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Omega-3 vs Omega-6: The Balance That Matters
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Short answer: omega-3 and omega-6 are both essential fats — your body needs them and can't make them. Most people get plenty of omega-6 from vegetable oils, nuts and processed food, and too little omega-3 from oily fish, flax, chia and walnuts. The fix is to add omega-3, not to cut omega-6 below normal.
| Omega-3 | Omega-6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Main forms | ALA (plants); EPA and DHA (fish, algae) | Linoleic acid |
| Essential? | Yes | Yes |
| Adult target | ALA 1.1 g (women), 1.6 g (men); EPA+DHA 250–500 mg | About 12 g (women), 17 g (men) |
| Main sources | Oily fish, flax, chia, walnuts, canola oil | Sunflower, corn and soybean oils, nuts, seeds, processed food |
| Most people | Get too little | Already get enough |
Omega-9 shows up on supplement labels too, but your body can make it. Here's how the three differ, what the famous "ratio" actually means, and which foods move the needle.
What's the difference?
All three are unsaturated fatty acids. The number tells you where the first double bond sits in the fat's carbon chain — chemistry trivia, but it changes how the body uses them.
Omega-3 comes in three main forms:
- ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) — the plant form, found in flaxseed, chia, walnuts, hemp seeds and canola oil.
- EPA and DHA — the marine forms, found in oily fish, fish roe, cod liver and, in smaller amounts, shellfish and eggs.
Your body can't make ALA, so it has to come from food. It can convert some ALA into EPA and DHA, but only a small fraction — which is why plant omega-3 is useful but doesn't fully replace fish. EPA and DHA are built into cell membranes, especially in the brain and retina, and help regulate inflammation.
Omega-6 is mostly linoleic acid, found in sunflower, corn, soybean and safflower oils, nuts, seeds and many processed foods. It's also essential — you do need it — and it isn't "toxic" in normal amounts.
Omega-9 is mainly oleic acid, the main fat in olive oil and avocado. Unlike the other two, your body can make it, so it isn't essential in the diet.
The ratio: does it matter?
You'll often read that humans evolved eating omega-6 and omega-3 in roughly equal amounts, while modern Western diets deliver far more omega-6 — commonly cited estimates are 10 to 1 or higher. The idea is that too much omega-6 competes with omega-3 for the same enzymes.
That's partly true, but the practical takeaway has shifted. Many nutrition researchers now think the absolute amount of omega-3 matters more than the ratio itself, and major health organizations don't recommend cutting omega-6 below normal levels. In other words:
- Adding omega-3 — fish twice a week, a spoon of ground flax or a handful of walnuts — reliably improves the balance.
- Slashing omega-6 doesn't do much on its own, and swapping vegetable oils for butter or coconut oil trades one concern for another (saturated fat).
The one place omega-6 is worth watching is ultra-processed food: fried snacks, packaged baked goods and fast food bring a lot of omega-6 along with salt, sugar and calories. Cut those for all their other reasons, and the ratio improves as a bonus.
How much do you need? The targets in the table at the top are commonly used reference intakes for adults; for EPA and DHA, 250–500 mg a day works out to about two servings of fish a week, one of them oily. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, have heart disease or take blood thinners, talk to your doctor about targets and supplements.
Food sources
Numbers below are from our food database, per 100 g, rounded. Fish varies a lot by species, season and whether it's wild or farmed, so treat these as ballpark figures.
Marine omega-3 (EPA + DHA):
| Food | EPA+DHA per 100 g | Typical serving |
|---|---|---|
| Salmon, baked | ~2,100 mg | 150 g fillet → ~3,150 mg |
| Herring, baked | ~2,000 mg | 100 g → ~2,000 mg |
| Smoked mackerel | ~2,000 mg | 100 g → ~2,000 mg |
| Canned pink salmon | ~1,400 mg | 100 g → ~1,400 mg |
| Mackerel, baked | ~1,200 mg | 150 g → ~1,800 mg |
| Trout, baked | ~1,150 mg | 150 g → ~1,700 mg |
| Mussels | ~780 mg | 100 g → ~780 mg |
| Shrimp | ~315 mg | 120 g → ~380 mg |
| Canned tuna | ~270 mg | 150 g can → ~400 mg |
| Cod | ~160 mg | 150 g → ~240 mg |
| Eggs | ~60 mg | 2 eggs → ~65 mg |
One salmon fillet covers roughly a week's worth of the 250–500 mg daily range. Lean white fish like cod is great protein but a modest omega-3 source — see how the two ends compare in Is Salmon Healthier Than Tuna?
