Vegans have a lot of trouble getting enough of the right kind of omega-3 in their diet. In fact, this is the reason that vegans sometimes experience nerve degeneration. Omega-3 is essential to maintain a healthy nervous system and to ensure maximum mental capacity.

Most vegans do eat foods that contain ALA omega-3. These foods include flaxseed, chia, hempseed, and walnuts. Unfortunately, however, humans cannot use the ALA form of omega-3 directly. ALA must be converted to DHA and EPA before the human body can utilize it.

As it turns out, the human body is not very efficient at converting ALA to DHA and EPA. The maximum conversion rate would occur in a young adult in their early twenties that has no health issues. It will also vary from person to person but the maximum conversion is around 25%. If, however, the person is older than the early twenties and/or they have a compromised immune system or a debilitating disease like type 2 diabetes, the conversion rate of ALA to DHA and EPA can easily drop to below 10%.

So, what foods contain high levels of DHA and EPA?

All foods that vegans don't eat: salmon, other fish, shellfish, shrimp, grass fed beef, eggs from pasture raised chickens, and wild game such as deer and elk.

So, what is a vegan to do?

The only decent source of DHA and EPA, without the body having to convert ALA, is blue green algae. If you think about it, this makes sense since this is in the food chain of the fish that contain lots of DHA an EPA so it gets incorporated into fish tissues. Cows, chickens, and game get the DHA and EPA from eating grass but they don't have as much as aquatic animals.

Blue green algae is not the perfect solution for vegans because it has far less than fish and seafood but at least it is a direct source of the right kind of omega-3 that the human body needs.