Omega-3 Supplementation: Not For Everyone
William Harris, MD, a vegan of 40 years, recently told me about his experiences with taking omega-3s, both ALA and DHA. He said that after taking ALA by way of ground up flaxseeds, 1-2 tsp per day for about 5 years, he started to bruise very easily, and on one occasion in December 2000 the bursa over his left knee spontaneously filled with blood without any previous injury. Thinking this might be due to excess synthesis of EPA from the ALA in the flax, he searched the literature and was able to find one supporting reference from a plastic surgeon, who was advising his face lift patients to stop the flax seed prior to facial surgery.
Harris decided to stop taking flax seeds and the easy bruising went away after 4 weeks. Four years later, after reading about DHA shortage in vegans, he started taking DHA supplements. After taking them for only 4 weeks, the bruising returned. He stopped taking the DHA and the bruising, once again, ceased.
It might be that Dr. Harris is an anomaly, but if anyone finds that they are having easy bruising, it might be best to stop taking or drastically cut back on any omega-3 supplementation.
A talk Dr. Harris gave to the Hawaiian Vegetarian Society last year, in which he goes into more detail about his thoughts on omega-3s, can be found here. The omega-3 discussion starts at 32:00.
In the video, Dr. Harris says that I think vegans need to take DHA. I am not so sure that vegans need to take DHA – the research is far from conclusive. But I would say that it is prudent (assuming they have no reason to think they are getting too much omega-3, as Dr. Harris was). Also note that Dr. Harris eats a very unprocessed diet, low in omega-6′s compared to the average vegan, and that could explain why he converts ALA into EPA more efficiently than your average vegan.
You can read more on omega-3′s in the vegan diet in Omega-3 Fatty Acid Recommendations for Vegetarians.
June 10th, 2010 at 4:42 am
Not to be confused with William Harris, Ph.D., the distinguished omega 3 researcher. I would have been surprised to hear that he was vegan!
June 10th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Thanks for the information. As important and Omega 3s are, I believe they may be overhyped like many “trendy” supplements. I made the mistake of overdoing flaxseed oil at first, and would bleed profusely from even the tiniest scratches inflicted by kittens I was fostering at the time!
However, As a vegan long-distance runner it’s been my experience that (moderate) supplementation with algae DHA enhanced flaxseed oil has helped keep me injury-free due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Perhaps recommendations for vegan athletes are in order?
June 11th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
No one seems to talk about the fact that the RDA for most people is 1.1 g, and that you can easily achieve this with a variety of plant foods. Greens, walnuts, soy foods, even grains and legumes contain this essential fat. It’s not just flax. So over the course of the day, if one is eating optimally (a lot of varied whole plant foods) the omega-3 requirement can easily be met without supplementation with flax. Perhaps supplementation is something a vegan would consider if they don’t daily consume many greens, beans, soy, ect.? Personally, although I know about omega-3′s being in many more plant foods other than flax (although in smaller amounts, but if you get a little bit from all of the food you eat, over the course of the day it adds up, right?) I have been doing 1 tsp. ground flax a day (for reasons other than the omega-3′s–good source of lignans, for example), but this post has caused me to rethink this choice, or at least look into it a bit more. Thanks for the info
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June 14th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
> No one seems to talk about the fact that the RDA for most people is 1.1 g, and that you can easily achieve this with a variety of plant foods.
It’s because 1.1 grams of short-chain omega-3s is generally not enough to provide a conversion of very much into DHA. The research to date indicates that the average person needs about 3 gram of alpha-linolenic acid to see an increase in DHA levels. You can read more about that here.