A while back I wrote about a new product (new to me anyway!) called sacha inchi seeds. The seeds are grown in the highlands of Peru and boast a high content of healthful omega-3 fatty acids. I stopped at Whole Foods Market a couple of weeks ago and was curious to try them.
I found the TerrAmazon brand of packaged roasted seeds near the bulk section – 3 oz. for $9.99! I could have ordered a 5 oz. bag of Savi Seed brand inchi seeds for the same price from Amazon.com, but after shipping the cost would have been just about equivalent. My first discovery for research of this product was that it is expensive! A serving size is 1 oz., so get out your wallet if you plan to make this a regular snack.
I measured out 1 oz. to see how many seeds a serving is, and it totaled 38 seeds. The seeds are the shape of a disk about the size of a dime, so 38 seeds is quite a large serving.
The seeds are roasted and salted, and the taste? The closest thing I can come up with is a soy nut, but not as crunchy. I thought they were tasty enough to eat a few, but I did not enjoy them as much as nuts and would not be happy with eating 38 of them at one time.
The 1 oz. serving contains 170 calories, 6 grams of fiber, and 9 grams of protein. The total fat per serving is 14 grams, with 1 gram of saturated fat, 1 gram on monounsaturated fat, and 12 grams of polyunsaturated fat consisting of 6 grams of omega-3, 5 grams of omega-6, and 1 gram of omega-9. One serving also provides 4% of the daily value of calcium and iron, and 170 mg of sodium.
Would I choose this product for its omega-3 content?
Nutritionally important omega−3 fatty acids include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is found in plant foods and EPA and DHA are both found in cold water oily fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies. Our bodies have the ability to convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but the conversion rate is inefficient at less than 5%, and as low as less than 1% if the ALA is competing with omega-6 fatty acids. Much of the research on the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is for EPA and DHA, including prevention of heart disease and inflammation. ALA has not been shown to have the same cardiovascular benefits as EPA or DHA, although there are many products on the market (such as the sacha inchi seeds) that claim to have health-promoting omega-3’s. The TerrAmazon brand does not mention heart health or inflammation, but they do claim that the plant in general has medicinal properties. It would be easy for an unaware consumer to invest in the seeds thinking that they are getting the health benefits of EPA and DHA when they are not.
For me the choice is simple, I would not choose this product. They are expensive, not as flavorful as nuts, and most importantly they do not contain the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA that I want in my diet. I’d rather spend my money on simply grilled with a splash of lemon.
Which salmon species has the highest content of EPA and DHA?
It depends on where the salmon lived prior to being caught for testing. Omega-3 fatty acids can be thought of as the “anti-freeze” of the fat world, because these polyunsaturated fats remain fluid in fish that swim frigid ocean waters. This explains why omega-3s levels are usually highest in salmon that come from and return to the coldest rivers, and swim in the coldest ocean waters. If you are interested, one reference chart is included below.
Fish Species and Description | DHA+EPA per 85 g (3 oz.) | |
Fish, salmon, Atlantic, wild, cooked, dry heat | 1.56 | |
Fish, salmon, Chinook, cooked, dry heat | 1.48 | |
Fish, salmon, pink, cooked, dry heat | 1.10 | |
Fish, salmon, coho, farmed, cooked, dry heat | 1.09 | |
Fish, salmon, sockeye, cooked, dry heat | 1.05 | |
Fish, salmon, chum, drained solids with bone | 1.00 | |
Fish, salmon, coho, wild, cooked, dry heat | 0.90 | |
Fish, salmon, chum, cooked, dry heat | 0.68 | |
