Does Taking Vegetarian Omega 3 Supplements Give You Sufficient Essential Fatty Acids?
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010There have been some significant health discoveries over the last few decades, but perhaps the most important is that most of us are deficient in the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. The major omega 3 fatty acids are ALA, DHA and EPA. ALA (alpha linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are all healthy fats.
It is considered generally that DHA, which makes up a large percentage of our brain, is the most important these however EPA, also an Omega 3 fat, is also essential to optimum health.
But sadly over the last century there have been significant changes to our diets and we are now eating much less DHA and EPA as these are mainly found in seafood and particularly in oily fish. As we are eating less seafood and therefore taking less omega 3 fats his increases our risk of a wide range of health conditions, and increasing our intake of these essential fatty acids can help protect us against contracting some of these conditions.
ALA on the other hand is found only in plant-based foods and is not found in seafoods, therefore even eating more seafood does not increase our 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.
The bottom line is that virtually all of us are deficient in the fish-based Omega 3 fats DHA and EPA. These are what are important to our health and taking an ALA Omega 3 supplement such as a flax seed oil supplement does not address this problem. To find out more about the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA and in particular about where to source high quality fish oil supplements containing these fats visit my website.
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