Dukan Diet

Hopefully if you’re here, you already know that dietary fat is our friend (provided we are eating good healthy fats).
Omega-3s are a special type of fat that are ultra-healthy, and essential in any healthy diet.
They can help your heart, help you lose weight, help brain function and mood, lower inflammation, lower plaque build-up inside blood vessels, lower blood triglycerides, help insulin sensitivity…. and so on.
You get the picture. They are a very good thing.
So what are Omega-3s?
Omega-3s are fatty acids, primarily found in certain types of fish (mainly oily fish). There are a few key kinds of omega-3s, namely EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and ALA (alpha-linolenic acid).
EPA and DHA are mainly found in fish, ALA can come from other sources such as nuts and seeds, and dark leafy vegetables like spinach. The body can change a small amount of ALA into EPA and DHA, but not very well. Your body can’t make Omega-3s itself, so you need to make sure you get enough of these wonder-nutrients (and if not, you can supplement).
It’s EPA and DHA that we really care about for health. Simply put, these Omega-3s are awesome. They have a whole litany of health benefits (see the list beow
Why are you telling me all this?
I want you to have optimal health, and for starters I doubt you are eating enough good quality fish (see below) or have enough Omega-3 in your diet. You need to be having 3-4 decent servings of salmon, mackerel, tuna (etc) per week.
Even if you are, I would still recommend supplementing with a good quality fish-oil to make sure your levels are optimal.
Personally I eat 5-6 portions of salmon, mackerel or tuna each week, and supplement with 2-3g of EPA/DHA per day. I get my fish oils from Genetic Supplements in the UK (I would take ~4 capsules a day, spread throughout the day with meals).
So what are these benefits?
Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to (or linked with) the following benefits.

• Improvements in cardiac and arterial health (improvements in cardiovascular risk profiles, reductions in cardiac mortality, reduction in coronary heart disease, etc.)
• Lower blood pressure
• Decrease inflammation
• Improved insulin sensitivity and prevents and reverses insulin resistance
• Help with brain function and reduce cognitive decline
• Help with hypertension
• Help with some cancers
• Help with bi-polar disorders, depression, and ADHD

Most important for weight loss, will be the insulin sensitivity effects and the anti-inflammatory effects – these alone would be enough to load up on Omega-3s!
See a more fulsome list here.
Omega-3/Omega-6 Balance
Another thing to bear in mind is your Omega-3:Omega-6 ratio. Omega-6 are fatty acids that mainly come from seed-oils and vegetable oils, and the conventional Western diet is very high in Omega-6 (and low in Omega-3), and in the US it is estimated that the average intake of Omega-6 is not 10x-25x higher than our bodies are designed for!
Simply put, one of the key reasons to consume Omega-3s is to try and keep your Omega-3 balance as close to 1:1 as you can (as well as all the great health benefits above), as this is closer to estimated evolutionary norms. The theory goes that due to the anti-inflammatory benefits of Omega-3s, having this balance out of whack can cause issues throughout the body.
Increased Omega-6 intakes are associated with increased instance of inflammatory disease, such as:

• obesity
• type 2 diabetes
• metabolic syndrome
• cardiovascular disease
• irritable bowel syndrome & inflammatory bowel disease
• autoimmune diseases
• etc.

See a great article on this by Chris Kresser here which talks about this in more detail.
Gimme. Where can I get these amazing Omega-3s?
The best source of Omega-3s is from eating fish high in DHA/EPA regularly (3-4 times a week). This is not all fish, but generally cold water oily fish. Some of the prime movers-and-shakers in the Omega-3 world are below. Get a decent portion on your plate 3-4 times a week.
Supplementation with a good quality fish oil is also recommended, to make sure you are getting 1-3g of DHA/EPA in per day (even on days where you eat fish).
Don’t skimp on quality with fish oil. You really get what you pay for when fish oil supplements, and this is one where going cheap is not wise (unless you have no other choice). Heavy metal concentrations for instance can accumulate in certain types of fish (which then gets magnified when those fish are processed into fish oil supplements. Check this out for instance.
The best natural sources:

• salmon (wild salmon has more omega-3s, and a better nutrient profile, than farmed salmon, so buy wild where you can)
• tuna
• anchovies
• mackerel
• bluefish
• herring
• sardines
• sturgeon
• lake trout

http://everymanhealth.com/2015/02/02/what-are-omega-3s-and-why-should-you-care/