Omega 3 supplements

Lou

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Google News keeps finding good stuff for my News Feed.

I have been eating so good lately that I am not re-purchasing some of the supplements I have been taking. But I still want to take an Omega 3.

then this article pops up and it recommends a different brand than the one that I am taking. ( I had been taking Amala Vegan). A quick comparison and I'm going with the new recommendation from Purity Products.

Here is the article and the link to the product.

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/vegan-omega-3-6-9-products-shop/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EVITLHE/?tag=onegrepla-20&th=1
 
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Thank you for this. Omega 3 has been a complete mystery to me. I have relied on flax seeds and walnuts for Omega 3 but have been wondering if supplementation would be nessessary.
 
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I don't like walnuts. but I grind my own flax seed and add it to my oatmeal, smoothies, and salads. one to 3 tsp a day.

"The US Adequate Intake for adults is set at 1.1 to 1.6 grams of omega-3 per day, which is not a large amount to get from food. Foods that are particularly high in plant omega-3 are:
  • Canola oil
  • Walnuts and walnut oil
  • Flax
  • Chia seed
  • Soy oil
  • Avocado"
- https://www.sharecare.com/health/omega-3-fatty-acids/best-omega-3-option-vegetarian

But there are several components of Omega 3. The best-known ones are ALA, DHA, and EPA. ALA is the only one found in plant food sources. Fortunately for us, ALA is also found in "microalgae", which is how they make vegan Omega 3 supplements.

Supposedly, our bodies can convert ALA to DHA and EPA, but the conversion process does not always work as well as we need. DHA and EPA are important for our health.

My conclusion. If you get adequate ALA you may not need to supplement DHA and EPA. but it's probably a good idea to supplement a little. The supplement referred to above suggests 2 capsules a day. I will just take one. Or if you have one of those little daily pill reminder things you can take one every other day.
 
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I don't like walnuts. but I grind my own flax seed and add it to my oatmeal, smoothies, and salads. one to 3 tsp a day.

"The US Adequate Intake for adults is set at 1.1 to 1.6 grams of omega-3 per day, which is not a large amount to get from food. Foods that are particularly high in plant omega-3 are:
  • Canola oil
  • Walnuts and walnut oil
  • Flax
  • Chia seed
  • Soy oil
  • Avocado"
- https://www.sharecare.com/health/omega-3-fatty-acids/best-omega-3-option-vegetarian

But there are several components of Omega 3. The best-known ones are ALA, DHA, and EPA. ALA is the only one found in plant food sources. Fortunately for us, ALA is also found in "microalgae", which is how they make vegan Omega 3 supplements.

Supposedly, our bodies can convert ALA to DHA and EPA, but the conversion process does not always work as well as we need. DHA and EPA are important for our health.

My conclusion. If you get adequate ALA you may not need to supplement DHA and EPA. but it's probably a good idea to supplement a little. The supplement referred to above suggests 2 capsules a day. I will just take one. Or if you have one of those little daily pill reminder things you can take one every other day.
Thank you for that. Your explanation is very coherent and easy to understand. Perhaps I then buy supplements, just to be sure to get the right amount. Though I think that I am getting omega 3 pretty well, since I eat 1 tbsp or grounded, roasted flax seeds every other day with oatmeal, add canola oil to my pasta and eat walnuts occasionally.
 
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There is at least one other thread on Omega 3 that I have contributed to.
https://veganforum.org/threads/omega-3.3295/#post-21124

But this one is the one that I think is most relevant to this.

I did go and switch to the Purity Products Omega 3 because it was recommended. Plus I liked that it had 3, 6, and 9.

But I did notice when I got the bottle that it had no DHA or EPA.

The supplement that I had been taking was Amala Vegan which contains all the Omega 3s.

So the Purity Products bottle is almost empty. I'm thinking I will go back to Amala. But before I do I thought I'd ask the Forum if they had another/better suggestion.

:)
 
This is what I have been supplementing with, we take the capsules although I have used the liquid in the past, it is just simpler to remember to take the capsules. We take one every 3 or 4 days.

https://www.nutrasea.ca/products/nutravege

It seems to be a Canadian company that may have sold to an German/American one and I do see they have the products on Amazon.

Emma JC
 
For those taking supplements for omega 3's and/or DHA it might be worth watching this video:

(skip to 4:40 where he discusses DHA, absorption, sources and requirements)


And of course...
check out the studies yourself. Worth the save on supplements, no?
 
For those taking supplements for omega 3's and/or DHA it might be worth watching this video:

(skip to 4:40 where he discusses DHA, absorption, sources and requirements)


And of course...
check out the studies yourself. Worth the save on supplements, no?


