Omega-3s and Cooking

Q: Does cooking decrease the amount of healthy Omega 3s in foods?

A: I’m glad to hear that you are working to increase the amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. There is substantial evidence of their benefit to cardiovascular health.

Among the richest sources of omega 3 are flaxseeds, walnuts, salmon, halibut, shrimp, snapper, scallops, tofu/soybeans and winter squash.

Cooking does not decrease the amount of omega-3.

Enjoy your healthy diet!

Dr. Brent Ridge is the health expert for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You can call and ask him a question live every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 112 (1.866.675.6675). You can also follow along as he learns to grow his own food and raise goats on his farm in upstate New York by visiting www.beekman1802.com.

Got a health question for Dr. Brent? E-mail him at drbrent@care2.com.

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Past Member .

2:30AM PST on Nov 4, 2012

Sardines, kippers (herring) and trout are also 'oily' fish and contains high quantities of omega-3 fatty acids. Make sure your fish are from sustainable sources though.

If you are from the UK or north-west Europe you can check your fish sources from the 'Pocket Good Fish Guide' from the Marine Conservation Society here: http://www.goodfishguide.co.uk/pocket-goodfishguide

If you are from the US you can also download a good fish guide, that is appropriate for your US region, from here: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx