Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dietary intakes and food sources of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

  • Articles
  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

Both n−6 and n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are recognized as essential nutrients in the human diet, yet reliable data on population intakes are limited. The aim of the present study was to ascertain the dietary intakes and food sources of individual n−6 and n−3 PUFA in the Australian population. An existing database with fatty acid composition data on 1690 foods was updated with newly validated data on 150 foods to estimate the fatty acid content of foods recorded as eaten by 10,851 adults in the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey. Average daily intakes of linoleic (LA), arachidonic (AA), α-linolenic (LNA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosapentaenoic (DPA), and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids were 10.8, 0.052, 1.17, 0.056, 0.026, and 0.106 g, respectively, with longchain (LC) n−3 PUFA (addition of FPA, DPA, and DHA) totaling 0.189 g; median intakes were considerably lower (9.0 g LA, 0.024 g AA, 0.95 g LNA, 0.008 g EPA, 0.006 g DPA, 0.015 g DHA, and 0.029 g LC n−3 PUFA). Fats and oils, meat and poultry, cereal-based products and cereals, vegetables, and nuts and seeds were important sources of n−6 PUFA, while cereal-based products, fats and oils, meat and poultry, cereals, milk products, and vegetable products were sources of LNA. As expected, seafood was the main source of LC n−3 PUFA, contributing 71%, while meat and eggs contributed 20 and 6%, respectively. The results indicate that the majority of Australians are failing to meet intake recommendations for LC n−3 PUFA (>0.2 g per day) and emphasize the need for strategies, to increase the availability and consumption of n−3-containing foods.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

α:

linolenic acid

(α-1 NA, 18∶3n−3):

arachidonic acid

(AA 20∶4n−6):

docosahexaenoic acid

(DHA, 22∶6n−3):

docosapentaenoic acid

(DPA, 22∶5n−3):

eicosapentaenoic acid

(EPA, 20∶5n−3):

European Academy of Nutritional Sciences

(EANS):

Food Standards Australia New Zealand

(FSANZ):

International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids

(ISS-FAL):

linoleic acid

(LA, 18∶2n−6):

long-chain n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

(LC n−3 PUFA, 20∶5n−3, 22∶5n−3, and 22∶6n−3):

National Health and Medical Research Council

(NHMRC):

National Heart Foundation

(NHF):

National Nutrition Survey

(NNS):

megajoules

(MJ):

monounsaturated fatty acids

(MUFA):

n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

(n−3 PUFA):

n−6 polyunsaturated fatty acids

(n−6 PUFA):

saturated fatty acids (SAF)

References

  1. National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC] (1992) Report of the NHMRC Working Party: The Role of Polyunsaturated Fats in the Australian Diet, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  2. British Nutrition Foundation Task Force (1992) Unsaturated Fatty Acids—Nutritional and Physiological Significance, Chapman & Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Sugano, M. (1996) Characteristics of Fats in Japanese Diets and Current Recommendations, Lipids 31 (Suppl.), S283-S286.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. de Deckere, E.A., Korver, O., Verschuren, P.M., and Katan, M.B. (1998) Health Aspects of Fish and n−3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids from Plant and Marine Origin, Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 52, 749–753.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Simopoulos, A.P., Leaf, A., and Salem, N., Jr. (1999) Workshop on the Essentiality of and Recommended Dietary Intakes for Omega-6 and Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Food Aust. 51, 332–333.

    Google Scholar 

  6. National Heart Foundation of Australia (1999) A Review of the Relationship Between Dietary Fat and Cardiovascular Disease, Aust. J. Nutr. Diet 56 (4S), S5-S22.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bahri, D., Gusko, A., Hamm, M., Kasper, H., Klor, H.U., Neuberger, D., and Singer, P. (2002) Significance and Recommended Dietary Intake of Long-Chain Omega-3 Fatty Acids—A Consensus Statement of the Omega-3 Working Group [German], Ernahrungs-Umschau 49(3) (Abstr.).

  8. Food and Nutrition Board (2002) Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein and Amino Acids. Taken from the web site: http:// www4.nationalacademies.org/IOM/IOMHome.nsf/Pages/FNB+ Reports (accessed September 2002).

