Are People Who Take Vegetarian Omega 3 Supplements Getting Enough Essential Fatty Acids?
There are some very important discoveries relating to our health that have been made over the last few decades. Arguably the most important is that most of us are deficient in the Omega 3 fats. These are ALA, DHA and EPA. ALA (alpha linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are all beneficial fats known as Omega 3 essential fatty acids.
DHA is generally considered to be the most important of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. This makes up a large proportion of our brain and is essential to good health. EPA is also very important to good health.
There has been a significant decline over the last hundred years in our intake of seafood and in particular fish. As these are the most important sources of DHA and EPA our intake of these 2 essential omega 3 fats has declined thereby opening us up to to an increased risk of contracting various health problems.
But I also mentioned ALA. What is ALA omega 3 fat and where does it come from? Whereas DHA and EPA come from marine sources ALA comes from plant-based sources. It's not found in fish and therefore eating fish does not increase your intake of ALA.
But many people who are vegetarian are taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements such as flax seed oil supplements. These do contain ALA but do not contain DHA or EPA. Are they getting all the omega 3 fats they need?
The answer is no because DHA and EPA are much more important to your health than ALA. The benefit of ALA is that the body can convert it into DHA and EPA but it is converted at a very poor rate, and the less healthy amongst us convert it less successfully.
So if it isn't sufficient to take vegetarian Omega 3 supplements why do people take them? Because as vegetarians they cannot take traditional Omega 3 supplements sourced from seafood. And many people taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements are unaware that they are not providing sufficient levels of the important Omega 3 fats.
Ultimately virtually all of us have low levels of the essential Omega 3 fats DHA and EPA, and that increasing levels of these 2 essential fatty acids is very important. Taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements does not do this. If you wish to find out more about getting DHA and EPA in your diet visit my Omega 3 website.
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