Vegan Omega vs Fish Omega: What is the Difference and Which One is Better?

Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial/essential to keep your body healthy. They’re linked to a better immune system, brain function, joint & eye health, and even cardiovascular health. However, as your body can’t produce omega-fatty acids on its own, you need to consume them from your diet.

And when it comes to consuming omega-3 fatty acids, there’s fish omega for non-vegetarians and vegan omega both for vegans. But apart from the sources, how are vegan omega and fish omega different, and which one’s better? Well, read along to find out.

This blog briefly differentiates vegan omega and fish omega. Also, there’s a reliable source of triple omega that you can consume to ensure better health. So, read in full.

What are Omega-3 Fatty Acids?

Omega-3s are a family of essential fatty acids required to keep your body healthy. There are basically three important types of omega-3 fatty acids: Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are essential for your body.

Fish Omega vs. Vegan Omega: Understanding the Difference

How are they different
Fish or virgin omega is basically omega-3 fatty acids that come from marine sources such as fish (salmon, cod, sardine, herring, mackerel, etc.). On the other hand, vegan omega contains omega-three fatty acids extracted from plant sources such as algae, seaweed ,chia seeds, Brussels sprouts, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, etc.

What Omega-3 Fatty acids they Contain
Vegan omega or Plant based omega-3s provide mainly Alpha-linoleic acid or ALA and are not abundant in EPA and DHA except Algae and Seaweed. The body naturally converts ALA into longer chain omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)—which is important for brain health—and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

And your body is known to convert this ALA into DHA and EPA. On the other hand, fish omega along with Omega-3 provides with EPA and DHA as well.

Which One Offers More Benefits
While vegan omega that contains only ALA offers you benefits (reduces the risk of heart diseases), they’re quite limited. On the other hand, fish omega contains EPA and DHA, offering way more benefits than ALA, such as vision support, enhance recovery, lower inflammation, proper fetal development, anticoagulation, better heart health, growth, and development.

Verdict: Which One Is Better?

Vegan omega was crafted to help vegans meet their body’s need for omega-3 fatty acids. However, it contains only 1 out of the three omega-3 fatty acids ALA. And unfortunately, your body’s ability to convert it into DHA and EPA is quite poor.

For instance, 5% of the total ALA is converted to EPA, and less than 0.5% of ALA is converted to DHA. This means even after consuming vegan omega, you’ll have to resort to fish omega to get all omega-3 fatty acids you need. Furthermore, if you consider the benefits, fish omega is way more beneficial than plant or vegan omega.

Although, according to the above explanation, fish omega seems to be better, it actually depends on your personal preferences.

For instance, if you’re a vegan, you can go for vegan omega that offers your ALA and other vegan supplements offering you EPA and DHA to fulfill your body’s requirement and reap the maximum benefits.

Up for Fish Omega? Here’s What you Need to Know

If you’re a non-vegetarina and are up for consuming fish omega, make sure to choose the correct supplement. It’s because fish omega supplements are usually made without using molecular distillation and fractionation processes which means the fish oil may still contain impurities, heavy metals, etc.

What’s more, to cut the costs, fish oil is mass-produced, and low-quality fish are brought to use. And this can significantly lower the amount of omega-3s in the oil. Furthermore, that obnoxious aftertaste and fish burps are other reasons why you should choose the right fish omega supplement.

So, to save you time, we have found a reliable fish omega supplement: Virgin Omega 3.

What is Virgin Omega 3?

Virgin Omega 3 is a scientifically crafted source of omega-3 fatty acids that come with triple-strength extra virgin fish oil. The supplement offers the highest concentration of essential fatty acids. It means 1240mg of this supplement offers you around 868 mg of essential fatty acids (DHA-372mg, EPA-496mg). Also, this supplement

Is molecularly distilled for added purity. So, no heavy metals or impurities.
Extracts omega-3s from pristine deep-sea salmon. So, highest quality omega-3s for you.
Comes in the form of enteric-coated capsules that prevent burps and aftertaste.

Here are the omega 3 benefits you can expect:

• Healthy Brain and Heart

• Better Vision

• Improved Immunity

• Strengthened Joints and Bones

• Enhanced Skin Health

What’s more, Virgin Omega 3 is highly absorbable because of its unique 2-in-1 capsule form. The capsule contains fast-absorbing virgin triple omega oil along with slow-release curcumin beadlets.

Wrapping Up

Omega-3 fatty acids are important to keep your body healthy. So, if you’re vegan, go for foods such as flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and other sources of omega-3 supplement. However, if you’re a non-vegan, order Virgin Omega 3 with triple-strength fish oil for EPA & DHA and consume nuts and seeds to get your share of ALA. This way, you can provide your body with the vital omega-3s it needs.

References

Gutiérrez S, Svahn SL, Johansson ME. Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Immune Cells. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Oct 11;20(20):5028. doi: 10.3390/ijms20205028. PMID: 31614433; PMCID: PMC6834330. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6834330/

Thomas J, Thomas CJ, Radcliffe J, Itsiopoulos C. Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Early Prevention of Inflammatory Neurodegenerative Disease: A Focus on Alzheimer's Disease. Biomed Res Int. 2015; 2015:172801. doi: 10.1155/2015/172801. Epub 2015 Aug 2. PMID: 26301243; PMCID: PMC4537710. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4537710/

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Taken from: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcids-Consumer

Plourde, M., & Cunnane, S. C. (2007). Extremely limited synthesis of long chain polyunsaturates in adults: implications for their dietary essentiality and use as supplements. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme, 32(4), 619–634. https://doi.org/10.1139/H07-034

Swanson, D., Block, R., & Mousa, S. A. (2012). Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA: health benefits throughout life. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 3(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.111.000893