Are the omega-3s in salmon damaged when it is cooked?

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In general, it’s extremely healthy to eat cooked wild salmon as a source of omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, of course, unless the raw fish has been properly marinated, fermented, and/or preserved, it’s too risky to be eaten raw.

Within this overall general rule, there can definitely be damage to the omega-3 fatty acids when the fish is cooked. The amount of damage is influenced by a wide variety of factors, including: the health of the fish before it was caught and killed; the length of time between catch and consumption; the degree of cooking heat; the type of cooking heat (moist versus dry); and the duration of heating. The very short steaming, braising, and searing methods of cooking salmon that we use on the website should produce very little damage to the omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon, provided that the salmon was a healthy fish at the outset and very fresh from time of catch. At the opposite end of the spectrum, we suspect that some farmed salmon purchased at a late date and overcooked would provide far fewer omega-3 benefits, and some likely health risks as well.

The reasons that omega-3s are relatively well preserved in salmon include the natural matrix (both cellular and non-cellular) in which the fish fats are found; the relatively small amount of omega-3s compared to the rest of the foods’ nutrient offerings (1-4 grams in 100 grams of fish); and the density of the fish as a food to-be-cooked. The opposite situation would apply to a capsule of salmon oil, which doesn’t feature a natural matrix in which the fats are found, contains a high proportion of omega-3s compared to any other nutrient, and doesn’t have the density of the food itself. �