Numbers Game: Answer

Which of the following provides the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids?

a) 4 ounces of fresh cold-water salmon
b) 4 ounces of canned sardines (in oil)
c) 4 ounces of fresh lobster
d) 4 ounces of canned salmon
e) Trick question. They all provide the same amount!

The correct answer is "d" -- canned salmon. Four ounces pack in 2.2 grams of Omega-3 fatty acids!

The remaining fish?

4 ounces of fresh cold-water salmon provide 1.7 grams, sardines contribute 1.8 grams, and fresh lobster contains 0.1 grams.

Omega-3's are essential (meaning our bodies can not produce them) polyunsaturated fatty acids that have been linked in hundreds of studies to lower risks of heart disease, cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, and even Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Recommendations are currently set at 1 to 2 grams a day (or 7 - 14 grams a week).

Why does canned salmon edge out cold-water salmon? Simple -- all canned salmon is wild.

The figure for cold-water salmon, meanwhile, is an average that takes into account wild and farmed salmon.

Farmed salmon offers lower levels of Omega-3 fatty acids since they are fed grains (rather than subsisting on a natural diet of small marine creatures).

Although all salmon is a great source of Vitamin D (four ounces provide a day's worth!), canned salmon offers an additional bonus -- calcium. Turns out the cooking process softens the bones to such a degree that they can be eaten.

The result? A quarter of your day's calcium needs in a (lactose-free) four-ounce piece!