Fish Oil Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Fish Oil, including details on omega-3, dosage, health benefits, diet.

Wild berries: a good source of omega-3.

Bere E

Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. e.t.bere@medisin.uio.no

It has been reported that some wild green vegetables are good sources of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid). Using available data from the Norwegian food composition table, the present study shows that three common Nordic berries (blueberry, cloudberry and cowberry) on average contain 0.7 g of fat (=21% of total energy) and 0.25 g ALA (=36% of total fat) per 100 g, which is quite similar to what has been reported for the ALA-rich wild green vegetables. In addition, this study shows that a hypothetical replacement of 5% of Norwegian 8th grade girls' diet, with a similar energy amount of wild berries, would significantly improve the diet - also improve intake of nutrients not commonly associated with berries.

Published 1 March 2007 in Eur J Clin Nutr, 61(3): 431-3.
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