I’ve written about omega-3s before, as recently as a year ago, but there continues to be much confusion about these compounds and lots of misinformation about them on the internet. The confusion focuses largely on the difference between the two types of omega-3s. If you take supplements of DHA (or DHA and EPA), do you still need flaxseed? And if you are eating flaxseed, do you need those DHA supplements?
The short answer is that you definitely need the flaxseed (or some equivalent food) and you may need the DHA supplements.
Flaxseeds and a handful of other plant foods provide an omega-3 fat called alpha-linolenic acid or LNA which is an essential nutrient. This means it is absolutely necessary in your diet. Best sources for vegans are flaxseed and flax oil, chia seeds, hempseed oil, walnuts or walnut oil, canola oil, and full fat soyfoods. You can check the vegan food guide to see how much of these foods to eat. (The information is in the bottom right section of the guide.)
The other omega-3 fats are DHA and EPA, two closely-related fats typically found in fatty fish, and to a lesser extent in some sea vegetables. They are not considered essential nutrients because humans can synthesize these fats from LNA. Whether we can make enough for optimal health is a big question, though. Vegans have lower blood levels of these fats than people who eat fish, but how much this matters remains unclear. The jury is still out on the health benefits of DHA and EPA intake. These fats may protect against heart disease as well as dementia and depression, but the findings are conflicting. The good news is that if you choose to take supplements of DHA and EPA (and I do), there are vegan sources derived from algae.
The important thing to remember, though, is that the two types of omega-3 fats are not interchangeable. Whether or not you’re taking supplements of DHA and EPA, you still need a source of LNA, like flaxseeds. And, even with a good source of LNA in your diet, you may benefit from supplements of DHA and EPA, especially if you’re at risk for heart disease or depression.
Subscribe by Email
Subscribe by RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Thank you for laying that out clearly. I had all those acronyms kind of floating around in my head, and I was vaguely worried about my flaxseed-only supplementing, but this made me feel a lot better, and better informed.
“The good news is that if you choose to take supplements of DHA and EPA (and I do), there are vegan sources derived from algae.”
Can you recommend a brand?
DEVA is a good one.
Yes, I’m using DEVA brand, also. It’s Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA. It’s available from most of the online vegan stores.
Hi, can you tell me which one? I’ve looked at a few DEVA brands and they all list DHA on the Supplement Facts list but none list EPA. (Whereas fish oil labels list EPA.) Thanks.
Hi, I’ve seen a number of vegan omega-3 supplements (including a few from DEVA) that had DHA listed in the Supplement Facts box but never one that had EPA listed. I’ve only seen EPA listed on fish oil bottles. Can you please tell me which DEVA product you found that also lists EPA so I can try to track it down and buy some? Thanks very much.
Here are a couple of options, both from Pangea, but you can get them from other online vegan stores:
http://www.veganstore.com/product/ovega-3-dha-epa/all-vitamins
http://www.veganstore.com/product/deva-dha-epa-delayed/new-products
Ovega-3 is a great value. It has much more EPA than other brands, and it’s about half the cost. $16.99 on Amazon for 60 capsules. I called the comapny to ensure that it’s vegan; the glycerin is from palm fruit.
Jessica, look for ones made by DEVA or Ovega; I posted a couple of links below in response to another question.
Thank you for the clarification. For some reason I found all of this information to be rather confusing when covered in your book (which I do think is great!), but now it makes more sense to me. I take a DHA supplement daily (I think it is around 300 mg.) because of depression. Is that okay, or too much?
Audrey, I think the 300 mg is probably enough. There is no established recommendation for how much to take for depression, and I’m sure there is a lot of individual variation, though.
Thank you very much! I just wanted to be sure that taking that amount daily would not be unsafe.
Hi, Ginny. I use NutraVege made by Ascenta:
http://www.ascentahealth.com/products/human/nutravege-200-ml
I do eat flaxseed, chia seeds and hemp seeds but not as regularly as I realized. If I have one serving of one of these seeds daily based on the guide, will I be okay?
Sure, if you have the amount specified in the guide as one daily serving, that’s fine.
