Canned Salmon Good for Omega-3s

Canned Salmon Good for Omega-3s

Canned salmon can be a great, economical alternative to fresh salmon. The amount of omega-3s varies widely, but you can be assured that you’ll be getting more heart-healthy omega-3s with canned salmon than with no salmon at all.
In a 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Harvard University researchers determined that eating two grams of omega-3 fatty acids from fish such as salmon each week reduces the risk of dying from heart disease by 36 percent. That is just one reason why health organizations recommend eating fish twice a week.
The amount of omega-3s in a food often isn’t listed on labels, but a person can get a general idea by looking at the polyunsatured fat content, or, if that’s not listed, as the total fat content. Canned salmon with a higher level of polyunsaturated fat, also known as a “good” fat, is likely to have higher levels of the omega-3s: EPA (short for eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
You can generally count on about 1.0 to1.3 grams of these two types of omega-3s in a three-ounce serving of canned salmon. That’s about half of what you might get in the same amount of fresh salmon fillets, but it’s still a significant amount.
Source: eXtension