Feeding hens omega-3 will give healthier eggs

Enriching hens' feed with chia(Salvia hispanica) seeds or oil results in eggs with higher amounts of Omega 3. This was demonstrated by a group of researchers led by Alejandra Antruejo of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Casilda, Argentina. In a study published in the journal British Poultry Science, Antruejo and colleagues found that Omega-3 sources taken in by hens are processed differently. Using chia seeds can increase the amount of these fatty acids accumulated in eggs by more than 60 percent compared with flaxseed.

Healthy and balanced nutrition: the friend of health

Adiet high in fats, especially those belonging to the so-called saturated fat group, increases the likelihood of developing certain cardiovascular diseases. However, there are also fats that are "friends" of health. These are Omega-3s, nutrients in which fatty fish and some vegetables, such as flaxseeds and walnuts, are rich. A diet in which the intake of these molecules is higher than that of other fatty acids, Omega-6, helps decrease precisely the cardiovascular risk. However, the typical diet in Western countries is characterized by an unbalanced ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 in favor of the former. To increase the amount of "friendly" fats introduced through diet, it is possible to enrich one's diet with foods that contain high doses of them. In addition to the aforementioned fatty fish and plant products, the market offers the possibility of purchasing various foods enriched with Omega-3. Among these are eggs laid by hens that are fed feed enriched with these fatty acids.

One feed is not worth the other

The group of researchers led by Antruejo wanted to assess whether the amount of Omega-3 present within these eggs differed depending on the source of fatty acids added to the hens' feed. In a study that lasted about 84 days, the Argentine scholars fed the animals seeds and oil from flax and chia, a plant belonging to the mint family also known as salba. It emerged that all these sources of Omega-3s allow for increased levels of these nutrients in the yolk. However, chia oil and chia seeds are better sources than flax seeds. Even after the first 56 days of the trial, hens fed the oil and seeds of this plant produced eggs containing 54.5 and 63.5 percent more Omega-3 in each gram of yolk than those that were receiving oil or flaxseed. After 84 days, however, the differences found were 13.4 and 66.2 percent.

A new source of Omega-3

According to the authors, this research shows that chickens use different sources of Omega-3 with different efficiency. This, the researchers explain, suggests that chia could become an important source of Omega-3 to be used to produce foods enriched with greater amounts of these valuable nutrients.