Dha

[vegma]

Ok, I'm feeling pretty good about ds and my omega-3 intake (I don't know what to do with dh!), but I'm still concerned about DHA. I've been reading about it in "Becoming Vegan". What does everyone else do to make sure you have enough? Are there any vegan supplements available? Sorry if this is redundant, but DHA didn't meet the 4-letter requirement to do a search!! Oh yes, the thing that got me reading about it again (I can only seem to address one dietary issue at a time - lol) is a former veggie friend is now eating FISH for DHA.

[GranolaMommy]

Spealing of Joel Fuhrman (from the Eat to Live post below) He has a vegan DHA available at his site called O-MEGA-ZEN-3 DHA SUPPLEMENT

http://www.drfuhrman.com/store.html
(scroll down about 2/3 of the way)

[Erin Pavlina]

I actually created the website for the company that makes the DHA supplement Omega-Zen.

Go to www.nutru.com to read more about it. All vegan.

You can buy it from veganessentials.com.

[vegma]

Erin, do you take DHA supplements? (if this isn't too personal!)

[Erin Pavlina]

Upon occasion I'll pop an Omega zen if I think I didn't get enough flax that week. :)

[artemis]

I take an Omega Zen everyday for DHA and am 6 months pregnant- plan on continuing as I breast feed- it can't hurt, and the benefits (good for the brain) are great!

[JimK]

My expecting wife is also taking DHA supplement on advice of Dr. M. Greger. He also told me that there is no good lab tests to check blood levels of EPA, DHA as of now.

I take flax seed everyday but have no way of knowing how much of this is being converted to the higher EFA's. Does anyone have any advice on monitoring this?

[alexis]

I have a question about what flaxseeds look like...are they all brown with this little white line around the side? Because if they are, i think i've found myself a real cheap source of flaxseeds....

[JimK]

You can find photos of several different varieties of flax at the following website.

http://www.goldenflax.com/home_pages/comparison.htm

[vegma]

Jim, I don't know if this will help, but it does appear that DHA can be monitored. I'm quoting from "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melino, p.64-65, copyright 2000.

"A few studies have looked at the effect of improving the omega-6:omega-3 ratio or adding a direct source of DHA to the diet. The earliest trial by Sanders and Younger (1981) using LNA supplementation in vegans documented a significant increase in EPA but no significant change in DHA. An important study by Ghafoorunissa (1992) showed that by providing an omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 4:1, conversion of LNA to both EPA and DHA could be accomplished. A few studies have looked at the effect of improving the omega-6:omega-3 ratio or adding a direct source of DHA to the diet. Conquer and Holub (1996, 1997) provided vegetarian subjects with microalgae supplements with 1.62g of DHA/day. DHA in the serum and platelets increased by well over 200%, while EPA levels increased by more than 100%. No similar studies have been done on vegans."

edited to add: the colon between the omegas 6 and 3 got converted to an "oh face"!!

[vegma]

I had the opportunity to hear Brenda Davis speak recently and was able to ask her about testing for DHA. She said there IS a blood test to measure omega-3 levels (of which DHA is a part), but that only certain labs can do this. She suggested an internet search to find one, since she didn't know of any US labs off the top of her head...

[JimK]

Thanks, Vegma, for the info from Brenda Davis. I will see if I can find something on the web.

Another term I am looking into is ARA. The baby formula industry is advertising this ingredient along with DHA as support for brain/eye development. I want to know if supplementation is recommended for vegan mothers who are breastfeeding.