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In a crossover randomized controlled trial, García-Maldonado and colleagues set out to determine the levels of DHA in vegetarians, vegans and omnivores, as well as the efficacy of DHA supplementation in altering these levels (García-Maldonado et al., 2023). A group of 116 healthy adults followed a vegetarian, vegan or omnivorous diet for 15 weeks. During the first 5 weeks, they received either a placebo (olive oil) or 250mg algae-oil derived DHA daily. Then, after a washout period of 5 weeks without any supplementation, every participant received the opposite treatment of the first supplementation period for another 5 weeks. At baseline, the vegan and vegetarian diet groups showed lower DHA levels compared to the omnivorous group. The DHA supplementation caused the greatest increase in serum DHA levels in the vegan group, followed by the vegetarian and then the omnivorous group. The authors concluded that algae-oil based DHA supplementation is an effective manner to increase DHA levels in persons irrespective of their diet. However, persons following a vegetarian diet and especially those following a vegan diet show greater increases in serum DHA following supplementation.
Click on the file below to download the publication by García-Maldonado and colleagues Reference García-Maldonado, E., Alcorta, A., Zapatera, B., & Vaquero, M. P. (2023). Changes in fatty acid levels after consumption of a novel docosahexaenoic supplement from algae: A crossover randomized controlled trial in omnivorous, lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans. European Journal of Nutrition, 62(4), 1691–1705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-03050-3 |
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| García-Maldonado et al., (2023): Changes in fatty acid levels after consumption of a novel docosahexaenoic supplement from algae |
