Omega-3 In A Vegan Diet? No Problem.

 By Eccentric Vegan on January 10th, 2009 Print This Post Print This Post

“Omega-3 fatty acids are important for preventing heart disease, depression, and possibly other problems,” begins the factsheet at VeganHealth.com regarding fatty acids. The article continues:

Without diet planning, vegans and vegetarians have low omega-3 intakes and blood levels. Therefore, vegetarians and vegans should moderately supplement with sources of ALA and also supplement with DHA.

This recent news has led many people to suggest that vegetarians and vegans are lacking an essential nutrient. But if someone tells you have to eat fish or take fish oil to get your omega-3s, they’re wrong. You don’t. VeganHealth.com has these recommendations for vegans:

  • 1. 200 – 300 mg DHA (sources).
  • 2. Do not prepare food with oils high in omega-6 (corn, soy, safflower, sunflower, “vegetable,” sesame oil). Instead, use olive, peanut, avocado, or canola oil. Only cook canola under low heat and for short periods.
  • 3. Add .5 g of uncooked ALA to your diet daily (see chart). This would be the equivalent of:
    • 1/5 oz English walnuts (3 halves)
    • 1/4 tsp of flaxseed oil
    • 1 tsp of canola oil
    • 1 tsp ground flaxseeds

The Vegetarian Society follows up with more suggestions:

1. Make sure you include a good source of ALA in your diet, the simplest source would be one teaspoon of flax seed oil a day, taken either on its own or mixed into dressings etc. Flax oil is also available in vegetable capsules. Alternately include 4 to 5 teaspoons of ground flax seeds, or rape seed oil in your diet – though do not heat any of the oils, and only add the flax seeds to any foods at a late stage since heating will destabilise the ALA. It is important that the flax seeds are ground or at least crushed, if left whole much of the fat will be unavailable.

2. Replace fats high in omega 6 oils, such as sunflower oil or corn oil, with fats higher in monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil or rape seed oil which do not disrupt the formation of EPA and DHA.

3. Other foods can add to your intake of ALA. Most of the little fat in leafy green vegetables is ALA – broccoli has 0.13g per 100g, cabbage 0.11g per 100g, so simply eating your greens is making a positive addition to your intake. Walnuts and tofu are also good sources but are comparably high in LA.

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4 Responses to Omega-3 In A Vegan Diet? No Problem.

  1.  Warrior Two commented on Jan 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    VEGA by Sequel Naturals has a daily supply. That stuff changed my life.

    ~ Recent blog post: Clumsy Cookin’ ~

  2.  Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD commented on Jan 10th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    You are absolutely correct about the need to reduce omega-6 fats, which is especially important if you are vegan. But vegans/adults need more omega-3 fats (about twice the amount you suggested):

    1. Experts recommends a level of 650 milligrams of EPA + DHA (combined).
    Simopoulos AP ,et al.Workshop on the Essentiality of and Recommended Dietary Intakes for Omega-6 and Omega-3 Fatty Acids.J Am Coll Nutr 199918: 487-489. [free full text:http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/18/5/487]

    2. ALA, the plant form omega-3 is very poorly converted to EPA and DHA. For example, if you ate 1000 milligrams of ALA, it would only make 27 milligrams of EPA and nil DHA!

    Solutions to consider:
    -Include hemp foods, which contain an omega-3 fat, called stearidonic acid, which does convert to EPA much easier than ALA.

    -Vegan DHA supplements–there are many brands available. Be sure to check the what the capsule itself is comprised of–some are not vegan, even though the actual DHA is vegan.

    Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD
    Author: Ultimate Omega-3 Diet

  3.  Eccentric Vegan commented on Jan 11th, 2009 at 10:06 am

    The entire factsheet at Vegan Health is really quite interesting: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/omega3
    Specifically, the benefits of omega 3s for vegans (who already have a lower incidence of heart disease) are tenuous. Additionally, the factsheet states:

    If it wasn’t for the (small chance) for potential eye problems, I would suggest either adding 3 g of ALA per day, or taking DHA supplements. But because of the eye issues, that much ALA is not worth the risk when DHA supplements are available. But I would still recommend adding about .5 g of ALA per day for its own benefits on heart disease and to help increase EPA levels. If using such small amounts of uncooked, plant sources of ALA, the risk to the eyes should be very minimal.

    It is not clear what amount of DHA is best to supplement. 500 mg might be ideal, but that is an expensive amount and in the face of no compelling evidence that vegans are being harmed by lower blood levels of DHA, it seems unnecessary. Based on the amounts of vegan DHA that are available, I would recommend 200 to 300 mg per day.

    Ultimately, omega 3s are, in my opinion, a sort of fad nutrient. We know very little about them and the data keeps changing. What we do know, for certain, is that vegans and vegetarians have lower incidence of heart disease. So, if your omega 3 concern is regarding heart health, it’s better to just stick to veganism than worry too much about omega 3s.

  4.  Caitlin commented on Jun 21st, 2010 at 2:07 pm

    From personal experience with severe eye issues related to nutrient deficiency in Omega-3′s – I cannot urge readers enough to take DHA supplements. I was diagnosed with “Thygeson’s Keratitis” two years or so ago – after what started as a small pain in my left eye turned ugly, fast. Now my vision in my left is permanently worse than my right. If I stop taking the supplements, within a few days I will begin to feel pain in a localized spot on my left eye. This pain will get progressively worse and my vision will temporarily become even worse in that eye. Within 4 – 6 hours of taking the supplements again I feel the pain subside. Essentially, I’ve repeated this ‘experiment’ at least 5 – 6 times with the same result. I can say, with confidence, that an omega-3 deficiency is the root cause of my deteriorated eye health. Overall I am a very healthy vegan – with this one exception.

    Pay attention to your omega intake!

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