Khan Shahida Aziz, Khan Aziz, Khan Sarah A, Beg Mohd Amin, Ali Ashraf, Damanhouri Ghazi
Applied Nutrition Group, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
National Brain Research Center, Manesar, Gurgaon 122051, India.
Saudi J Biol Sci. 2017 May;24(4):929-935. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2015.11.001. Epub 2015 Nov 14.
Health consciousness has increased the desire of people around the world to consume functional foods. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are one among these beneficial and important health supplements without which a general predisposition to degenerative and stress related disorders can occur. Saudi Arabia has shown an alarming increase in obesity (Al-Nozha et al., 2005), diabetes (Alqurashi et al., 2011), and cardiovascular disease (Al-Nozha et al., 2004) in the last few decades mainly due to nutritional transitions and lifestyle alterations (Amuna and Zotor, 2008). Lack of nutrient dense foods and the prevailing food related disorder of obesity (Popkin, 2001; Prentice, 2014) especially render egg as a choice food to be value-added for attaining nutritional security in Saudi Arabia and in effect reverse the increasing incidences of lifestyle diseases. Nutritional intervention through a commonly consumed food product would be an important step in improving the health of the people, and reducing health care costs. As eggs are a frequently consumed food item in Saudi Arabia, enriching them with omega-3 fatty acids would be an excellent way to alleviate the existing problems. A significant deposition of omega-3 fatty acids in the eggs was observed when the diet of hens was supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids from either flaxseed or fish oil source. Inadequacy of omega-3 fatty acids could thus be rectified by producing omega-3 enriched eggs from hens supplemented with flaxseed or fish oil source, and thus contribute toward better health choice of the consumer.
健康意识增强了世界各地人们对功能性食品的消费欲望。欧米伽-3必需脂肪酸是这些有益且重要的健康补充剂之一，没有它，就可能普遍易患退行性疾病和与压力相关的疾病。在过去几十年里，沙特阿拉伯的肥胖症（Al-Nozha等人，2005年）、糖尿病（Alqurashi等人，2011年）和心血管疾病（Al-Nozha等人，2004年）呈惊人的增长趋势，主要原因是营养转变和生活方式改变（Amuna和Zotor，2008年）。缺乏营养丰富的食物以及普遍存在的与食物相关的肥胖症（Popkin，2001年；Prentice，2014年）尤其使鸡蛋成为沙特阿拉伯实现营养安全的增值选择食物，实际上可以扭转生活方式疾病发病率不断上升的趋势。通过一种常见的食品进行营养干预将是改善民众健康和降低医疗成本的重要一步。由于鸡蛋是沙特阿拉伯经常食用的食品，用欧米伽-3脂肪酸对其进行强化将是缓解现有问题的绝佳方法。当母鸡的饮食中添加来自亚麻籽或鱼油来源的欧米伽-3脂肪酸时，观察到鸡蛋中欧米伽-3脂肪酸有显著沉积。因此，通过用添加了亚麻籽或鱼油来源的母鸡生产富含欧米伽-3的鸡蛋，可以纠正欧米伽-3脂肪酸的不足，从而为消费者提供更好的健康选择。
