If you’re interested in managing your stress, strengthening your immune system, regulating your moods, and protecting your heart, fat is your friend—specifically, omega-3 fatty acids. While traditional wisdom declares fish your only option for getting these critical fats, modern environmental concerns make this option less than attractive. Polluted oceans and unsustainable fish farming practices mean that with many popular fish oil supplements, you’re ingesting mercury, hormones, and other impurities along with your healthy fats. To prioritize quality and protect the environment while caring for your health, get your omegas like a fish instead of from fish, with vegan omegas sourced from marine microalgae.
Omega 3 101: Strengthen Your Head, Heart, and Beyond
For some nutritional background, the “3” in omega-3 fatty acids refers to Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). DHA and EPA specifically garner a lot of buzz, since they service your two most sacred organs, the brain and heart. Here’s how:
Ultimate Brain Food: Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids promote signs of elevated mood, aid depression, and boost the master hormone known as the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). BDNF controls neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to make new synaptic connections and learn new patterns—critical for healthy brain aging.
Heart Health Ally: Omega-3s have been shown to reduce plaque on the arteries and reduce triglycerides, a type of fat associated with cardiovascular disease, in the blood. As heart-related issues rank first for cause of death among both men and women in the United States, nutrition protecting heart health deserves top priority.
Powerful Inflammation Tamer: Omega-3s strengthen immune response and hormone health by balancing the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the body, which directly calms chronic inflammation. This critical ratio is often disproportionate—it’s recommended to be 4:1, while Western diets are 10:1, even 50:1—due to processed and acidic, preservative-filled foods, often default options for modern life.
Fish get their EPA and DHA from eating phytoplankton, which feed on marine algae- you can too.
How to Add Vegan Omegas to Your Diet
Supplement Wisely
The cleanest, most eco-friendly choice is a vegan omega supplement. Fish get their EPA and DHA from eating phytoplankton, which feed on marine algae. You can replace your daily fish oil pill—and nix the unpleasant fishy aftertaste—with a plant-sourced version made with high-quality algae oil. In the Algae Omega supplement included in Sakara Rx’s The Foundation daily vitamin pack, EPA and DHA is derived from schizochytrium sp. This strain of algae has been researched to not only boost omega-3 in the body but also antioxidant enzyme activity and immune response. As a daily addition to an organic and diverse plant-rich diet, you will be protecting your cognitive and cardiovascular health, while strengthening your cell membranes and balancing immunity.
Extra Credit: More Plant-Rich Options
Add a forkful. Incorporate organic sea vegetables like nori and kelp into salads, soups, and macrobiotic bowls for more EPA. These foods also support the thyroid, thanks to their levels of iodine.
Whip into a smoothie. To be more discrete with the sea veggies (because we admit a kelp smoothie doesn’t sound the most appetizing), rich chocolate Metabolism Super Powder includes fucoxanthin, an Atlantic brown seaweed that promotes DHA and boosts fat metabolism.
Sprinkle on super greens. For sources of DHA and EPA that also act as “blood builders” and deeply detoxify the lymphatic system, choose algaes like spirulina and chlorella. These can be whisked into a salad dressing, blended into a shake, or taken in tablet form.
Learn more how your healthy diet might have some hidden nutrient gaps and how your food choices can create a thriving brain
