Hi,
I am a vegan and am just starting the zone. I finished the book and want to try it. However, I was looking for supplements that didn't use fish oils. I read in the faqs that there are algae-based oil products and I was wondering if anyone out there new of any product suggestions. I would really appreciate any info, as I would like to start right away. Thanks.
Michelle

Hi Michelle,
Martek Biosciences has an algae based product called neuromins. You can Google it for more info. You may find Dr. Sears’ book, “The Soy Zone” to be of interest. Plus you can review Dr. Sears comments on algae based products by going to www.drsears.com. Click on “Ask Dr. Sears” on the home page. Then click on “search these archives.” Then click on edit (from your tool bar) then “find on this page” and enter algae. Below is one of Dr. Sears’ comments:
“Most algae oils contain about 30 percent DHA but no EPA. Therefore I think that your capsule contains about 100 mg. of DHA. Since there is about a 15 percent retro-conversion of DHA to EPA, you would probably need about 10 capsules to get 150 mg. of EPA.”
Hope this helps.

I know this is an old post, so it may not pertain to the original poster, however perhaps someone else will find it useful. I am newbie vegan zoner and found a vegan algae oil supplement that has both DHA and EPA. It can be found at www.water4.net. You can also go to some place like veganessentials.com and do a search for "DHA" and find some other choices. I have tried the O-Mega-Zen3 DHA supplement, but it had a very fishy taste, which to me was gross. The V-Pure capsules from water4 are tasteless, and if you order from their web site, it's cheaper than vegan essentials and offers free shipping (although it does take a while as it's shipped from Switzerland).

-kristopher

This might be a really nice alternative for those who don't tolerate fish oil very well. I am not familiar with the product, what is the concentration of EPA and DHA?

Each capsule contains 90 mg DHA and 25 mg EPA.

-kristopher

That is a very low concentration, compared to Zone Labs fish oil. Does it have any other ingredients?

There are no other ingredients, but the capsules are pretty small (it looks like they are approximately the same size as the OmegaRX MicroCaps). Compared to the OmegaRX MicroCaps the concentration of DHA is about the same (OmegaRX MicroCaps have 100mg per cap), but, yes, the EPA is much lower (OmegaRX Microcaps have 200 mg). However, it's the only vegan EFA supplement with EPA that I have found, so it works great for me.

-kristopher

That is good. I was concerned that there were other additives, which might prevent you from increasing your dose. But, since there are none, that is good. Glad it is working for you!