allaboutwomen

Hi there! I just wanted to address some of the questions I saw in the comments on this morning’s DHA post. Some of you were not sure if the body  can absorb DHA from walnuts, flaxseed, and seaweed – so I wanted to share this information that PCRM’s Dr. Susan Levin sent to me, which should clear up your questions:
“There was a great study that just came out showing that people who consume no animal products (vegans!) convert an incredible amount of omega-3 fats to EPA and DHA. This was especially the case among women.
Here's the summary and citation:
Women on Vegan Diets Have More Long-Chain Omega-3s, Compared with Fish-Eaters
Women following vegan diets have significantly more omega-3 “good fats” in their blood, compared with fish-eaters, meat-eaters, and ovo-lacto vegetarians, according to a new report from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study. Levels in vegan men were not quite as high as in vegan women. Despite zero intake of long-chain omega-3s eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and substantially lower intake of their plant-derived precursor alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), vegan participants converted robust amounts of shorter-chain fatty acids into these long-chain fatty acids. The study included 14,422 men and women aged 39 to 78.
Welch AA, Shakya-Shrestha S, Lentjes MAH, Wareham NJ, Khaw KT. Dietary intake and status of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in a population of fish-eating and non-fish-eating meat-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans and the precursor-product ratio of a-linolenic acid to long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: results from the EPIC-Norfolk cohort. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92:1040-1051.”
As I said in the earlier post, if you dont feel you get enough, you can always take a supplement. But I feel that if you are superhero, or a very close to superhero vegan who eats the foods I mentioned, you should be fine. Let me know if you have other questions!