‘Eat oily fish, nuts and seeds to make sure you get enough omega-3 to keep your body functioning properly,’ is the health advice. If you (often) eat vegetarian or vegan, you may be deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and it may be smart to take this as a supplement. Turns out that in your case it's a good idea (ask your GP for advice or do a test yourself), then Testa Omega-3 is our sustainable tip: algae-based vegan capsules!
Testa Omega-3: enough omega-3 without fish suffering
In collaboration with Testa Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids protect against cardiovascular disease and fit into a healthy diet, according to the Nutrition Centre. But what exactly are they? You may soon forget, but omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids also known as n-3 fatty acids. The best known are:
- alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), you find this mainly in linseed oil, but also to a lesser extent in rapeseed oil, soybean oil, walnuts, vegetable (diet) margarines and in small amounts it is also in meat and in green leafy vegetables.
- eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) which are mainly known as fish fatty acids.
Omega-3 dietary supplement
Eat varied and then you won't be short of anything, right? Well not quite, as it turned out. Because after doing a blood test at an independent laboratory, I was found to have an omega-3 deficiency. By sending a drop of blood, a laboratory can measure the percentage of omega-3 fatty acids compared to the total number of fatty acids in the blood. A nice percentage to aim for is 8%. I turned out to be at 4%. Even though I would describe my diet as varied - I am a flexitarian. I therefore decided to supplement my diet with food supplements and I also started paying more attention to choosing the above-mentioned products more often, such as flaxseed oil and (again) more margarine on bread. In the past, I sometimes swallowed fish oil capsules on top, but now that I know that this involves a lot of animal suffering and contributes to even more overfishing, this was no longer my first choice. Did you know that 50 billion pounds of unnecessary fish are caught every year to produce omega-3? That's about 22 billion pounds of fish!
Moreover, it is not at all necessary to consume fish oil to get the desired omega-3. In fact, there is a sustainable and vegan alternative and that is vegan omega-3 capsules based on algae. Because those algae are packed with omega-3 fatty acids. Top!
Testa Omega-3 capsules based on algae oil instead of fish oil.
My experience with Testa Omega-3
I started with four capsules a day of the algae oil capsules containing DHA and EPA. And if you keep that up properly for four to five months, that should be enough to eliminate your deficit and get back towards that 8%. I kept it up every day for five months. In order not to forget, I put the box by the coffee machine and faithfully took four capsules every day with a glass of water. In the unlikely event that I did forget it once, I would take a double dose the following day. After four months of taking it, I started reducing it again and since then I take one to two capsules every day. Are you someone who forgets easily? No worries! You can also take out a membership with Testa which means you never have to miss a dose again.
If you want to keep a close eye on the progression, you can check afterwards a blood test do to measure the difference. I did, and it turned out that after five months of faithfully taking my capsules, I was suddenly in the green with my blood levels!
Forgotten dose?
‘It doesn't matter when you take the omega-3, but the amount matters. So whether you take it daily or four times a week doesn't really matter. So it doesn't matter if you forget to take it one day. The advice is that you then take a double dose the following day. Or if you forget over the weekend, for example, then take a three double dose on Monday. As long as you don't exceed 5 grams of omega-3 per day (that's more than ten capsules). Bonus tip: it is best to take the capsules with a meal, then the substances are better absorbed.’
Source: Testa Omega-3
Pre-cure blood test result and post-cure blood test result: omega-3 levels have risen considerably in a few months.
Want to know more about Testa Omega-3?
Testa Omega-3 is our enduring tip for anyone who wants to supplement with omega-3. Moreover, Testa is a Dutch company. Their mission is to create fish oil-free futures with them formulated from cultured algae. See more about this sustainable company.
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Also see: On wild-picking walk in Amsterdam.
- Also see: Circular headphones from Repeat are yours for life.
- Also see: a long list of greener beauty brands.
Sources: Nutrition Centre, diving.nl.
