Plant Vs. Fish Omega 3: Which Is Better ALA or EPA/DHA?

Plant Vs. Fish Omega 3: Which Is Better ALA or EPA/DHA?

Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are essential nutrients that take part in a wide range of processes in our bodies. Both of them are equally important, but either can weaken your body of they are not in balance.

In laymen’s terms, this can be explained by the fact that omega 6 promotes inflammation while omega 3 reduces it. Contrary to a popular belief, inflammatory processes are imperative for our health as they speed up the absorption and procession of nutrients. However, if not kept under careful control, they may cause a great variety of diseases.

The overwhelming majority of Americans, and people in the rest of the world as well, suffer from a severe deficiency of omega 3 essential fatty acids. This happens because our diet is naturally rich in omega 6 (from plant-based oils and foods), but the richest source of omega 3 is fish and seafood, which are sadly lacking in our diet. Even people who consume fish regularly cannot really benefit from their increased omega 3 intake, because the excess of omega 6 tips the balance.

The solution to this problem is taking specialized omega 3 supplements. However, before you start searching for this kind of products, you need to understand that there are several types of omega 3 fatty acids and not all of them are equally efficient.

The major difference lies between ALA and EPA/DHA fatty acids. Both of them are omega 3, but ALA is derived from plant sources, while EPA/DHA come from animals (mostly fish). Please note that food sources that produce ALA fats completely lack in other forms of omega 3, while fish contain small amounts of ALA along EPA and DHA fatty acids.

The most important of all these elements is DHA fatty acid as it plays a major role in maintaining brain function. It also affects the condition of the retina and eye function. However, the rest of the omega 3 fatty acids cannot be discarded as inconsequential as all of them are found in the brain tissue. Therefore, each type plays some role in the cognition and neural activity.

This is true, but the scientists state that it’s DHA fatty acids that are most vital for all of us who are lacking in omega 3. This is a sad piece of news for vegans as this particular fatty acid cannot be derived from plant sources. However, even people who completely avoid fish have a chance to receive some measure of DHA as our bodies can convert ALA into it. Unfortunately, the conversion rate is extremely small, only about 8% with the use of specialized enzymes.

What Kind of Omega 3 Supplements Should I Buy?

Scientists who specialize in nutrition and studies of omega fats, in particular, unanimously agree that EPA/DHA fatty acids are vastly superior to ALA in their value for the body. If you want to improve your health by balancing out the omega 3 and omega 6 ratio, you will need to take Omega 3 EPA/DHA from Nature’s Potent.

This particular product contains vast amounts of the essential EPA and DHA fatty acids and helps you offset the negative effects of our plant-based diet. Including some nuts and seeds (particularly flaxseeds) in your diet will allow you to get a sufficient amount of ALA omega 3 fats.

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