>Hi all,
>If anyone can help me by suggesting sources, documents, books or
>websites that list amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids from
>various foods, I'd really appreciate it.

>Flax seed oil is rich in fatty acids we need.  That is the best
>apparently, and I'm sure other foods have them as well, but I don't have
>anything readily available that lists amounts, and that is what I'm
>looking for.   Also some people are allergic to flax, and it has a
>laxative effect so isn't always suitable.

Roberta,
I hope this information isn't repetitive.  I haven't read most of my
messages over the last few days so please excues me.

Udo Erasmus has several tables that give fatty acid contents: D2, p. 225 of
wild and domestic cattle and pig fats; Dc, p. 228 of human breat milk; D4,
p. 228 of cow's  milk, D 5, p. 229 of mare's milk, and D7, p. 237 of seed
oils.  Some more specific information is scattered through the book,
especially Section 5 on major food sources of different fatty acids.

A great alternative to flax oil is hemp seed oil.  If kept frozen or
refrigerated, in black containers, and consumed within 3-4 weeks, it will
not go rancid.  It has the proper balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids
according to Erasmus.  It's much more expensive than flax, but more
balanced.  It would be great if we could get hemp seeds but they are illegal
in the US.  The problem with it is that many seeds grown overseas are
irradiated or treated in some way to make them infertile.  So it's not
perfect, but for one who isn't eating lots of nuts or seeds, it gives the
proper balance of cis fatty acids.

Another recent book, John Finnegan,  The Facts About Fats, Celestial ARts,
Berkely, CA, 1993 is based upon Erasmus but also has some research that the
author has done.  The section on massage oils and cosmetic oils is
hair-raising -- most of them are made from rancid, worm-eaten almonds, etc.
Yuck!  He does have some suppliers of dependable products at the end, but no
table of foods.

I'm not even sure that anyone knows how much of each fatty acids the
'average person' needs.  Everyone talks about ratios, and how we need to
take extra w-3s & w-6's to offset the bad fats from cooked and processed
foods.  I wonder if Lisa Walford's nutrition software has tabulated fatty
acid contents?  Lisa, are you around to answer?  That would be really great
news!

Janis