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I think there is almost no debate that eating sea food twice per week is good for you especially from high quality sources. Now you can get decent Omega 3 suppl

I think there is almost no debate that eating sea food twice per week is good for you especially from high quality sources. Now you can get decent Omega 3 supplements from plankton but largely the only way these days is from fish; eggs and meat also used to be higher in Omega 3s but we feed them the wrong diets - grass fed beef is good for this too. I think this comment conflates health arguments with vegetarian morality arguments which is unfortunate. The article is specifically talking omega 3s something the vast majority of vegetarian and vegan diets are low in (no Flax seeds don’t count). Morally speaking maybe Vegans should consider farmed oysters twice per week, they are high in Omega 3 and have no central nervous system or brain to stress out about their delicious end.

Shaanie 4y ago
You'll have to be more precise about what kind of seafood. Afaik eating larger fish is thought to overall be a negative for you due to heavy metal accumulation.
adrian_b 4y ago
There are 3 kinds of commercial nutritional supplements with DHA and EPA: fish oil, krill oil and oil of Schizochytrium. Fish oil, either from oily fishes or from cod liver is by far the cheapest. In Europe, a typical price is around $0.20 per gram of DHA+EPA. Krill oil is much more expensive than either fish oil or oil of Schizochytrium, so it is a choice that does not make sense. The oil of Schizochytrium qualifies as a vegan oil. When it has appeared on the market some years ago, it contained only DHA and a negligible quantity of EPA. Some vendors still sell this old kind of Schizochytrium oil. Then it seems that either other strains of Schizochytrium have been discovered, or they have been genetically modified, and an improved oil of Schizochytrium began to be produced, with a proportion 2:1 between DHA and EPA. Now the only remaining disadvantage of the oil of Schizochytrium is the price. However, in the last 2 years the price of the fish oil has remained constant, while the price of Schizochytrium oil was reduced by more than 2 times, so it can be hoped that in a few years improvements in the cultivation methods might cause the price of the Schizochytrium oil to match the price of the fish oil. In Europe, the price of the Schizochytrium oil is now around $0.80 per gram of DHA+EPA, sometimes a little less than that. Whoever buys omega-3 nutritional supplements, regardless of what kind, should better take care to always compute the price per gram of DHA+EPA. There is a huge number of shameless supplement vendors whose products have similar prices with the good products, but which contain very low concentrations of the active substances, so that the effective price per gram of DHA+EPA may be even 10 to 15 times higher than at the decent vendors.
- chrisfrantz 4y ago
  Any reasonable vendors you could share? I’ve been taking a vegan capsule daily for years that’s DHA 225 and DPA 35. Retails for ~$22 for 60 capsules.
  - adrian_b 4y ago
    I live in Europe, where the prices may be different. I have selected vendors just by using Amazon and searching for "Schizochytrium" and also for "vegan omega 3", and then studying the specifications and computing the prices per gram of DHA+EPA. After eliminating all those with outrageous prices and those where the exact content of DHA and of EPA were not specified, for the remaining I have also checked the Web sites of the producers to see if they are credible, e.g. if they show detailed chemical analyses of their products made by independent laboratories. I prefer to buy pure oil (in bottles) instead of capsules, and that is usually a little cheaper than capsules, while also having no useless excipients. Even if someone does not like a faint sea food flavor, the oil containing omega-3 can be mixed with another cooking oil, e.g. with olive oil, and added to a salad or any other food that is not heated after the oil is added. In that case any flavor will be masked. Examples of brands available in Europe (which have similar prices, of about half of the $1.63/g that you pay): SinoPlaSan, Norsan, Arctic Blue, Spoon of Change. Your supplement appears to be the old kind of vegan omega-3, including only DHA and negligible EPA. Now there are better vegan supplements where EPA is about half of DHA, which is a good ratio.
    - chrisfrantz 4y ago
      Thanks! Just purchased a more balanced one with plenty of EPA. Really appreciate the detailed reply :)
  - andy_ppp 4y ago
    I get Nordic Naturals and just eat the oil, it actually tastes pretty nice and you can taste if it’s rancid and not consume it. Sure it’s very slightly fishy but not in a horrible way and mostly is somehow quite enjoyable with the lemon flavour they add. It’s a lot easier getting 2-4g daily than loads of pills too and much much cheaper.
voisin 4y ago
> I think there is almost no debate that eating sea food twice per week is good for you especially from high quality sources. Aren’t there mercury contaminants in even high quality sources?

