Flaxseed oil vs. fish oil
 

Just the Flax
Flaxseed oil vs. fish oil

by Becky Holman

It’s been reported that fish oil is superior to flaxseed oil for essential fatty acid absorption and uptake into the body. To get the full potency and benefits of EFAs from plant sources, like flaxseed, the body must convert alpha-linoleic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Those are hard enough to pronounce, but how difficult are they to generate?

Apparently not that difficult. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists compared the effects of flaxseed oil, fish oil and a placebo in more than 62 subjects. After 12 weeks blood tests showed that daily doses of about three grams of flaxseed oil produced the same amount of therapeutic omega-3 fatty acids as 1.2 grams of fish oil. It takes a little more to get the job done, but the plant source can do it.