Where omega-3 fats and high-quality protein come from.
19 ingredients
Search within this categoryThe nutrients most often listed as a key nutrient among these ingredients.
Seafood
Early researchIn a 2007 trial, cod protein improved insulin sensitivity compared with other animal proteins, measured by the gold-standard method. But it held 19 people, and a 2020 follow-up using a cod protein supplement moved nothing at all — not glucose, insulin, lipids or body composition.
Seafood
Moderate evidence100 g holds 82 kcal, 14.9 g of protein and only 1.04 g of fat, with 20.0 µg of vitamin B12 (833% of the requirement), 44.8 µg of selenium and 5.3 mg of iron. The old warning about cholesterol does not survive contact with the randomised evidence on dietary cholesterol.
Seafood
Early researchTwo meta-analyses published the same year put diastolic blood pressure at −0.42 mmHg and −3.09 mmHg. One found no effect on lipids; the other reported total cholesterol down 11.5 mg/dL. And USDA lists its vitamin B12 as zero.
Seafood
Early research100 g of raw mussel meat holds 12 µg of vitamin B12 — 500% of the requirement. The arthritis evidence belongs to New Zealand green-lipped mussel extract, not to mussels, and it held only at medium term.
Seafood
Nutrition data11.3 µg of vitamin B12 per 100 g — 471% of the requirement. Sodium is 601 mg, and most of that salt ends up in the broth.
Seafood
Moderate evidenceKoreans take three times more iodine from kelp broth than from kelp itself: 348 µg a day against 116 µg. Fishing the kelp back out does not take the iodine with it.
Seafood
Strong evidence1.45 g of EPA and DHA per 100 g. A cohort links small-fish intake to lower mortality — but only in women.
Seafood
Moderate evidence22.8 g of protein, 1.7 g of fat and 49.5 µg of selenium per 100 g. Even at 300 g a day, lipoprotein ratios did not worsen.
Seafood
Moderate evidencePer 100 g it carries 15.6 g of protein and only 1.38 g of fat. Cholesterol is high at 233 mg — but in a shrimp trial, what mattered more was the rest of the meal.
Seafood
Nutrition data23.3 µg of vitamin D per 100 g, the highest on this site. But it also carries 1,043 µg of vitamin A, in the form that has an upper limit.
Seafood
Early researchSeaweed's vitamin B12 was long dismissed as an unusable analogue. A 2024 randomised trial found otherwise.
Seafood
Moderate evidence13.7 µg of vitamin B12 per 100 g — more than five times the daily reference. Omega-3 is 1.57 g, behind only salmon and mackerel.
Seafood
Moderate evidence382 mg of calcium, 4.8 µg of vitamin D and 0.98 g of omega-3 per 100 g of tinned sardines. Being a small fish, it also carries little mercury.
Seafood
Moderate evidenceMore vitamin D than salmon — 15.9 µg against 11 µg. But under a third of the omega-3.
Seafood
Nutrition dataCanned tuna in water packs 19 g of protein into 85 kcal per 100 g. But its omega-3 is one-twelfth of salmon's.
Seafood
Nutrition dataIts iodine and calcium made it a postpartum food. That same iodine is why thyroid conditions call for caution.
Seafood
Strong evidence100 g of mackerel carries more EPA and DHA than salmon. Factor in the price and it is the best-value omega-3 fish there is.
Seafood
Moderate evidence100 g of oysters carries 16.6 mg of zinc — one and a half times an adult's daily requirement. Almost no other natural food comes close.
Seafood
Moderate evidenceOne portion covers a large share of your weekly omega-3 and delivers vitamin D — a nutrient almost no other food supplies in useful amounts.