What’s so healthy about seafood?

Seafood is an important part of a healthy diet and is becoming the food of choice for the health-conscious. Some great reasons to eat seafood are shown in the nutrition information table below. It’s good for our brains, and lots more!

In Australia, we don’t eat enough seafood. The Australian Dietary Guidelines and Heart Foundation advise eating one or two fish-based meals per week (a serve of fish is 80 to 120 grams cooked weight), but according to the last National Dietary Survey, only one in four of us reported eating fish at least once a week.

“The evidence is now largely unequivocal that some fish each week is an advantage to health and longevity”.

This view is supported by a great deal of scientific and medical research. A good starting point to understand this information is FRDC's publication What’s so healthy about seafood?

• What’s so healthy about seafood? (booklet)
• What’s so healthy about seafood? (brochure)
• What’s so great about seafood? (brochure)

What are Omega-3s?

Omega-3s are essential nutrients just like vitamins and minerals and they play many critical roles. Omega-3s are a type of polyunsaturated fat which our bodies cannot make naturally.

The three most important types of Omega-3s are ALA, DHA, and EPA. ALA is mainly found in plants, whilst DHA and EPA occur predominantly in animal foods and algae. 

Sources of Omega-3s

Seafood is commonly referred to as a great source of Omega-3s. Supplements of fish oil are rich in long chain Omega-3s and foods enriched with long chain Omega-3s are beginning to appear in supermarkets.

There is a vegetarian source of Omega-3 (called DHA) made from marine algae, which is used in a variety of Omega-3 enriched foods and infant formulas. Interestingly, it is the marine algae that fish feed on which helps make them a rich source of long chain Omega-3s.

How much do you need?

To prevent a deficiency of long chain Omega-3s, health authorities recommend 430mg/day for women and 610mg/day for men. 

For some health conditions (such as arthritis and high blood triglyceride levels) doctors recommend higher intakes, which include additional fish oil supplements if required.

Rank	Species	Marketing name	Scientific Name	Oil (%)	Total Omega-3 LC PUFA (mg/150g)
1	Tuna	Slender Tuna	Allothunnus fallai	16.5	5640
2	Swordfish	Swordfish	Xiphias gladius	7.7	1530
3	Morwong	Banded Morwong	Cheilodactylus spectabilis	3.2	1230
4	Redfish	Alfonsino	Beryx splendens	5.2	1195
5	Whitebait	Whitebait	Lovettia sealii & Galaxias spp.	2.6	1100
6	Trevally	Bigeye Trevally	Caranx sexfasciatus	4.7	1065
7	Mackerel	Blue Mackerel	Scomber australasicus	3.8	760
8	Australian Bonito	Australian Bonito	Sarda australis	1.5	650
9	Gemfish	Gemfish	Rexea solandri	2.6	640
10	Rudderfish	Rudderfish	Centrolophus niger	14.4	620
11	Mackerel	Spanish Mackerel	Scomberomorus commerson	3	575
12	Sweep	Silver Sweep	Scorpis lineolata	1.3	555
13	Australian Herring	Australian Herring	Arripis georgianus	1.3	540
14	Grouper	Western Blue Groper	Achoerodus gouldii	3.6	540
15	Boarfish	Bigspine Boarfish	Pentaceros decacanthus	1.5	530
16	Australian Salmon	Australian Salmon	Arripis trutta & Arripis truttaceus	1.1	505
17	Mackerel	Spotted Mackerel	Scomberomorus munroi	1.2	500
18	Mackerel	School Mackerel	Scomberomorus queenslandicus	1.1	490
19	Mackerel	Grey Mackerel	Scomberomorus semifasciatus	1.1	490
20	Tailor	Tailor	Pomatomus saltatrix	1.3	490
21	Emperor	Threadfin Emperor	Lethrinus genivittatus	2.6	490
22	Redfish	Bight Redfish	Centroberyx gerrardi	0.5	485
23	Australian Sardine	Australian Sardine	Sardinops sagax	1.2	470
24	Trevalla	Blue-Eye Trevalla	Hyperoglyphe antarctica	1.3	470