Here is a very important omega-3 paper, titled “High Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid Status in Nigerians and Low Status in Minnesotans,” that a reader named Melissa linked to in the comments. It shows you can have much more omega-3 in your blood than Americans even if you don’t eat fish.
Rural and urban Nigerians had similar omega-3 levels. Here’s what they eat:
The major carbohydrate-rich staples are the starchy tubers such as yams, cocoa-yams and cassava, the cereals rice and maize, and minor foods such as plantains and bananas. The major protein staples include legumes such as beans and pulses, seeds, nuts, cereal proteins and leaf proteins, some of which are rich in 18:3w3. Animal protein sources such as milk and eggs are virtually nil for rural communities, and are very limited for the urban population. Meats and fish . . . are in limited supply. Crayfish and dried fish are important but cost constraints limit intake.
The effect:
Nigerians have more than twice as much essential w3 EFA in their plasma lipids as do Minnesotans.
There was a negative correlation between blood levels of omega-3 and blood levels of omega-6. Perhaps raising omega-6 levels lowers omega-3 levels, even when the amount of omega-3 in the diet is constant. The theoretical mechanism is competition for the same enzyme. I haven’t yet studied this via self-experimentation; I will.
Thanks, Melissa.
Interesting: the Nigerians are eating a very low-fat, high-fiber diet, just what Taubes thinks is all wrong.
Taubes dislikes refined carbohydrates, such as bread and sugar. I don’t think he dislikes high fiber foods.
I don’t think the article mentions relative macronutrient intake, so it’s hard to know what to make of most dietary fat being in the form of palm oil, which is high in saturated fat and has a 45:1 omega 6:omega 3 ratio.