Plant omega-3 (ALA):
| Food | ALA per 100 g | Typical serving |
|---|---|---|
| Flaxseed oil | ~53 g | 1 tsp (5 g) → ~2.7 g |
| Flax seeds | ~23 g | 1 tbsp ground (10 g) → ~2.3 g |
| Chia seeds | ~18 g | 1 tbsp (15 g) → ~2.7 g |
| Walnuts | ~9 g | 1 oz (30 g) → ~2.7 g |
| Hemp seeds | ~8.7 g | 1 tbsp (15 g) → ~1.3 g |
| Canola oil | ~9 g | 2 tsp (10 g) → ~0.9 g |
Tick what you eat on a typical day to see where you land against the ALA target:
Big omega-6 sources: sunflower, corn, soybean and safflower oils, mayonnaise and dressings made with them, sunflower seeds, most nuts, and fried and packaged foods. You don't need to hunt for these.
Omega-9: olive oil, avocado, almonds and cashews.
A simple kitchen upgrade: use olive or canola oil as your everyday oils. Olive oil brings mostly omega-9, canola adds some ALA, and both have less saturated fat than butter or coconut oil — the numbers are in Is Coconut Oil Healthier Than Olive Oil? For more same-calorie upgrades like this, see Healthy Food Swaps.
Omega 3-6-9 supplements
If you don't eat fish:
- Get ALA daily from flax, chia or walnuts.
- Consider an algae-based EPA/DHA supplement — it's where fish get their omega-3 in the first place. Our guide to vegan omega-3 covers the options.
If you do eat fish twice a week, many people don't need a supplement at all. Fish oil can interact with blood thinners and isn't right for everyone, so check with your doctor before starting one.
Track it in the app
Calories Not Count has a dedicated More omega-3 goal. With it on:
- Omega-3 is counted from foods with known content — oily fish, roe, cod liver, shellfish and eggs for EPA+DHA; flax, chia, walnuts, hemp and canola oil for ALA. Packaged foods scanned by barcode rarely list omega-3, and the app says so rather than guessing.
- Your daily target combines ALA (based on your sex and calorie needs) with 250 mg of EPA+DHA, and the two are shown separately — grams of flax aren't added to grams of fish.
- Swaps are ranked for omega-3: canola oil instead of butter, for example, as long as the swap doesn't add extra salt or sugar.
- The evening "top it up" hint suggests how to close the gap — a spoon of flax in your oatmeal or fish for dinner.
Logging is portion-based, no scale needed: "a fillet", "a handful", "a tablespoon". If you've never kept a food log, our guide to picking a food diary app is a good place to start.
Frequently asked questions
Is omega-6 bad for you?
No. Linoleic acid is essential, and an American Heart Association science advisory concluded that getting at least 5–10% of calories from omega-6 fats is linked to lower heart disease risk, not higher. The problem foods are fried and ultra-processed snacks — for their salt, sugar and calories as much as their fat.
What is a good omega-6 to omega-3 ratio?
There's no official target ratio: health authorities set daily amounts for each fat instead. In practice, eating enough omega-3 — oily fish twice a week or a daily spoon of flax or chia — improves the ratio on its own.
Is omega-3 or omega-6 better for inflammation?
EPA and DHA are the ones involved in regulating inflammation, which is why fish and algae oils are studied for it. That doesn't make omega-6 harmful in normal amounts; the usual shortfall is omega-3, not an excess of omega-6.
Do I need an omega 3-6-9 supplement?
Rarely. You get omega-6 from food and make omega-9 yourself. If you need anything, it's omega-3 alone — ideally from food, or a fish or algae supplement your doctor agrees with.
Sources
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Omega-3 Fatty Acids — Health Professional Fact Sheet.
- European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EFSA sets European dietary reference values for nutrient intakes. 2010.
- Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. 2005.
- Simopoulos AP. The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. 2002.
- Harris WS, Mozaffarian D, Rimm E et al. Omega-6 fatty acids and risk for cardiovascular disease: a science advisory from the American Heart Association. 2009.