veg source of omega3's while breastfeeding

[ericaness]

Hi all,
My son's pediatrician recommended that I take fish pills to keep my omega3's up while breastfeeding. For whatever reason, I didn't feel like mentioning that we are vegetarian, thinking in my head that i would just supplement with flax oil instead. When i got home i looked at the bottle of flax oil i had in the fridge and it says not recommended for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Does anyone know why this is? And if i can't use it during BF, is there another good non-fish source?

[organicmidwestmama]

its most likely a legal disclaimer, required on most supplements/drugs.

however, i have worked selling such supplements and fish oils, etc. and the information i learned from the manufacturers of these products and from my own research leads me to believe that many/most humans dont have the ability to transform the ALA in flax oil and meal to DHA omega 3 fatty acids. so you can take all the flax oil you like and your body cant convert it to dha, which is really important for brain growth amognst other things. and your doc is right, your baby gets this from your milk and her diet so if she is vegan and you are also vegan/and or no fish, you could very likely be depleted of dha already. id recomend going with cod liver oil. if this is not possible due to being strongly vegan, there are supplements made from algae that claim to contain dha in a more accessable form.

[texmati]

wow! I take the flax oil instead, but I hate to think that I'm harming my lo by not having the cod liver oil

[jrabbit]

I was just reading up on the DHA and omega3 found in supplements. I don't think you are necessarily "harming" your LO, but I was frustrated by what I found. I'm trying to eliminate fish from my diet, and that includes fish oil. So, I was looking for an alternative. There is a plankton-based omega3, which I'm going to start taking in addition to flax oil, but my heart tells me that's probably not much different than catching fish ... I just don't know.

PLUS, all the oils are in capsules, which have gelatin in them!!

--janis

[somegirl99]

There are a few different vegan DHA capsules (no gelatin) available.

I normally just use flaxseed and other ALA sources, but decided to supplement a bit for pregnancy (and probably will continue for breastfeeding).

This is the one I'm using: http://www.v-pure.com/omega3/

[ericaness]

somegirl99-thanks! this is exactly what i was looking for.

i have done some reading and research and it seems like different professionals say different things about flax being able to convert to dha.

[lisabc311]

Second best to fish oil would be algae-derived dha.

Dr. Fuhrman sells one....

http://drfuhrman.com/shop/DHA.aspx

Flax oil is not very accessible by the body and goes rancid very easily.

[fresh_veggie]

Miso, which I've been eating in soup for breakfast, is high in omega 3s! To make soup just simmer a few Tb of wakame seaweed in desired amount of water for a few minutes, remove from heat and stir in a spoonful of your choice of miso paste and some thinly sliced green onions, mushrooms, etc.

I know you're probably not looking for that, it was just on my mind .

Wikipedia says: Miso paste is an excellent source of dietary fiber (59%) and protein (64% DV), as well as a good source of minerals . Miso paste is also high in amino acids, the basic building blocks of protein. An excellent source of vitamin K and a decent source of Riboflavin (38% DV), miso also provides small amounts of other vitamins. One major benefit of miso is its extremely high omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid content.

^not sure the amount of miso they're referring to, but "excellent" and "high" labels are under legal guidelines, so they're regulated to whether or not they can say that and have to have a certain amount per serving, which is good!

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by fresh_veggie

Miso, which I've been eating in soup for breakfast, is high in omega 3s! To make soup just simmer a few Tb of wakame seaweed in desired amount of water for a few minutes, remove from heat and stir in a spoonful of your choice of miso paste and some thinly sliced green onions, mushrooms, etc.

I know you're probably not looking for that, it was just on my mind .

Wikipedia says: Miso paste is an excellent source of dietary fiber (59%) and protein (64% DV), as well as a good source of minerals . Miso paste is also high in amino acids, the basic building blocks of protein. An excellent source of vitamin K and a decent source of Riboflavin (38% DV), miso also provides small amounts of other vitamins. One major benefit of miso is its extremely high omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid content.

^not sure the amount of miso they're referring to, but "excellent" and "high" labels are under legal guidelines, so they're regulated to whether or not they can say that and have to have a certain amount per serving, which is good!

So cool info! Thanks for sharing.

I take some CLO but not all the time. It just feels right fir what my body needs now. I am breastfeeding. Thanks for those links fot the difdferent oils. I will look into that.

I do consume alot of chia seeds and they have tons of omega 3's and are supposed to be way better for you than flax. Still I take flax everyday in the oil form with lignans and my dry terrible winter skin has gone completely away. (it was really bad). So I will continue to take it everyday.

[ericaness]

does anyone have any experience with Udo's oil?

[iris777888]

No experience with Udo's. The kind we've got at our house is this: http://store.veganessentials.com/o-m...tru-p1776.aspx O-Mega-Zen3 by Nu Tru. We got the liquid so we can put it in smoothies for our son.

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by jrabbit

I was just reading up on the DHA and omega3 found in supplements. I don't think you are necessarily "harming" your LO, but I was frustrated by what I found. I'm trying to eliminate fish from my diet, and that includes fish oil. So, I was looking for an alternative. There is a plankton-based omega3, which I'm going to start taking in addition to flax oil, but my heart tells me that's probably not much different than catching fish ... I just don't know.

PLUS, all the oils are in capsules, which have gelatin in them!!

--janis

Vegan Essentials has vegan DHA supplements with non-gelatin capsules. My understanding is that the algae-based supplements (they're from algae, not plankton) are from tank-grown algae. It has to be tank grown to get a high enough concentration of oil to make them squeezable for the oil.

Warning, though - the vegan DHA supplements have a fishy aftertaste (guess the fish get fishy from the algae they eat). DEVA is the brand I've tried that has by far the least fishy aftertaste or fishy burps.

Vegan Essentials' DHA supplements

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by rainyday

Warning, though - the vegan DHA supplements have a fishy aftertaste (guess the fish get fishy from the algae they eat). DEVA is the brand I've tried that has by far the least fishy aftertaste or fishy burps.

The brand I posted above doesn't have any fishy taste to it.

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by somegirl99

The brand I posted above doesn't have any fishy taste to it.

That's too funny! That one (V-Pure) gives me awful fishy burps after taking it!

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by rainyday

That's too funny! That one (V-Pure) gives me awful fishy burps after taking it!

How weird is that! I guess it goes to show that if one brand doesn't work for you, just try another.

[nj's_mom]

there is even a ton of omega-3 in my veganaise vegan mayo!