Shaanie 4y ago

You'll have to be more precise about what kind of seafood. Afaik eating larger fish is thought to overall be a negative for you due to heavy metal accumulation.

adrian_b 4y ago

There are 3 kinds of commercial nutritional supplements with DHA and EPA: fish oil, krill oil and oil of Schizochytrium. Fish oil, either from oily fishes or from cod liver is by far the cheapest. In Europe, a typical price is around $0.20 per gram of DHA+EPA. Krill oil is much more expensive than either fish oil or oil of Schizochytrium, so it is a choice that does not make sense. The oil of Schizochytrium qualifies as a vegan oil. When it has appeared on the market some years ago, it contained only DHA and a negligible quantity of EPA. Some vendors still sell this old kind of Schizochytrium oil. Then it seems that either other strains of Schizochytrium have been discovered, or they have been genetically modified, and an improved oil of Schizochytrium began to be produced, with a proportion 2:1 between DHA and EPA. Now the only remaining disadvantage of the oil of Schizochytrium is the price. However, in the last 2 years the price of the fish oil has remained constant, while the price of Schizochytrium oil was reduced by more than 2 times, so it can be hoped that in a few years improvements in the cultivation methods might cause the price of the Schizochytrium oil to match the price of the fish oil. In Europe, the price of the Schizochytrium oil is now around $0.80 per gram of DHA+EPA, sometimes a little less than that. Whoever buys omega-3 nutritional supplements, regardless of what kind, should better take care to always compute the price per gram of DHA+EPA. There is a huge number of shameless supplement vendors whose products have similar prices with the good products, but which contain very low concentrations of the active substances, so that the effective price per gram of DHA+EPA may be even 10 to 15 times higher than at the decent vendors.

chrisfrantz 4y ago
Any reasonable vendors you could share? I’ve been taking a vegan capsule daily for years that’s DHA 225 and DPA 35. Retails for ~$22 for 60 capsules.
- adrian_b 4y ago
  I live in Europe, where the prices may be different. I have selected vendors just by using Amazon and searching for "Schizochytrium" and also for "vegan omega 3", and then studying the specifications and computing the prices per gram of DHA+EPA. After eliminating all those with outrageous prices and those where the exact content of DHA and of EPA were not specified, for the remaining I have also checked the Web sites of the producers to see if they are credible, e.g. if they show detailed chemical analyses of their products made by independent laboratories. I prefer to buy pure oil (in bottles) instead of capsules, and that is usually a little cheaper than capsules, while also having no useless excipients. Even if someone does not like a faint sea food flavor, the oil containing omega-3 can be mixed with another cooking oil, e.g. with olive oil, and added to a salad or any other food that is not heated after the oil is added. In that case any flavor will be masked. Examples of brands available in Europe (which have similar prices, of about half of the $1.63/g that you pay): SinoPlaSan, Norsan, Arctic Blue, Spoon of Change. Your supplement appears to be the old kind of vegan omega-3, including only DHA and negligible EPA. Now there are better vegan supplements where EPA is about half of DHA, which is a good ratio.
  - chrisfrantz 4y ago
    Thanks! Just purchased a more balanced one with plenty of EPA. Really appreciate the detailed reply :)
- andy_ppp 4y ago
  I get Nordic Naturals and just eat the oil, it actually tastes pretty nice and you can taste if it’s rancid and not consume it. Sure it’s very slightly fishy but not in a horrible way and mostly is somehow quite enjoyable with the lemon flavour they add. It’s a lot easier getting 2-4g daily than loads of pills too and much much cheaper.

voisin 4y ago

> I think there is almost no debate that eating sea food twice per week is good for you especially from high quality sources. Aren’t there mercury contaminants in even high quality sources?