Let’s Talk About Omega 3 and Flaxseeds
There are 3 kinds of omega 3s that you, as a human need to think about: DHA, EPA, and ALA. These are essential amino fatty acids. DHA is crucial for your brain and eyes as they have a ton of this in them. EPA and ALA both help your heart function correctly, and ALA also benefits your skin. The most commonly known source of Omega 3 is within seafood, so when eating a plant based diet, where can you get these?
ALA and Flax
This is the simplest one to cover as it is naturally found in plant foods. ALA is found in some in legumes and dark leafy greens, but it is found most concentrated in seeds and some nuts. Good sources of ALA include chia seeds, hemp seeds, and walnuts. The most concentrated source though is found in flaxseeds.
If there was ever a food that deserved the title superfood, flaxseed would be it. I would recommend that everyone add ground or milled roasted flaxseeds into their diet on a daily basis. They are the single most concentrated source of dietary ALA there is. 2 tablespoons will more than meet your daily requirement.
Flaxseeds also contain something called lignan which is a cancer preventing and fighting compound. Flaxseeds are the most abundant source of lignans there is, per gram flaxseeds contain around 8 times as much as the next highest food, sesame seeds. Flaxseeds have been found to have tumor fighting abilities, and they have also been found to reduce the risk of all kinds of cancers like colorectal, (the most common cancer among non-smokers) breast, blood, and skin.
Flaxseeds also have a ton of other benefits. They have been found to lower cholesterol, prevent insulin resistance, (helpful for blood sugar regulation) and lower blood pressure. They are also very nutritious. For all these reasons I recommend everyone consumes them daily. In case you are wondering how to use them, I add them into my overnight oats.
Another important note for flax seeds is that you want ones that have been ground up, otherwise your body will struggle to absorb all those great nutrients if they remain in their whole seed form. Why roasted over raw? Flax seeds contain cyanogenic glycoside which, when digested, turns into cyanide inside of you. Not such a huge amount that it would kill you, but the recommendations say to limit yourself to eating only 1 tablespoon of raw flax seed a day. Luckily the roasting process destroys the cyanide producing compound.
DHA and EPA
Onto DHA and EPA. Your body can actually turn ALA into both of these, however the rate at which it is capable of doing so varies wildly person to person, and women are better at it than men. DHA is super important for brains and eyes, women need to be able to grow those from scratch inside of them, which may explain why they are better at it. There is some debate on whether you need to consume these two, rather than just relying on your body, but I err on the side of ingesting some DHA and EPA.
Where do they come from? Seafood would be a common answer, very similarly to B12 in animal products, it actually comes from what they consume, not because they produce it.. DHA and EPA Omega 3s are actually produced by algae. After that, another creature eats the algae, and then something else eats that one, and so on, until you reach the salmon or tuna that you are then eating. So should you eat fish or take fish oil supplements to get your DHA and EPA? In our modern world, fish are so contaminated with heavy metals, pollutants, chemicals, and other industrial waste, I would advise against it. For example, eating canned tuna everyday can give you mercury poisoning from the heavy metal pollutants found in the waters they swim. Those pollutants are still present in fish oil supplements.
Thankfully, DHA and EPA can be directly extracted from the algae that produces it. This algae is grown in steel vats, and never come into contact with the ocean. This means they are pure, and free of any pollutants. So, look for an algae based, omega 3 supplement containing DHA and EPA. I would also recommend avoiding ones that has carragean as an ingredient, as this common ingredient can potentially damage your intestines.
Recommendations
Canada:
https://amazon.ca/dp/B0842DJJYC
USA:
https://amazon.com/dp/B0842DJJYC
This is the omega 3 supplement that I take personally. I am not a doctor nor have I tested this in a lab. It is simply the best match for what I want. Consult with a doctor before taking.
