Where Is Fish Oil Absorbed In The Intestines?

Fish oil, also referred to as omega-3, is a common health topic of discussion. Increasing omega-3 in the diet is an easy and inexpensive way of improving cardiovascular health, whether by adding more servings of seafood, such as salmon, or by taking over-the-counter fish-oil capsules. Omega-3 is an essential part of the diet.

Background

To understand how fish oil is absorbed, some background is necessary. Fish oil, or omega-3, is a polyunsaturated fatty acid. Eicosapentaenoic acid, known as EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, known as DHA, are abundant in fish oil and claim many of its health benefits.

Health Benefits

Fish oil has many health-optimizing benefits. It is characterized as a polyunsaturated fatty acid, which means that it contains more than one double bond. These double bonds produce kinks in the molecule. These kinks prevent the fatty acids from stacking upon one another and accumulating in blood vessels. DHA and EPA are other important elements found in fish oil. DHA and EPA promote brain health, along with decreasing triglyceride levels and improving cardiovascular health.

Recommended Intake

The recommended intake of omega-3 is generally not reached by the average person. The adequate intake for women age 14 and older is 1.1 g per day. It is slightly higher for men age 14 and older at 1.6 g per day. One 3-oz. serving of salmon provides 0.096 grams of omega-3.

Digestion

Dietary fats must be broken down to be absorbed. To begin, fatty acids are hydrolyzed, or broken away from, larger dietary fats by pancreatic enzymes. Then bile salts that are released from the gallbladder are used to emulsify the fats, or break down large fat globules into small fat droplets. Bile salts are able to do this because they have both hydrophobic -- water fearing -- and hydrophilic -- water loving -- areas. The hydrophobic area of the bile salts is attracted to the fat, while the hydrophilic area stays away from it. This prevents the smaller fat droplets from combining with other fats and forming one big globule. These complexes are referred to "micelles." Micelles are the form in which fats are absorbed in the body.

Absorption

These micelles are then able to be absorbed through the brush border of the small intestine. While at the brush border, the fatty acids are released from the micelles. They then diffuse into enterocytes, intestinal absorptive cells. This process occurs in the distal duodenum and the jejunum, the beginning and middle part of the small intestine.