Which Tree Nut Provides the Most Omega-3 Fatty Acid?

David Mendosa says the answer is the macadamia nut.

Paleobetic diet

Macadamia nuts

A great thing about the macadamia nut is that it’s one of the few nuts with a good omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio. In other words, it’s high in omega-3 and low in 6. This may have important cardiovascular health implications. Macadamias are one of the nuts I recommend in the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet and  Paleobetic Diet.

David writes:

The first Australian macadamia plantation didn’t begin until the 1880s. And not until 1954 with the introduction of mechanised processing did commercial production became viable. Nowadays about 90 percent of the the world’s macadamia nut production comes from Hawaii, where it has become its third most important crop, according to The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition, University of California at Berkeley (1992).

Read the rest, where you’ll learn that macadamia nuts are the highest of all nuts in calories, gram for gram.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Paleobetic diet

Macadamia nuts on the tree

3 Comments

Filed under Heart Disease, Mediterranean Diet, nuts, Paleo diet

3 responses to “Which Tree Nut Provides the Most Omega-3 Fatty Acid?

  1. william

    I think this is where the whole o3/o6 ratio proves incredibly reductionist and short-sighted; mac nuts lack the natural density of other nuts with less favorable o3/o6 ratios. Almonds, ounce for ounce are much higher in magnesium, riboflavin and Vitamin E, and almost as high in manganese. Mac’s do have a higher amount of manganese and thiamin, but that is about it. Close examination reveals the mac to be one of the least nutritionally dense common nuts, far behind hazelnuts, pistachios, and even cashews. If you’re attempting to squeeze as much nutrition into your diet, mac nuts aren’t really the way to go, especially if your diet is calorie restricted.