might get a vitamin A or
vitamin D toxicity there's actually this
is not true and the reason I say that is
there's never been a single case study
reported in the entirety of medical
literature showing that someone from
eating actual real Whole Foods has
gotten the vitamin A or a vitamin D
toxicity syndrome it just doesn't happen
now taking vitamin A supplements about
it would do something but you make
too much and get a high level of vitamin
A or vitamin B also a vitamin K vitamin
a that can happen as well but these
foods there is not a single case report
in the entire medical and nutritional
research compiled by mankind ever in the
history of our species was that a little
overboard I want you to get the point
that's ever shown that anyone who ate
too much of these foods got vitamin A
toxicity omega-3 fatty acids toxicity or
vitamin D vitamin E and vitamin k2
toxicity it just doesn't happen if
you're eating real food
now the foods number one is mackerel
this is a small Coldwater fish chock
full of DHA and EPA and it's it's very
inexpensive it's very easy to find and
so if you eat a serving the mackerel a
day you're gonna get your DHA and a PA
number two is salmon now of course you
want to get wild caught sustainably
raised and resourced salmon
you don't want farm raised salmon that's
that's fed crap you don't want that you
want to get the real deal from the ocean
these are rich in the omega-3 fatty
acids DHA and EPA next is my favorite
fish roe which is fish eggs there are
some versions of this that people call
caviar these are so rich in omega-3
fatty acids the DHA and the epa only a
tiny bit is all you need every day I
actually mix this in with my mustard
there's multiple ways that you can use
this it is pricey but you only need such
a tiny amount that it actually becomes
quite affordable to keep a jar of fish
roe in the fridge and just take out a
little spoonful every day
number four is cod liver this is another
my second favorite I love cod liver it
comes in a little tin like sardines or
herring or encho v's it comes in cod oil
and so the oil in there is not cod liver
oil it's just cod and cod liver is very
mild if you don't like beef or chicken
liver cod liver is a great way to get
the multi vitamin that's in all liver
but you also get your DHA and EPA
and just astronomical amounts let me say
at this point that you can also buy
salmon oil or cod liver oil and they're
super rich in DHA or EPA and EPA but
they don't some people hate the taste of
cod liver oil and salmon oil I actually
bought some cod liver oil I'm going to
put a link to everything I talked about
down below and I actually like and so
I'm taking a tablespoon of that a day if
I don't eat my sardines or my cod liver
or my fish roe number five is herring
another small Coldwater fish and you may
be worried about the mercury and other
toxins in the ocean by eating these
ocean fish but here's the thing all
these fish that I talked about are
either protected up in the the most
northern latitudes and don't really get
as much pollution or they're very small
fish and they tend the algae and they
don't eat other fish and so they're not
very high on the food chain and so I
would avoid swordfish and other fish
that basically live off eating smaller
fish because they're magnifying the
amount of mercury and other toxins in
their flesh that's absolutely true
but small Coldwater fish that don't tend
to eat other fish they don't build up
the toxic amounts of mercury and other
toxins that are found in our modern
oceans and so you don't have to worry
about that
number seven is my wife Nisha is
favorite if you don't know my wife she
has a YouTube channel another social
media if you'll just type in Nisha loves
it you'll find her she loves oysters she
loves them raw on the half-shell her and
I both together have probably eaten a
hundred thousand Easter's an hour in our
lifetime we've never had any problem
with infection or toxins or anything
else they're very very rich in DHA and
EPA and also they're a great source of
zinc if you're looking for that now some
people don't like oysters and I
understand that but if you don't if
you've never tried them please a try
them at least one time on the half shell
with a drop of lemon oil and maybe a
little horseradish they're divine number
seven is is sardines absolutely love
sardines in the can do not get them in
oil because it will be
either soybean or canola oil and you
don't want that there they're way too
rich in omega-6 fatty acids get them in
water and then if you want to add it
good I'll make it three three rich oil
to it you can but sardines are great
sources of DHA EPA they're super cheap
they're available in every supermarket
so they're it's not impossible to afford
them and it's also not impossible to
find them like some of the other sources
of DHA and EPA also if you're eating
sardines you're eating nose-to-tail and
so I really like that there's not a
single part of the fish that's wasted
you're eating the entire fish and that's
that's amazing because anytime we can
eat nose to tail that way we honor the
animal we don't waste any of the animal
and I think that's a much more
sustainable way to get our DHA and API
now a bonus source of DHA and EPA nature
loves these I don't love them that much
but some people do is end Chubby's
anchovies are a small cold water fish so
they're very safe to eat
they are chocked full of DHA and EPA
yeah you may have heard of anchovies on
pizza but there's actually a ton of
recipes Caesar salad if it's done
correctly should have some anchovies in
it so you try some anchovies and I want
you I want to challenge you if you've
never tried one of these on the list I
want you to try it at least one time
because you might be surprised at how
much you love it I've included links to
all of these foods in the show notes
down below if you're on your phone
watching this just scroll through the
videos and then you'll find the show
notes if you're on a laptop that's right
they're very easy to find also I've put
links to all the research that I talked
about in the making of this video so you
can check it out for yourself don't
blindly believe me or any other doctor
or nutritionist or health guru out there
I want you to always check the source
now you know someone who's who's
interested in who's concerned about the
brain health or their nerve health
please share this video with them if you
know a breastfeeding mom or worry more
importantly if you know along who's
bottle-feeding with formula please share
this video
they need to know how the human brain is
built-in you know in an infant and it's
not with corn solids and soybean that's
not how you build a healthy human brain
also if you know a mom dad grandfather
great-grandmother who's concerned about
the function of their nerves or their
brain this is the stuff that gives you
optimal nerve and brain function please
share this video with them okay this is
dr. Barry I'll see you next time
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