Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

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Hi, I'm wondering if I can meet my omega-3 needs by drinking fortified soy milk. My soy milk has 0.4g of omega-3 per cup. There are also other soy milks at the grocery store that have higher fortification levels. Thanks! -Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

Indeed, there are new omega-3 fatty acid fortified soy milks available. Probably the easiest to find across the US, because of its wide distribution, is Silk Enhanced. This product contains 500 milligrams (1/2 gram) of omega-3 fatty acids (from flax oil) per cup. This product is 100% vegan, even the sources of the added nutrients.

While the conservative recommended intake of omega-3 fatty acids is between 0.5 and 1.6 grams per day (depending on age/gender), some experts feel that this is too low, and that we should be aiming for 3-6 grams per day.

So, two glasses of Silk Enhanced will give you a gram, which is a good start. Add a combination of the following, which are some suggestions on how to incorporate omega-3s into your diet: an ounce of walnuts to your cereal (1.5 grams), a couple tablespoons of ground flax seeds to your soy yogurt (3.6 grams), a teaspoon of flax oil in your salad dressing (2.8 grams), and lots of green leafies in your stir fry (less than a gram but a bundle of other wonderful nutrients too).

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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