Savvy Vegetarian Blog - News and Opinion

Vegetarian Lifestyle, Environment, Health

Fri, 20 May 2005

Essential Fatty Acids In Vegetarian Nutrition

Here's a well-written, and much needed article I just came across while surfing the vegetarian waves. Author Brenda Davis, RD, lays out very clearly the necessity, the role, the sources for essential fatty acids in our vegetarian diets. She says, "It is generally assumed that North Americans need not worry about getting enough fat of any kind, but as research unfolds, a fatal flaw in this thinking is revealed. Not all fats are damaging to health. Some fats are protective, and two in particular are essential to life - they are the essential fatty acids (EFA), linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3)."

"Changes in our food supply since the industrial revolution have jeopardized both the quantity and balance of these nutrients. Our current dietary pattern provides excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids in relation to omega-3 fatty acid content (1,2). This imbalance of essential fatty acids affects vegetarians at least as much as omnivores. In addition, the trend towards very low fat vegetarian diets (10% or less of calories from fat) may further compromise essential fatty acid intake."

Ms Davis goes on to answer these three critical question:

This subject is especially important to vegetarians because the main source of Omega 3's for North Americans is fish. It seems that vegetarians main source is flax seeds. Brenda Davis goes into detail on how flax seeds can be incorporated in the vegetarian diet. I have been aware of the value of flax seeds for some time - about a year ago, I tried flax seed oil, added to cooked cereal - that was yukky. I thought I should just chug a teaspoon a day straight up, but that triggered unpleasant memories of cod liver oil. I tried grinding the seeds in small amounts in a coffee grinder, as recommended, but I burnt out the motor on the little machine. And I may have added too much to my cereal, rendering it unappetizing. So the flax seeds and flax seed oil rest undisturbed in my refridgerator. I figured I was getting enough Omega 3's from tofu & oatmeal. But in light of Ms. Davis's excellent article, I believe I should try again to learn to love flax seeds. Maybe in muffins.

Read this excellent article, Essential Fatty Acids In Vegetarian Nutrition, by Brenda Davis, RD