Last week I posted about fish oils and why I feel they are superior to flax oils for Omega3 and DHA supplementation. With all the research that has been done into our body’s ability to convert the flax into useful DHA I still think fish oils are superior for that purpose. Of course flax seeds are still beneficial on many levels. They just may not be the best source for DHA.
Fish oils admittedly have their own issues though. For one, vegans won’t touch them. ;) Also a diet of fish, flesh or oil, can increase our exposure to environmental toxins and mercury. Low quality fish oils on the market have a high lard content and this is especially bad. Within the body…human or fish, toxins get stored in the fatty tissue if they cannot be expelled. So a fish oil capsule that has a high lard content is getting a concentrated dose of whatever toxins those fish had in their bodies. Yuck.
The higher quality fish oils go through a purification process to remove as much of the lard and toxins as possible but as a commenter last week mentioned this may also mean the good stuff is lost along with the bad. This means there is a good chance that they will add the nutrients and lost components back into the oil but they would likely be synthetic. Synthetic vitamins and minerals are a BAD idea.
So, are we just generally screwed then? Well, my lovely and smart readers (yeah I love you guys) pointed out a solution. We can get Omega3/DHA from algae supplements. In fact this is where the fish get it so it is like going straight to the source. We take algae supplements but I never even connected the dots on it being a relatively pure source of DHA. I searched around the net to see if algae actually has DHA or if it has ALA like flax seeds. From the various sites I found it appears algae does have DHA which is good news. Also the algae for supplements is grown in fermentation tanks and therefore contains no ocean-borne contaminants. Of course not being an ocean grown organism can mean they they are missing out on some of the nutrients they might otherwise get from their eco habitat but no pollution is a good thing too.
My kids and I actually already supplement with algae as I mentioned so we will likely just continue with that and forget the fish oils.
Kristen recommends NuTru’s O-Mega-Zen3.
We have some NOW DHA Omega Supreme which has flax seed oil and algae oil. We also have Vitamineral Green which is a raw, organic, whole green food powder which has spirulina and chlorella algae.
I love having such a great community of moms join me here to share thier knowledge. It is a wonderful thing!
Photo Credit: Flickr
This was very informative. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us!
Thanks so much for sharing such good information. I am currently 9.5 weeks pregnant and have been taking Carlson’s Fish Oil from Whole Foods well before I was pregnant. Now do you think this is something that I should start avoiding or is it okay? Also, what do you recommend for pregnant women who want to make sure they are getting plenty of Omega’s and all those other nutrients that fish bring. Thank you in advance!!
Thanks Tiffany! We are unable to use fish oils b/c our daughter is allergic to fish in addition to many other foods. She can have algae though so here we come!
I’m a fan of Udo’s Blend of DHA and ALA. I think the one I use is a blend of flax, algae and rose hips. You can get it refrigerated at whole foods. I’m a pregnant vegan, and mix this into my oatmeal in the mornings. You can also use it in salad dressings or put it in smoothies.
Before I went vegan, I tried really hard to take fish oil, but even the capsules made me burp up tuna taste all day. Yikes.
Awesome posts! It’s a reminder to me that my non-fish-loving family may need some fish oil or even better Spiruline/Chlorella! Just when you think you might be balanced! :) Thanks!
Karla
Great post, Tiffany! A good follow-up to your fish oil post, and great info for any vegans out there (or anyone wnting to avoid fish oil).
We are a family of 7 high-raw whole foods vegans. We take O-Mega Zen3. It costs a fortune for a bottle (and we burn through it fast!), but it’s good stuff and so important for my kids’ development. We’ve tried Udo’s DHA Oil Blend also, though my kids prefer the O-Mega.
Good info!
Yay! What a great, safe solution. Thanks for finding this for us!!!
I posted on the last similar topic about the added synthetic vitamins in fish oil, and had to add one more thought on this post. Super green foods have a detoxifying effect on the body and for this reason my ND told me to stay away from all of these while I am breastfeeding. I do give them to my 3 yr-old when I can, but I’m waiting until I’m done nursing to take them for myself. Have you heard anything on this regarding the algae? I would think that anyone who was pregnant would also not want to take them?
Great idea, thanks for posting. I take the flaxseed oil since I’m a vegetarian, but maybe algae is better…I plan to give it a try when I’m done breastfeeding (after reading that last comment).
My naturopathic doctor wanted me to stay with the flax oil instead of algae supplements for DHA/AHA. Apparently, the manufacturers of the algae supplements use a chemical process to extract the oil for these products. Even organic companies use hexane and chlorine-extracted algal oils. This is also a concern for DHA/AHA in baby formula. Martek is one of the biggest producers of this type of oil and they describe their process as such:
“The oil is then separated from the dried biomass by hexane extraction and centrifugation and/or filtration, followed by winterization. The hexane phase undergoes additional centrifugation/filtration to remove solids then the winterized oil is heated and treated with acid. Subsequently, the oil is treated with caustic, centrifuged, bleached and deodorized”
This chemical process turned me against the use of these products. I am currently searching for a company who does not use toxic means for extraction.
CYNDI,
After reading your post, I emailed a contact at VeganEssentials.com. In a very prompt, kind (and lengthy) reply, here are a couple of things I discovered, which I thought would be of most interest to you and others following this post:
1) “The hexane isn’t carried over into the final product, and in the small amount of DHA oil that needs to be taken (less than fish oil, as it is pure DHA), it should be of minimal concern unless someone had a specific reason that they absolutely needed to avoid hexane due to an allergy or something of that sort.”
2) For those completely opposed to any form of hexane-extracted DHA, they do stock one brand that is imported from Europe (manufactured in France and Switzerland, nothing from China), that is a DHA/EPA supplement which is not hexane extracted. It is the V-Pure brand DHA/EPA, which is sold on their site:
http://www.nexternal.com/vegane/Product2098
Hope that helps! It did me. :)
I actually got mercury poisoning from taking fish oil supplements- and these were not the super “cheapo” brand either. They were supposed to be one of the top brands that is highly filtrated, etc. etc. I was taking a theraputic dose of 3,000 mg per day for an endocrine disorder. I ended up getting mercury poisoning in 3 months flat- as a result I lost my period for 5 months and ended up with a yeast infection that lasted just as long (I was on diflucan for 5 months before I got any relief from the yeast). My hair fell out in sheets. It was truly horrifying. I now believe that fish oil supplements are pure poison. I resumed my period only after starting to take algae based supplements instead (spirulina and chlorella). But I have to admit, after my experiences with fish oil, I have an irrational fear of those too!
^^
In response to the above, how do you know it was mercury poisioning from the fish oils?
Im still very mystified as to why all these westeners keep getting mercury poisioning from fish and so called fish supplements, when in JAPAN, where im from, I have never once heard of anyone getting mercury poisioning from eating fish and or supplements, or anyones hair falling out because of this for that matter. And us japanese eat fish maybe 2/3 times per day, every day, for 365 days per year.
All these so called reports I hear seem to come from people in america or europe.
There have been incidents of mercury poisioning in japan, but never from eating fish or taking supplements.
Mercury was (and still is but in a controlled manor) to separate gold from ore in the old manual worked mines in the western states. In California, the mercury runs off into the ocean where the fish are caught and sold for consumption. Eating one meal of swordfish caught in the San Fransisco bay area will raise blood mercury levels an alarming rate that apparently takes a month to get back to normal. From what I’ve read, eating fish from the Bay is recommend only once a month due to the high levels of mercury in them, which as I explained earlier comes from run-off of hundred year old mines in the mountains.