The omega-3 fats are considered essential meaning we must get them from food. There are three main types – ALA (primarily found in plant foods), and EPA and DHA (which are almost exclusively found in animal foods).
EPA and DHA are important components of every cell membrane in our bodies. They’re needed for:
- Building anti-inflammatory molecules
- For hormone health
- They protect the integrity of egg and sperm cells
- They play a role in sperm motility
- They are crucial to brain and vision development during pregnancy.
By fat the best sources of EPA and DHA is oily (fatty) cold-water fish. Our bodies can convert some of the ALA from plants into EPA and DHA but the conversion is very inefficient, so you need to make sure you are consuming EPA and DHA directly from food to meet your needs.
Which fish are oily?
The SMASHT acronym is useful, these fish are wild-caught, cold water, low mercury, high omega-3 oily fish:
- Salmon
- Mackerel
- Anchovies
- Sardines
- Herring
- Trout
I recommend including oily fish in your fertility diet 2-3 times a week.
There are plenty of delicious fertility-optimised recipes in the Recipe Hub to help you eat more oily fish, such as:
- Easy baked salmon ratatouille
- Lemon and herb baked salmon
- Miso salmon
- Spiced salmon traybake
- Tikka salmon skewers
- Za’atar salmon
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