Omega-3 fatty acid of marine and vegetable origin - a state of the art

P. Singer, W. Wirth, Heppenheim/Berlin

In evidence-based guidelines the dietary intake of at least 2 fish dishes per week is recommended by international and national associations to guarantee the supply of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

However, the supply of marine fish being a source of healthy food, will be diminished by overfishing and pollution of oceans. It will be impossible to meet the minimum requirement (0.1g/day) and optimal supply (1.0 g/day) by fish intake alone. Therefore, fish oil supplementation is increasingly recommended in dietary guidelines.

For several reasons, vegetable oils rich in a -linolenic acid are no adequate sources of long-chain n-3 PUFA. They may, however, be important adjuvant components of dietary patterns to cover the need of n-3 PUFA, preferably in a mixed concept including fatty fish, fish oil, vegetable oils, fish from aquaculture and functional food.

Keywords: Omega-3 fatty acids / marine origin / vegetable origin / requirement / recommendations

Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs-Umschau 08/03 ab Seite 295.