Omega 6/Omega 3 ratios for foods and oils - considerations

[Guest guest]

It occurred to me that trying to maintain an omega 6/omega 3 ratio of

about 2:1 (to 1:1) would depend on what you ate as well as what oils

you took to try to maintain this ratio.

Here's some omega6/omega3 ratios:

O-6/O-3 ratio omega-6 omega-3

cod 0.03 0.01 0.22

tuna 0.05 0.01 0.27

shrimp 0.05 0.03 0.63

tuna canned in water 0.07 0.02 0.32

oil, cod liver 0.09 1.87 20.67

anchovy 0.10 0.15 1.49

halibut 0.10 0.09 0.85

Salmon 0.11 0.26 2.29

salmon oil 0.12 4.34 35.98

chinook 0.14 0.25 1.83

Spinach 0.19 0.02 0.12

herring 0.19 0.34 1.79

sardine oil 0.19 5.04 25.85

herring 0.22 0.44 1.98

Salmon, farmed 0.24 0.74 3.16

flax seed oil 0.24 14.00 59.14

flax seed 0.24 4.32 18.12

papayas 0.24 0.01 0.03

bluefish 0.27 0.23 0.83

broccoli 0.29 0.04 0.13

Mangos 0.38 0.01 0.04

Lettuce 0.41 0.03 0.08

kidney beans 0.63 0.02 0.03

green beans 0.64 0.02 0.04

collards 0.75 0.08 0.11

parmesan 0.92 0.32 0.35

mustard 0.97 0.28 0.29

mozzarella 1.06 0.39 0.37

white beans 1.19 0.20 0.17

kelp 1.20 0.02 0.02

Blueberries 1.48 0.10 0.07

borage oil 1.50 37.50 25.00

Butter 1.55 1.83 1.18

Milk, 3.7% milkfat 1.57 0.08 0.05

Bananas, raw 1.70 0.06 0.03

Beef, top sirloin 1.81 0.38 0.21

Beef, heart 1.97 0.61 0.31

Blackberries, raw 1.97 0.15 0.08

beans, lima, raw 2.08 0.28 0.14

oil, canola 2.18 20.30 9.30

Yogurt, plain 2.41 0.07 0.03

Table 3 - List of some foods sorted by their increasing omega-6 to

omega-3 ratio. The table also indicates to omega-6 EFA and the omega-3

content in grams per 100 grams edible portion.

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Note that only certain foods (individually) have a favorable ratio,

namely, mozzarella through Yogurt, plain. We can toss out canola oil

except for machinery. Also note that beans are high in carbs. This

leaves meats and milk and cheeses as being the best. However note the

actual amount by weight of EFAs in borage oil. It appears to be much

more than any other favorable food. One would then see that taking

borage oil would swamp out various other foods in maintaining a

favorable ratio except for certain foods also with large amounts of

EFAs by weight such as flax seed and flax oil and sardine oil, etc.

However, one could balance highly unfavorable ratio foods with foods

with high omega 6 amounts. Flax could be balanced by sesame oil, etc.

Therefore, using borage oil as a supplement and favorable foods and

also being careful what foods one eats so that one could balance

occasional " wrong ratio foods " with correct oils to compensate would

seem viable.