Nutrition

Vegetarians and omega-3’s

We know that many of our forebears lived long, healthy lives as vegetarians, and many foods from the plant kingdom are known to be rich in fatty acids. So if you’re a vegetarian — perhaps even a vegan — you may assume you can obtain all the essential fatty acids (EFA’s) you need from plant sources rather than from fish products or eggs.

While this is possible, it poses a major challenge. Studies suggest that while getting adequate EFA’s presents an even greater challenge for vegetarians than it does for omnivores today, a majority in both groups have been found to have suboptimal levels of the omega-3 fatty acids most crucial to our health: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

If you’ve read our main article on omega-3’s, you’ll recognize how vital these nutrients are to every cell in the body. And you may wonder, if you or your family are vegan or vegetarian, how to ensure you get enough EFA’s every day to support your nervous, cardiovascular, and immune systems. Here are some tips for you to consider.

Top omega-3 considerations for vegetarians:
supply, proportion, and conversion

One of the concepts we like to emphasize is that it’s not just a question of getting enough omega-3 fatty acids, but also providing your body with the optimal ratio of omega-6’s to 3’s. For vegetarians, studies suggest a safe and adequate balance of o-6:o-3 lies somewhere between 2:1 and 4:1. Much of the difficulty for today’s vegetarians and omnivores alike stems from the fact that omega-6 fatty acids are much more readily obtained in foods than omega-3’s. Vegetarians are especially vulnerable to an overabundance of omega-6’s in relation to omega-3’s.

Another major consideration is how well our bodies convert plant sources of omega-3’s. Vegetarians can consume omega-3’s by eating flaxseed, hempseed, canola oil, and walnuts. However, these foods contain the parent omega-3 molecule, ALA (alpha linoleic acid). For a number of reasons, our bodies are not altogether efficient in converting ALA into its more useful derivatives, DHA and EPA. While ALA has good anti-inflammatory effects, it is not as protective or instrumental in our health as either EPA or DHA.

Providing yourself with as direct a source as possible of EPA and DHA is our number-one recommendation, whether you’re strict vegetarian or otherwise. Consuming DHA and EPA directly is especially worthwhile for those who have higher needs, such as pregnant and breastfeeding women, those with diabetes or other ongoing inflammatory processes, those with neurological disorders, premature babies, the elderly — and vegetarians, whose diets are by nature low in DHA, and especially low in EPA.

Fortunately, it is possible to improve your innate capacity to convert the parent omega-3 into EPA and DHA. In part, your body’s efficiency in running these conversions depends on a couple of factors over which you have no control — genetics and age. On the other hand, there are factors you can control that significantly impact the conversion of EFA’s. For example, consuming protein, pyroxidine (vitamin B6), biotin (B7), calcium, copper, magnesium and zinc has been shown to improve conversion activity. Though the best source for these nutrients will always be fresh wholesome foods, one of the easiest ways for us to fill in micronutrient gaps is by taking a high-quality multivitamin-mineral complex.

Fish sources versus algae sources — good news for vegetarians

DHA and EPA offer far-reaching health benefits to all of us. For the general population, the main reason fish oil supplements are the preferred source for these omega-3 fatty acids is because they contain high amounts of both EPA and DHA.

But there are plant-based marine lipids, too. For vegetarians, a rich and ready source of DHA has been available for some time in the form of microalgae-derived DHA supplements. As for EPA, however, microalgae contain very little if any,and again, most vegetarian diets provide scant amounts of this critical fatty acid. This means that for the most part, vegetarians, especially vegans, must rely on their bodies’ ability to convert ALA into EPA and DHA — which, as we’ve explained above, isn’t always efficient. Another consideration is that only about 10% of DHA gets “retroconverted” (back) to EPA in the body. All these factors keep EPA in especially short supply for strict vegetarians.

There is, however, hope for the future. We know that fish do not create their own omega-3’s but that they’re derived from microalgae, and collected and stored incrementally up the food chain. Teams of marine biologists and food scientists around the world today are studying these algae and learning how to extract their vital nutrients. Vegetarians received very exciting news in early 2007, when a progressive Swiss company announced it has developed the first known process for extracting EPA from algae.

Across the globe, researchers in Australia are experimenting with higher-level land plants to see if they can enhance their omega-3 content. With time, we expect to have available to us several natural, sustainable, vegetarian sources for both EPA and DHA — increasingly important as the sustainability of global fish stocks falls under siege.

In the meantime, it’s extra important for those of us who are vegetarian to eat plenty of ALA-rich foods. As mentioned above, vegetarians have a variety of plant options. Flaxseed, hempseed and canola oils, and nuts like walnuts all contain omega-3’s in the form of ALA. Flaxseed provides the richest plant source of ALA, and walnuts are the best nut source.

EFA guidelines for vegetarians

Again, the ideal ratio for vegetarians of omega-6’s (LA) to omega-3’s (ALA) is between 2:1 and 4:1 (n-6:n-3). This ratio also appears optimal for anyone not taking preformed EPA and DHA supplements. Here are additional guidelines for vegetarians suggested by nutritional experts on EFA:

EFA guidelines for vegetarians

Build the foundation of your diet upon a wide variety of fresh whole plant foods.

Make whole plant foods the major source of your fat intake, e.g., avocados, soy, nuts, seeds, and olives.

If you use concentrated fats and oils in cooking, favor those rich in monounsaturated fats, e.g., olive, canola, or nut oils. Oils rich in omega-3’s (flaxseed and hempseed) can be used but never heated. Moderate your use of omega-6-rich oils.

By all means, avoid processed foods and deep-fat-fried foods rich in trans and omega-6 fatty acids.

Don’t let foods rich in saturated fats and cholesterol displace those rich in unsaturated fats, particularly omega-3’s.

Include an abundance of foods high in omega-3 fatty acids in your diet daily, trying for 2–4 g ALA per day. For more about the numbers and good dietary sources, we refer you to this excellent chart listing ALA and LA content of plant foods.

Finally, we’d encourage you to take a high-quality multivitamin/mineral complex to ensure your body converts ALA to EPA and DHA as efficiently as possible. You may also want to consider supplementing directly with DHA and/or EPA. If you feel you may be at risk, get your levels tested. There’s no need for anyone to miss out on all the benefits of these supercritical fatty acids.

 

Related to this article:

References & further reading for vegetarians on omega-3’s

 

Last Modified Date: 04/20/2011
Principal Author: Marcella Sweet