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Welcome to the Personal Website of Evelyn Tribole

Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD is an award-winning registered dietitian, with a nutrition counseling practice in Newport Beach, California, specializing in eating disorders, intuitive eating and celiac disease. She has written seven books including the bestsellers Healthy Homestyle Cooking and Intuitive Eating(co-author).

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The Original Intuitive Eating Pro

Put an end to your food and body worry, by learning how to make peace with your eating--from the pioneer who co-created the process in the ground-breaking book, Intuitive Eating.

Evelyn has a passion for helping people discover a healthy relationship with food, mind and body---whether it's through one-on-one counseling, writing, workshops or media appearances.

She also has a personal and professional passion for helping people with celiac disease, as Evelyn's son was diagnosed over 11 years ago with this disorder.

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http://nutrition-info-411.evelyntribole.com

What are good sources of Vegetarian Omega-3s? - Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:24:00 GMT


Q. I am vegan, (which means I don't eat any fish, dairy, eggs, meats or poultry).  I keep hearing how omega-3s are important for health.  What are good sources of omega-3?

A. There are many different types of omega-3 fatty acids with different functions (just like there are many different B-vitamins that have different actions in the body). 

The plant-based omega-3 , ALA,  is rather easy to get in the diet (flax meal, flax oil, walnuts, green leafy vegetables).  The marine-based omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are the key omega-3s associated with health benefits ranging from mood, inflammation and heart disease.  International guidelines recommend getting an average of 650 milligrams, daily, of a combination of EPA + DHA.

While ALA can technically be converted to EPA in the body, it's very, very low--so you can't rely on it to meet all of your omega-3 needs [1].  For example, if you eat 1000 milligrams of ALA, it will only make about 27 milligrams of EPA. This means it's important to get direct sources of both EPA and DHA, which for vegans means an algae-based supplement.  There are many excellent brands of vegan DHA, but I only know of one brand that contains both EPA and DHA (I don't consult for this company):
    • V-Pure is one of the few brands  that contains vegan/algae EPA.  Two caps provide:
       Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) – 50 milligrams
      Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) – 350 milligrams
Also, steer clear from supplements that add Omega-6 and/or Omega-9 fats.  Too much omega-6 fats interfere with the benefits of omega-3 fats. The typical western diet, (including vegetarian diets) are already high in omega-6s--found in vegetable oils, especially soybean oil, cottonseed oil and corn oil.  There's nothing wrong with omega-9 fats--it's just an unnecessary expense.  Olive oil is high in omega-9 fatty acids.

[1] J. Thomas J.T. Brenna, Norman Salem, Andrew J. Sinclair, Stephen C. Cunnane, for the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids, ISSFAL. Alpha-Linolenic acid supplementation and conversion to n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in humans. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids - February 2009 (Feb): 85-91.  DOI: 10.1016/j.plefa.2009.01.004)


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Books by Evelyn Tribole

Intuitive Eating Intuitive Eating The Ultimate Omega-3 Diet

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