Hey. I take 2 tablespoons of Udo’s Oil DHA 369 Blend everyday… the first ingredient is flaxseed oil, along with sunflower oil, sesame seed oil… and on and on. It provides 200mg of algae DHA and 6 mg of EPA. Anyway this seems to cover all the bases, so I’d recommend it.
Thanks for this! I take DHA oil everyday as well as chia seeds and I’m pregnant. My question is how much chia seeds do I need daily to meet the LNA requirement? Is it the same serving size as ground flax seeds? Thanks muchly!!
Patricia, yes, it’s about the same amount as ground flaxseeds.
Hi,
I’ve read there’s some controversy over the use of DHA/EPA supplements, partly in relation to the risk of taking these during flu seasons, but particularly, over whether they are at all beneficial. Any thoughts?
Kahe, my article does state that the benefits of taking these supplements aren’t known. But what would be the risks of taking them during flu season?
Thanks for this post. I just shared a recipe for Omega-3 pancakes and needed a good place to send my readers to learn more about Omega 3s. I love these super healthy pancakes http://www.thrivequickdish.com/2012/01/20/whole-wheat-blender-pancakes-aka-delicious-and-healthy-omega-3-pancakes/
Do you know of any children’s chewable DHA/EPA that you would recommend?
Thanks for such a clear and concise explanation. I’ve fallen off the bandwagon, but will get back on starting today. Do you have any recommendations for my 5 year old and 13 month old? Do they need supplementation as well? Both take a high quality vegan multi and the little one is still nursing and drinking soy milk. Thanks again.
Tiffany and Anne, we recommended a small amount of DHA/EPA for children–around 100 milligrams per day. It’s possible, though, that children raised vegan from birth are much better at making their own DHA/EPA. We just don’t know.
A nursing baby should get enough from his/her mom’s milk, though, as long as the mother’s diet is sufficient.
And unfortunately, I don’t know of any chewables. One idea might be to cut the capsule open and mix a little bit of the contents into food.
Ginny, can you explain why one also needs ALA (chai seed, flax etc) if one is taking DHA/EPA supplements. Isn’t the whole purpose of the ALA the end product i.e. DHA/EPA metabolites?
I realise that chia seeds etc have other good qualities & benefits besides the fact that they contain omega 3′s but just wondered about this specific point.
So in my situation I take vegan EPA/DHA daily but only have chia/flax/walnuts about twice a week.
Thanks
Madeleine, alpha-linolenic acid is an essential nutrient. Besides being a precursor to DHA and EPA, it has its own functions that are necessary for health–related to both skin and neurological health.
chia not “chai’ :)
Ginny,
I’m taking Joel Furhman’s DHA Purity which is vegan and comes in a dark blue eyedropper bottle. http://www.drfuhrman.com/shop/pdf_product_factsheets/DrFuhrmans_DHA_Purity_factsheet.pdf A little more expensive. The claim is that it is fresher (must be refrigerated after opening) than pill form. Not sure if it is more fresh. but no fishy smell.
Paul
i heard it is necessary to eat vitaminE when you take omega3. (“if you take 1000mg omega : need 50IU vitaminE at least”<–i heard that from expert of omega)
"Deva, Vegan Omega-3 DHA"from algae,,is it necessary to eat vitaminE, too???????
Its hard to get sufficient Omega3 from vegetarian and I am 100% vegetarian. I am using supplement called V-MEGA3 which give me great results. for more info you can log on to http://www.v-mega3.com
“my article does state that the benefits of taking these supplements aren’t know”
Then maybe you should not recommend these supplements. There is no evidence that vegans require EPA/DHA supplementation. I also know that you are aware of recent work suggesting that intake of ALA omega 3s may be sufficient. The track record of clinical studies investigating health benefits of supplements has been dismal (e.g. batting ZERO).
Yes, you’re right that there is no evidence that vegans require dietary sources of these fats, but given that vegans do have lower blood levels and that they may have health benefits, it seems prudent to add a small supplement as insurance. At least until we have evidence that the lower levels in vegans don’t matter.
I’m not sure what you mean about studies showing ALA to be sufficient. The studies have not shown adequate conversion of ALA to DHA/EPA.
And yes, studies where people have taken supplements above and beyond actual physiological needs have not shown benefits for the most part (although some do show benefits). But that’s different from taking supplements to make up shortfalls in the diet.