Dear Dietitian,

To increase the consumption of EPA and DHA, I've started eating canned salmon with skin and bones. I rinse the fish with water to lessen its sodium content. In doing so, are EPA and DHA lost in the salmon? 

Evan

Dear Evan,

Omega-3 fatty acids, like Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are found in fatty fish, such as salmon, rainbow trout, sardines, and mackerel. These nutrients have been associated with good heart health. 

Canned salmon is an easy and inexpensive way to get omega-3s in your diet, and the bones offer calcium. For readers who may not have tried this, the salmon bones crush easily between your index finger and thumb and mix with the rest of the fish without producing an unpleasant texture. 

According to Dr. Andrew Clarke, Associate Professor of Food Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, "Fatty acids, such as omega-3s, are components of the oils and triglycerides, and therefore, are not highly soluble in water. Rinsing [with water] will not likely reduce omega-3s from the drained fish.

An overlooked factor is that canning involves significant heat treatment, and omega-3s, like all fats and oils, will melt during the canning process and become part of the liquid already in the can. When one drains the liquid from the canned fish, some omega-3s are discarded.  Rinsing the liquid from the fish is unlikely to remove omega-3s from the fish itself." 

While there is no Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for EPA and DHA, the American Heart Association recommends consuming fatty fish twice a week, even if you don't have heart disease. That said, fresh or frozen salmon contains twice the amount of omega-3s as its canned counterpart and has considerably less sodium. Remember, when it comes to food, fresh is best!

Until next time, be healthy!

Dear Dietitian