Good stuff. The supp that I'm taking now has no DLA but plenty of ALA. so I'm probably ok with sticking with it.

I also have flax seed I put on my oatmeal or in my breakfast smoothie. but I don't do that every day.
 
I'm hoping to get some more input here. and because this is an old thread it keeps getting buried. so I will bump it to the top.
Bump.
 
Well, it's time to re-order some omega 3. We already have a couple of good threads on the subject. I thought maybe this one was the best.

Since I last contributed to this thread I have slowly become convinced that Purity Product Omega 3-6-9 was not the best choice. That I should keep taking the daily flax seed but also take a supplement that contains EPA and DHA. I do have a concern in that I forget to add flax seed to my food daily. but I will just try to remember more often. and if I can't i can just add one of the flax seed supplements I see. (hmm, maybe i should do that anyway and stop worrying about it).

Anyway, I did some research and I'll post some of the better links in the next thread. I also will describe some of my conclusions. I also made a chart to allow for comparisons among some of the products.
 
Here is a chart that summarized some of my calculations.

I ended up pretty much disregarding the "recommended dose" but I thought i better include that in my chart. All numbers are per cap. Not per dose or per day.

I chose these products based on the top ten in the Labdoor study. But I added Vegetology on a recommendation by Saphire Lightning. I didn't include any of the products that were liquid. Just because I don't find those as convienent.

I choose to simplify and just look at "Total Omega-3". I could have done it with a separate row for EPA and DHA but I felt that it was more confusing and didn't really provide any good info.

I wanted to have a number that represented "Bang for the Buck". That is the row $/g. It represents the price of each gram of Omega 3. This might be a good number for people who don't want (or need) to take an omega 3 supplement every day.

Table 1. Omega 3 supplements
AmalaVegetologyDEVANuTruNordicOmegaSource
Recommended dose1211212
Price25233024253215
Caps60609040606030
$/cap$0.42$0.38$0.33$0.60$0.42$0.53$0.50
Omega 3 /cap440417.5300450357.5500300
$/g0.930.861.101.301.101.061.70

 
Conclusion.
I am going to go with DEVA. I'm already familiar with that company and they are the cheapest per capsule. And the amount of Omega 3 in their capsules meshes well with what is recommended in my first source.

And I should thank Saphire Lightning for her input, feedback, and encouragement.
 
I take the DEVA DHA too. 200mg capsule anywhere between 1 and 3 times a week. I eat a little walnuts and/or flaxseed everyday so this is just a little extra for assurance.

Also important to keep in mind the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3....too much 6 interferes with ALA conversion.

I watched this video recently and thought it was intriguing. He's in disagreement with Dr. Greger (that part starts at 34:30). "DHA Scam Exposed" is admittedly sensationalist and click-baitey but his argument seems well reasoned.


I'm gonna continue to take small doses of supplements every few days while trying to eat a diet that makes that unnecessary.
 
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I take the DEVA DHA too. 200mg capsule anywhere between 1 and 3 times a week. I eat a little walnuts and/or flaxseed everyday so this is just a little extra for assurance.

Also important to keep in mind the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3....too much 6 interferes with ALA conversion.

I watched this video recently and thought it was intriguing. He's in disagreement with Dr. Greger (that part starts at 34:30). "DHA Scam Exposed" is admittedly sensationalist and click-baitey but his argument seems well reasoned.


I'm gonna continue to take small doses of supplements every few days while trying to eat a diet that makes that unnecessary.

That video is excellent. I've never taken DHA and quite honestly if it were somehow required as a vegan, then I would not see Vegan in the light that I do - which is that it is the natural diet for man (whole foods vegan). B-12 is arguably different because of how most modern man lives, but DHA isn't something one can typically just find in the wild, or in untreated water and other sources like B-12 is.
 
I watched this video recently and thought it was intriguing. He's in disagreement with Dr. Greger (that part starts at 34:30). "DHA Scam Exposed" is admittedly sensationalist and click-baitey but his argument seems well reasoned.


I'm gonna continue to take small doses of supplements every few days while trying to eat a diet that makes that unnecessary.

I saw the video and didn't watch it yet, so happy that you did and now I don't have to. Geoff can be very intense!!

We do what you do, a little bit once or twice a week.

Nutravege is our choice. The capsules are easier to remember to take.

nutravege-products.png




Emma JC
 
I saw the video and didn't watch it yet, so happy that you did and now I don't have to. Geoff can be very intense!!

We do what you do, a little bit once or twice a week.

Nutravege is our choice. The capsules are easier to remember to take.

nutravege-products.png




Emma JC

Darn! I didn't include those in my chart