hi everyone... longtime listener, firsttime caller

Are cashew nuts a good source of fat?

Serving Size: 1 oz

Calories: 160
Total Fat 13g
Sat Fat 2.5g

I dont know if the rest of the 13g is the "good kind of fat" or not, but if anyone has any idea, let me know!

http://www.annecollins.com/dietary-fat/omega-3-efa-6-chart.htm

According to that there are almost no omega 3s in cashews. They're a good source of Omega 6's though.

it's pretty easy to get omega-6 - the fat in oatmeal is omega-6, for example. Omega-3 is pretty much flax, walnuts, fish. Also the omega-3 oil in flax is a precursor to the active omega-3s found in fish, and not everyone has enough enzyme to make use of flax omega-3 (ALA).

I guess what I'm saying is most of your healthy (non-saturated) fats are easy to get -

olive oil
oil salad dressings
nuts
vegetable oils (except tropical oils - coconut oil has it's proponants because it is a different kind of sat fat and likely much healthier than the sat fat in a slab of beef).
- mostly omega 6 and polyunsaturates


the omega-3s are the hardest to get, and for optimim health the balance of omega-6 to omega-3 is important. So the most important healthy fats to try to work into your diets is omega-3s. Sat fat and omega-6 will end up in your diet without too much work.

Does a can of tuna provide a decent amount of Omega-3's?

The short answer is "sure" if you eat enough - this is the only point where tuna being a 'lean' source of protein is a problem - there's a US recommended daily intake of omega-3 of 1.7 grams per day for a male (or 1.6, I can't remember) - but for cholesterol, mental health, etc. slightly higher doses are recommended.

lessee- found this on a recipe site (assuming you mean water-canned):
That's 0.27 grams omega-3 per 100g tuna - and an ounce is about 28 grams, so you would need to eat...so roughly 4 oz for 0.27g omega-3, so to get the full daily requirement you would need - a lot of tuna - a little less than 24 oz a day. !!

(I just take the fish oil capsules. It's cheaper. And less smelly.)


When cooked (dry heat), tuna (bluefin, fresh) provides 1.504 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, derived from EPA (0.363g) and DHA (1.141g), per 100 grams of tuna (bluefin, fresh). When canned in water and drained, tuna (light) provides 0.272 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, derived from EPA (0.047g), DHA (0.223g), and ALA (0.002g), per 100 grams of tuna (canned in water and drained). When canned in oil and drained, tuna (light) provides 0.202 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, derived from EPA (0.027g), DHA (0.101g), and ALA (0.074g), per 100 grams of tuna (canned in oil and drained).


Health benefits and concerns
Mercury toxicity

Nearly all fish contain trace amounts of methyl mercury, some more than others. In areas where there is industrial mercury pollution, mercury levels in the fish can be quite elevated. In general, however, methyl mercury levels for most fish are very low. However, certain species of very large tuna, typically sold as fresh steaks or sushi, can contain methyl mercury levels in excess of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 1 part per million (ppm) limit. Canned tuna, composed of smaller species of tuna such as skipjack and albacore, has much lower levels of methyl mercury, averaging only about 0.17 ppm.

The FDA has advised pregnant women, women who could become pregnant, and nursing mothers to avoid fish that contain high amounts of methyl mercury, specifically shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish. Regular consumption of methyl mercury contained in these fish can harm the child's developing nervous system and may pose risks to the mothers as well. The FDA advises that other fish are permissible for pregnant and nursing women as part of a healthful diet. The agency suggests an acceptable level of 12 ounces per week of cooked fish (a typical serving size of fish is from 3 to 6 ounces). Permissible fish include shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish or farm-raised fish. It is important to eat a variety of different species, rather than just one type of fish, in order to reduce the reduce risk of methyl mercury consumption.

Yeah, getting your omega-3s is better through a source that is proven to be high in omega 3s. If I were you i'd try buying flax seeds and crushing them in a coffee grinder and spreading them on things like salads or cereal. Flaxseeds are high in fiber (the oil has no fiber, but the seeds have 7g per serving) and high in omega 3 fatty acids.

John, if you are seeing this, please make one of the "good fat" topics sticky. It comes up once a month it looks like.

See this :

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=13080

Udo's Choice (http://www.udoerasmus.com/products/oil_blend.htm)