4 ms·

That's news to me. I previously heard flax seed and walnuts were the only good vegeterian sources of omega 3. A quick search agrees that greens, like spinach,

That's news to me. I previously heard flax seed and walnuts were the only good vegeterian sources of omega 3. A quick search agrees that greens, like spinach, broccoli and cabbage, do contain small quantities of omega 3. I'm having trouble getting a clear idea here of how helpful they are in comparison to the standard recommendation of fish oil. Anyone have any good sources of info on how to get enough omega three from vegetarian sources?

astrange 3y ago
It's unclear if it's bioavailable from those sources at all. There's two forms ALA and DHA; the first is found from nuts and the second from algae. The fish get it from the algae. IIRC there is some evidence that ALA is only bioavailable for women and not for men, but I don't remember if that's reliable.
- DoreenMichele 3y ago
  I had heard that flax seed may not be bioavailable. Walnuts are my go to as the only vegetarian source I understand to have substantial amounts of bioavailable omega 3. Would love to get a clearer idea of how much I really need and how much produce I consume may be defraying that number.
  - derbOac 3y ago
    It's difficult to find EPA or DHA from vegetarian sources (other than algal oil), although ALA is easier (e.g., walnuts, flax, chia). Camelina oil is another good source of ALA if you can find human-grade versions of it. I thought it was nice as a sort of alternative to olive oil raw (like served with bread, or maybe tossed in cold salads), although it had its own flavor (sort of a grassy flax-like flavor), and is impossible to find now it seems. It wasn't something I would probably use a lot of but had a solid niche. At one point there was some interest in transgenic camelina oil because it was easily converted into varieties expressing EPA and DHA. For example: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08104 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08104 I've never seen that sold anywhere though.
caiomassan 3y ago
best place for nutritional information i got. https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/essential-fatty-acids https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/essential-fa... https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/articles https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/articles

astrange 3y ago

It's unclear if it's bioavailable from those sources at all. There's two forms ALA and DHA; the first is found from nuts and the second from algae. The fish get it from the algae. IIRC there is some evidence that ALA is only bioavailable for women and not for men, but I don't remember if that's reliable.

DoreenMichele 3y ago
I had heard that flax seed may not be bioavailable. Walnuts are my go to as the only vegetarian source I understand to have substantial amounts of bioavailable omega 3. Would love to get a clearer idea of how much I really need and how much produce I consume may be defraying that number.
- derbOac 3y ago
  It's difficult to find EPA or DHA from vegetarian sources (other than algal oil), although ALA is easier (e.g., walnuts, flax, chia). Camelina oil is another good source of ALA if you can find human-grade versions of it. I thought it was nice as a sort of alternative to olive oil raw (like served with bread, or maybe tossed in cold salads), although it had its own flavor (sort of a grassy flax-like flavor), and is impossible to find now it seems. It wasn't something I would probably use a lot of but had a solid niche. At one point there was some interest in transgenic camelina oil because it was easily converted into varieties expressing EPA and DHA. For example: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08104 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08104 I've never seen that sold anywhere though.

caiomassan 3y ago

best place for nutritional information i got. https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/essential-fatty-acids https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/essential-fa... https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/articles https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/articles