Strict vegetarians or vegans who do not eat any type of animal foods have a hard time getting enough healthy omega-3 in their diets. There are foods and supplements that vegans should eat to ensure they are getting enough omega-3.

Studies have shown that vegetarians and vegans could have as little as half the amount of omega-3 in their body as their omnivore friends. There are so many health benefits with omega-3 that vegans and vegetarians should make sure they get enough in their diet. Vegetarians and vegans could also have an unhealthy omega-6 to omega-3 ratio due to their diet.

Health Benefits of Omega-3

Studies are finding more and more health benefits with a diet high in omega-3. Some of these health benefits include:

• Omega-3 DHA is found in the retina and is very important for vision.
• Reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
• The health of the joints and reducing the chance and or symptoms of arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Reducing symptoms of hypertension.
• Lower triglycerides.
• Omega-3 is good for the brain and nervous system.
• Can possibly keep us from getting dementia or Alzheimer’s.
• Can help with symptoms of depression.
• Can also reduce symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The Different Types of Omega-3

Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 fatty acids) are polyunsaturated fats (PUFA’s). There are three types of fatty acids with omega-3. There is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA and sometimes referred to as LNA), which is known as a short-chain fatty acid. There are two types of long-chain fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

You can get the ALA type of omega-3 from plant foods and you get the EPA and DHA directly from fatty fish like salmon and marine plants.

Recommended Amounts of Omega-3

At this time there is no Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) or Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for omega-3. There are however numerous recommendations from various groups. The daily requirements can vary for each person according to gender, age and health.

• The USDA 2010 Nutritional Guidelines say we should all get about 250 mg per day or 1,750 mg per week by eating two servings of fatty fish per week.
• The American Heart Association recommends that people with some form of heart disease should get 1000 mg per day.
• A panel of nutritional scientists recommends we eat 2,200 mg of ALA and 650 mg of the EPA/DHA forms of omega-3 per day.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends one to two servings of fish per week resulting in 400mg to 1000mg of EPA/DHA omega-3 per week.

How Our Body Converts Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Our body can use the EPA and DHA form of omega-3 directly from the foods we eat but our body has to convert the ALA type first into EPA and DHA. Our bodies are not efficient when converting ALA into the EPA and DHA fatty acids, it takes a lot of ALA to make the EPA and DHA forms.

The majority of studies have found that ALA is converted to about 5-10% EPA and 2% to 5% DHA. For example, if you ate 1000 mg (1 gram) of the ALA form of omega-3 from plant foods, this would be the equivalent of 5-10 mg of EPA and 2-5 mg of DHA.

Plant Food Sources of ALA Omega-3

One tablespoon of flaxseed oil has 7.5 grams (8,500mg) of ALA omega-3. Do not cook with flaxseed oil since heating it will destroy the omega-3. Flaxseed oil is great in salad dressings.

Figuring the conversation rate of ALA to EPA/DHA, 7.5 grams (7,500 mg) of ALA would equal between 375mg and 750mg of omega-3 EPA and between 150mg and 375mg of DHA omega-3, a healthy amount per day.

Ground flaxseed is not only high in ALA omega-3 but also in dietary fiber, lignans and is gluten free. One tablespoon of ground flaxseed has 2.2 grams (2,200 mg) of ALA omega-3.

Using the ALA to EPA/DHA conversion rate in the body, this amount of flaxseed would equal between 110mg and 220mg of EPA and between 44mg and 110mg of DHA for an omega-3 total of between 154 mg and 330mg. Other omega-3 plant foods include:

• A ¼ cup of walnuts has 2.3 grams (2,3000mg) of ALA omega-3
• Beans like kidney, navy and soybeans have between 200 and 1000mg of ALA omega-3 per one cup.
• A cup of winter squash has 300 mg of ALA omega-3
• Tofu has about 400 mg of ALA.
• Two tablespoons of Ground Chia seeds or Salba has 3,603 mg ALA omega-3.
• Extra virgin olive has 100 mg per one-half ounce.

You can buy flaxseed oils and salad dressings at your local health food store or online at places like Foods Alive.

Vegetarians should try and incorporate some of these foods into your meals each day. Flaxseeds can be added to salads, oatmeal, smoothies, stews, bread and many other dishes.

Marine Plant DHA Omega-3 Sources

We know that fish are a great source of the EPA and DHA forms of omega-3. Where do fish get their omega-3? From marine plants like algae, blue green algae and Spirulina, which are great sources of vegan and vegetarian DHA omega-3.

There are DHA omega-3 supplements made from algae that you can take along with a diet high in the ALA omega-3. The marine plant foods have little of the mercury and other toxins that some fish might have. Supplement brands include:

Deva omega-3 DHA algae gel caps. These contain 200 mg of DHA per capsule. On Amazon they cost 31 cents per capsule or $28.12 per bottle.

O-mega-Zen3 from NuTru has 300 mg of DHA per capsule produced entirely from marine plant sources.

How Vegetarians Can Get Enough Omega-3

It is thought that ALA is mainly converted to EPA and not much DHA [1].

By eating enough of the ALA omega-3 foods combined with taking a DHA omega-3 algae supplement, vegetarians and vegans should get plenty of healthy omega-3 per day. There are also omega-3 fortified foods, but they could contain other ingredients that are not so healthy.

Limit Omega-6 Foods

Vegans and vegetarians need to pay attention to their consumption of omega-6 foods like corn oil, soybean oil and safflower oil. Omega-6 is healthy, but too much omega-6 in the diet is not healthy and can further reduce the conversion of ALA to EPA/DHA omega-3. A ratio of 4:1 omega-6 to omega-3 is thought to be optimal for health [2].

To know the amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids in a supplement, add the EPA and the DHA amount.

Copyright © February 2011 Sam Montana

Resources

[1] Omega3 seal oil.com

[2] American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 78, No. 3, 640S-646S, September 2003