Top 5 Common Food Sources of ALA
Looking to get more ALA in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of this essential fatty acid, per serving. Getting enough ALA as part of a healthy balanced diet is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements or multivitamins doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
| Rank | Food | Nutrivore Score | Serving Size (Raw) | ALA (g/serving) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flaxseed Oil, Cold-Pressed | 428 | 1 tbsp | 7.3 | 454 |
| 2 | Flaxseed | 515 | 1 oz / 28 g | 6.4 | 399 |
| 3 | Chia Seeds, Dried | 450 | 1 oz / 28 g | 5.0 | 312 |
| 4 | Hemp Seeds, Hulled | 415 | 1 oz / 28 g | 2.8 | 178 |
| 5 | Walnuts | 303 | 1 oz / 28 g | 2.5 | 159 |
Want to know more about this essential nutrient including the health effects of ALA, how much ALA we need, what happens if we have low ALA levels or if we get too much, and even more awesome ALA rich foods? Keep reading to learn all there is to know about this healthy fat!
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What Is ALA and What Does It Do?
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the only omega-3 fatty acid that’s truly essential, and is the most abundant omega-3 fat in most people’s diets. It’s an important component of the phospholipid layer of cell membranes, where it increases permeability and fluidity—in turn influencing cell membrane receptor systems and gene expression. Like other omega-3s, it helps form important signaling molecules called eicosanoids, which then help regulate inflammation, blood pressure, and pain perception.
Getting enough ALA is important for normal growth and development, as well as for modulating inflammatory responses. Along with playing a very protective role for cardiovascular health, it may help protect against some cancers, reduce certain forms of depression (including clinical depression and depression associated with multiple sclerosis), and reduce the risk of pneumonia. It even has antibacterial activity against H. pylori, the microbe that causes stomach ulcers!
Learn more about ALA here.
ALA Deficiency
True omega-3 deficiency is extremely rare because the body can release essential fatty acids from fat stores into circulation, even in cases of low intake or fat malabsorption disorders. This mechanism helps prevent acute deficiency, even on fat-restricted diets. For preventing deficiency, 0.2 to 0.3% of total calories consumed daily should be from ALA.
Groups At Risk
Documented omega-3 deficiency cases primarily occurred in the 1970s and 1980s due to parenteral nutrition lacking polyunsaturated fatty acids, combined with glucose solutions that inhibited essential fatty acid release from fat tissue.
Learn more here.
Symptoms of Deficiency
Symptoms of omega-3 deficiency include dry, scaly skin rashes and hair loss. Chronic omega-3 deficiency can also lead to numbness, leg pain, difficulty walking, poor growth in children, and blurred vision, but these side effects are rare. The primary concern with low omega-3 intake is an increased long-term risk of chronic health issues rather than acute symptoms; chronic issues include cardiovascular disease, inflammatory skin conditions, and obesity.
The effects of ALA deficiency are difficult to study due to its conversion into EPA and DHA, and it may not cause noticeable deficiency if EPA and DHA are obtained directly from dietary sources. Any issues linked to ALA deficiency are typically related to insufficient DHA, its primary end product.
Learn more here.
How Much ALA Do We Need?
The following table summarizes the current adequate intake recommendations for ALA based on age, gender, or situation. These intake recommendations should consider the significant individual differences in ALA conversion rates, as well as the amount of omega-6 in the diet. Generally, including ALA-rich foods like nuts, seeds, and fatty fish is sufficient to meet most people’s omega-3 requirements.
| 0 – 6 months | |||||
| 6 months to < 12 months | |||||
| 1 yr – 3 yrs | |||||
| 4 yrs – 8 yrs | |||||
| 9 yrs – 13 yrs | |||||
| 14 yrs – 18 yrs | |||||
| 19 yrs – 50 yrs | |||||
| 51+ yrs | |||||
| Pregnant (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (31 – 50 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (31 – 50 yrs) |
Nutrient Daily Values
Nutrition requirements and recommended nutrient intake for infants, children, adolescents, adults, mature adults, and pregnant and lactating individuals.
More Food Sources of ALA
The best food sources of the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid ALA are flaxseed, hempseed, chia seeds, and their oils; it’s also found in nuts and other seeds, and in vegetable oils (like soybean oil and canola oil). Aside from these plant foods it is also found in oily fish such as sardines, eel, salmon, and tuna.
Best Food Sources of ALA
The following foods are the best sources of ALA, containing at least 0.8 grams or 50% of the recommended adequate intake per serving.
Good Food Sources of ALA
The following foods are excellent or good sources of omega-3 ALA, containing 0.16 grams up to 0.8 grams, or at least 10% (and up to 50%) of the recommended adequate intake per serving.
Top 5 Common Food Sources
If you’re looking for top 5 common food sources of other important nutrients check out these posts!
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Foods High in Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)
