Fish Oil versus Flaxseed Oil

Does buying fish oil provide you with more health benefits than the alternative of consuming flaxseed oil? From what I've been able to gather from researching information on the net, fish oil is more often recommended as a source of omega 3 fats even though it is typically much more expensive.

This is because fish oil contains EPA and DHA types of omega 3's. Flaxseed oil only contains ALA. The body is able to convert ALA into EPA and DHA but in some people this process of conversion doesn't work too well. The more people age, the less efficient their bodies become at converting ALA into EPA and DHA. People who drink too much alcohol, who have diabetes or who eat too much trans-fatty acids will also have a problem converting ALA into EPA and DHA.

Here's one medical doctors view of the benefits of fish oil versus flaxseed oil. Dr. Michael R. Eades lands squarely on the side of fish oil as being better.

See also a write-up at the Yale New Haven Organization where they note that one would have to take seven grams of flaxseed oil to match the benefits of one gram of fish oil.

A lot of nutritionists however, will rather recommend that you don't bother with the supplement oils and instead make sure you regularly consume some oily fish such as salmon as well as ground flax seed in your weekly diet. The whole version of these foods contains much more nutrients than the oils or supplements on their own. This is also a much more economical alternative. The idea is to change your diet from the ground up, rather than try to improve it by adding supplements, capsules or concentrated oils.

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The above fine art print is 'Peppers & Oil II' by Tanya Fischer