Milk: Not good source of omega-3 fatty acids, even when organic

Dairy cow in Normandy
Image: Julietvbarbara CC 4.0

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I have had a long standing interest in omega-3 fatty acids. Increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids has been linked to beneficial health outcomes. Mammals cannot make omega-3 fatty acids, they must obtain them from their diet.

When in 2004 I  wrote a follow on grant to take my preliminary research in mice onto larger animals (i.e. cows), the grant was not funded with the reviewer’s comment being  “Given the “pure and wholesome” public perception of milk products, it may be particularly difficult to gain widespread public acceptance for transgenic milk products – despite their health benefits.”

So began my decade plus of focusing my research on breeding methods other than genetic engineering. However, I still think that if cows could produce their own omega-3 fatty acids that would be a good thing for public health, and perhaps if the public sector had been able to obtain research funding to bring some of these consumer benefit traits to market then public acceptance of transgenic products might be different today.

. . . .

So is milk an important dietary source of omega-3 fatty acids? Not really. Not to criticize milk – it is valuable source of protein, Vitamin D, Riboflavin,  Vitamin B12, Phosphorus and Calcium, and my kids drink a glass of pasteurized milk with every meal.

. . . .According to the USDA standard reference database, … I get more than 20 times the omega-3 fatty acids from a serving of salmon that I get from a glass of milk, and they are the long-chain varieties. And if the milk is non-fat or skim the amount goes down to 0.0049 grams of omega-3s, because – well they removed the fat!

The omega-3 composition of milk can be influenced by the cow’s diet – if cows eat a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, then a small fraction of them “bypass” biohydrogenation by the rumen microbes, and so make it to the true stomach. So feeding cows lush omega-3 rich green grass . . . is associated with a slight increase in omega-3 fatty acids. The high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially ALA) in grasses at early stage of maturity is the main reason for the positive effects of pasture on the fatty acid composition of milk.

Read full, original post: Omega-3 fatty acids and milk

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