Wild and natural sources of Omega-3

The use of industrially produced animal feeds – which are rich in vegetable oils – means that much of our meat and dairy produce has significantly lower levels of Omega-3 than ever before. Unfortunately, this practice has now spread into fish farming, with disastrous effects on the nutritional benefits of eating farmed fish.

The benefits of wild fish

Today, a farmed fish eats a diet that is 70% land-based, made up primarily of dry pellets of soybean meal, cornmeal, canola meal and poultry by-products. As a result, the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in farmed salmon is believed to have dropped to around 1:1.

 

In contrast, a wild salmon (salmão selvagem in Portuguese; salmón salvaje in Spanish) lives in a labyrinth of waterways and rivers. Here, the fish feed on insects, invertebrates and plankton when they are young, and small fish, squid, eels and shrimp as adults – a diet rich in Omega-3.

 

The ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in wild salmon is somewhere between 6:1 and 10:1. In addition, unlike avocados, flaxseed oil or other sources of Omega-3, the fats we need – the EPA and DHA – are already available in wild salmon without conversion, making it much easier for our bodies to absorb and use.

 

All this makes wild salmon one of the richest and best sources of Omega-3 available, while avoiding Omega-6, which is already so plentiful in the modern diet.

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