Omega 3 fatty acids are important for the health of the body and are said to prevent heart disease. In connection with omega 3 fatty acids, oily fish, which are very rich in omega 3, are mentioned in particular. Many people therefore wonder whether vegetarians and vegans are getting enough omega 3 fatty acids if they do not eat one of the main sources of the nutrient, namely fish.
There are three important omega 3 fatty acids:
ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), which is present in many foods
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), mainly found in fish
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), mainly found in fish and algae
The body can convert ALA into EPA and DHA. ALA is very efficiently converted into EPA, but the body needs larger amounts of ALA to convert it into DHA. According to recent research, there is a risk of eye damage from overconsumption of ALA.
Without a diet plan, many vegetarians and vegans have low levels of omega 3 in their blood. Vegetarians and vegans have several options to prevent omega 3 deficiency.
1. people under the age of 60 need 100 to 150mg DHA per day, people over 60 twice as much. It therefore makes sense for vegetarians and vegans to take a DHA supplement.
2. not only the right amount of omega 3 is important, but also the right ratio between omega 3 and omega 6. meals should not be prepared with fats that contain a lot of omega 6 fatty acids, such as corn oil, soya oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil and oil generally known as vegetable oil. Instead, use low omega 6 fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, peanut oil or rapeseed oil. (Rapeseed oil should only be used at low temperatures).
3. 0.5g uncooked ALA should be added to the diet. This corresponds to about half a walnut, 1/4 teaspoon of linseed oil, 1 teaspoon of rapeseed oil or 1 teaspoon of ground linseed (some of the valuable oil is lost when whole linseed kernels are consumed).
Other foods with an ALA content can be added to the diet without hesitation. Broccoli, for example, contains 0.13g ALA per 100g, cabbage 0.11g. Other green leafy vegetables enrich the diet well with ALA.
Tofu is also a good source of ALA, but also contains relatively high levels of LA, an omega-6 fatty acid.
Pregnancy and children
When comparing the DHA content in the umbilical cord between newborn babies of vegetarian mothers and non-vegetarian mothers, no evidence was found between DHA content and birth weight, head circumference or development of the babies.
Only when feeding soya milk powder without enriched DHA were there slight deviations in the development of the parasympathetic nervous system, although still within the normal range.
DHA is not an essential nutrient for the development of babies, as sufficient ALA is converted into DHA in the mother's body during pregnancy. If the mother has low DHA levels, the baby's body uses other fatty acids.
According to previous findings, babies born to vegetarian or vegan mothers develop just as well as those born to meat- and fish-eating mothers.