  9. Sinclair, A., O'Dea, K., and Johnson, L. (1994) Estimation of the n−3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Status in a Group of Urban Australians by the Analysis of Plasma Phospholipid Fatty Acids, Aust. J. Nutr. Diet. 51, 53–56.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Mann, N., Johnson, L.G., Warrick, G.E., and Sinclair, A.J. (1995) The Arachidonic Acid Content of the Australian Diet Is Lower than Previously Estimated, J. Nutr. 125, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ollis, T.E., Meyer, B.J., and Howe, P.R.C. (1999) Australian Food Sources and Intakes of Omega-6 and Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Ann. Nutr. Metab. 43, 346–355.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Mann, N.J., Sinclair, A.J., Percival, P., Lewis, J.L., Meyer, B.J., and Howe, P.R.C. (2003) Development of a Database of Fatty Acids of Australian Foods, Nutr. Diet. 60(1), 34–37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Australia New Zealand Food Authority (1999) AUSNUT—Australian Food and Nutrient Database, Australia New Zealand Food Authority, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Australia New Zealand Food Authority. (2000) AUSNUT—Australian Food and Nutrient Database: Supplement on Fatty Acids (unpublished), Australia New Zealand Food Authority, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  15. McLennan, W., and Podger, A. (1997) National Nutrition Survey, Selected Highlights, Australia, Australian Government Publishing Services, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Harel, Z., Riggs, S., Vaz, R., White, L., and Menzies, G. (2001) Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Adolescents: Knowledge and Consumption, J. Adolesc. Health 28, 10–15.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Meade, J.F. (1971) The Metabolism of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, in Progress in the Chemistry of Fats and Other Lipids (Holman, R.T., ed.), Vol. 9, pp. 161–189, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Lands, W.E., Libelt, B., Morris, A., Kramer, N.C., Prewitt, T.E., Bowen, P., Schmeisser, D., Davidson, M.H., and Burns, J.H. (1992) Maintenance of Lower Proportion of (n−6) Eicosanoid Precursors in Phospholipids of Human Plasma in Response to Added Dietary (n−3) Fatty Acids, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1180, 147–162.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Ridges, L., Grigonis-Deane, E., Meyer, B.J., Astheimer, L.B., McLennan, P., and Howe, P.R.C. (2001) Influence of Dietary Omega-6 Fatty Acid Intake on Uptake and Utilisation of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Ann. Nutr. Metab. 45 (Suppl. 1), 94 (Abstr.).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Mantzioris, E., James, M.J., Gibson, R.A., and Cleland, L.G. (1994) Dietary Substitution with an (α)-Linolenic Acid-Rich Vegetable Oil Increases Eicosapentaneoic Acid Concentrations in Tissues, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 59, 1304–1309.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Fischer, S., and Weber, P.C. (1983) Thromboxane A3 Is Formed in Human Platelets After, Dietary Eicosapentaenoic Acid, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 116, 1091–1099.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Fischer, S., and Weber, P.C. (1984) Prostaglandin I3 Is Formed in vivo in Man After Dietary Eicosapentaenoic, Acid, Nature 307, 165–168.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Eaton, S.B., Eaton, S., Sinclair, A.J., Cordain, L., and Mann, N.J. (1998) The Return of n−3 Fatty Acids into the Food Supply. 1. Land-Based Animal Food Products and Their Effects, in World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics (Simopoulos, A.P., ed.), Vol. 88, pp. 12–23, Karger, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Bang, H.O., Dyerberg, J., and Sinclair, H.M. (1980) The Composition of the Eskimo Food in Northwestern Greenland, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 42, 560–563.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Nettleton, J. (1995) Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Health, Chapman & Hall, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  26. GISSI-Prevenzione Investigators (1999) Dietary Supplementation with n−3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Vitamin E After Myocardial Infarction: Results of the GISSI- Prevenzione Trial, Lancet 354, 447–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Okuyama, H., Kobayashi, T., and Watanabe, S. (1997) Dietary Fatty Acids—The n−6/n−3 Balance and Chronic Elderly Diseases. Excess Linoleic Acid and Relative n−3 Deficiency Syndrome seen in Japan, Prog. Lipid Res. 35, 409–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2000) Claims in Relation to Omega Fatty Acid Content of Foods, pp. 68–69, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. P30, Canberra.

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Andrew J. Sinclair

    Present address: Department of Physiology, The University of Adelaide, 5005, SA, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smart Foods Centre, University ofWWollongong, 2522, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

    Barbara J. Meyer & Peter R. C. Howe

  2. Department of Food Science, RMIT University, 3001, Melbourne, Australia

    Neil J. Mann & Andrew J. Sinclair

  3. Food Standards Australia New Zealand, zACT, Canberra BC, 2610, Australia

    Janine L. Lewis & Greg C. Milligan

  4. Department of Biomedical Science, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave., 2522, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

    Barbara J. Meyer & Peter R. C. Howe

Authors
  1. Barbara J. Meyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Neil J. Mann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Janine L. Lewis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Greg C. Milligan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Andrew J. Sinclair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Peter R. C. Howe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara J. Meyer.

About this article

Cite this article

Meyer, B.J., Mann, N.J., Lewis, J.L. et al. Dietary intakes and food sources of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Lipids 38, 391–398 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-003-1074-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-003-1074-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation