Hi, this is Monica Reinagle.

Welcome to the Nutrition Divas quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Long time listener Jim S suggested this week's topic.

He writes, I know that fried fish is high-end calories and probably contains trans fats,

but would a fish witch from McDonald's, or a fish fry from Long John

Silver's still count as a serving of fish as far as the beneficial fats go?

Now there are really a few different questions embedded in Jim's

query. First off, is the type of fish used in these fast food restaurants a good

source of omega-3 fats? Although the kind of fish used by these establishments has changed

over the years, these days they're serving mostly Pollock and Hokie. And both of these fish

provide about 500 milligrams of omega-3s per serving. That's about one-third

the recommended daily intake. That's quite a bit more than you'd get from Orange Ruffi or

Cod, but nowhere near as much omega-3 as you'd get in a serving of salmon, which contains

enough omega-3 to cover you for two days.

A second question is whether these omega-3s would still be present after the fish is deep fried, and by

and large they would.

Unfortunately, the fried fish will also contain a substantial amount of trans fats, as well

as other harmful compounds that are created

when you heat oil to high temperatures.

I think what Jim might really be asking is whether the benefits of the omega-3s in the fish outweigh the harmful effects of the deep frying.

And here's one way of looking at it.

A serving of fried fish will provide about 33% of the recommended daily minimum for omega-3s, but 200% of the recommended

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