• Question: What is omega 3??

    Asked by roses to Daniel, Jon, Louise, Sharon, Zoe on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Omega 3s and another group called Omega 6s belong to a family of fats known as essential fatty acids. The right balance of these two types of fatty acids is important for the healthy functioning of many parts of the body. Studies are ongoing to see what effect omega 3 has on the brain as it has been reported to help with concentration.
      Omega 3 fatty acids are known to help prevent heart disease and they can improve the condition of some patients with depression and bipolar disorder. They have also been studied to look at health benefits in many other diseases such as cancer but there is not enough evididence to prove this yet!
      Foods like fish are high in omega 3, and also some oils like flaxseed/linseed oil are good sources as well as nuts.
      If you eat a good balanced diet, your body should get enough omega 3.

    • Photo: Jon Copley

      Jon Copley answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      “Omega 3” is the name for a group of unsaturated fatty acid molecules that we need in our food.

      We need them because our cells cannot build them from simpler molecules. And we use them to make some even bigger molecules that are important for “anti-inflamatory” reactions in our bodies, which keep us healthy.

      Because our cells can’t make omega 3 fatty acids, and so we have to get them in our diet, they’re known as “essential fatty acids”.

      Some kinds of fish (e.g. mackrel, which you can fish sustainably) are a good source of “omega 3” fatty acids. But the fish don’t make omega-3 molecules either – they get them from their diet too, ultimately from microscopic floating algae called phytoplankton (which can make them). So that’s just one example of how the food chain in the oceans is important to us…

      And if you’re a veggie, you can still get lots of omega-3 from something like kiwi fruit, I think.

      They’re called “omega 3” because the first “double bond” in their molecular structure is found three atoms from the end of the chain of atoms that makes up their molecule. Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, so “omega 3” tells chemists that the double bond is three from the end of the chain.

    • Photo: Louise Dash

      Louise Dash answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Omega 3 is a fatty acid that our bodies need to grow properly, and can be useful in preventing heart disease. Our bodies cannot produce them ourselves, so we need to get them from our diet. Good sources are oily fish, some kinds of algae, or flax seeds.

      Hopefully one of the biologists can tell you more than I can!

    • Photo: Zoe Duck

      Zoe Duck answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Omega-3 is a type of fatty acid. I’m not sure how much you know about chemical sturctures of fatty acids, but the 3 refers to a double bond at the 3 position. There are many types of omega-3 fatty acids such as linoleic acid, eicospentanoic acid and docosahexanoic acid. Humans cannot make them so it is important that we get them from food such as oily fish.

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