Table 1.

Major dietary sources of fatty acids

Fatty acids*	Major sources*	Notes
TFAs	Most TFAs are supplied by 3 categories of food items:  Household shortenings and margarines  Foods fried in PHVOs  Baked goods	Beef and dairy contain small amounts of trans-vaccenic acid, which has metabolic effects different from those of synthetic TFAs.
SFAs	The main dietary SFAs are laurate (12:0), myristate (14:0), palmitate (16:0), and stearate (18:0). Grain-fed animal meats and dairy products are rich sources of palmitate and, to a lesser extent, stearate. Other sources include palm oil, which consists primarily of palmitate, and cocoa butter, a major source of stearate. Coconut and palm kernel oils consist primarily of laurate and myristate.
MUFAs	The primary dietary MUFA is oleate (18:1n-9). Concentrated sources include whole olives, olive oil, canola oil, avocados, and many nuts, especially macadamias, cashews, and almonds.	Dairy and other animal fats provide significant amounts of oleate, although it is accompanied by high quantities of palmitate and other SFAs.
Medium-chain n-6 PUFAs: LA (18:2n-6)	Highly concentrated in most vegetable and seed oils consumed in the US, especially safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, and soybean oils
Medium-chain n-3 PUFAs: ALA (8:3n-3)	Rich sources include flaxseed, canola oil, and walnuts. Green leafy vegetables provide smaller but significant amounts.	Soybean oil-based salad dressing and mayonnaise, which provide the bulk of US ALA intake [74], are accompanied by large quantities of n-6 LA.
Long-chain n-6 PUFAs: AA (20:4n-6)	Major sources include eggs, poultry, beef, pork, liver, tropical fish, and certain farm-raised fish.
Long-chain n-3 PUFAs: EPA (20:5n-3), DHA (22:6n-3)	Rich sources include mackerel, herring, trout, salmon, anchovies, sardines, tuna, and oysters. Less concentrated sources include shrimp, mussels, squid, and scallops. Muscle tissue of wild game, such as elk, deer, and antelope, and pasture-fed cattle also contains EPA+DHA, although in smaller amounts [48].	Modern grain-fed animal products (ie, meats, eggs) contain far lower concentrations of n-3 EPA+DHA than more naturally raised counterparts and wild animals [48].

^*Numbers in parentheses represent molecular formulas (eg, 12:0 = 0 double bonds).

AA—arachidonic acid; ALA—α-linolenic acid; DHA—docosahexaenoic acid; EPA—eicosapentaenoic acid; MUFA—monounsaturated fatty acid; n-3—omega-3; n-6—omega-6; n-9—omega-9; LA—linoleic acid; PHVO—partially hydrogenated vegetable oil; PUFA—polyunsaturated fatty acid; SFA—saturated fatty acid; TFA—trans-fatty acid.