Omega 7

Heligan

Just out of curiosity I have been trying to research omega seven and what foods contain it. There seems to be little info out there and most of it is badly sources and repeats the same four or five foods. Obvious its not one of the things on cronometer at present either.

I'm not sure how important it really is to track it or try to include foods with it.... it may well be in many foods in small quantities and only the big four or five are getting mentioned out of laziness (like red meat, pulses, brocolli, spinach, peas when we talk about iron).

BRBWaffles

Nobody really uses the nomenclature "omega-7" to describe those particular fatty acids. This could explain some of the trouble you're having searching for foods. You can go to NutritionData's nutrient search tool and look in their fatty acid selection and search for 16:1, 18:1, 18:2, and 20:1. Those are all n-7 fatty acids.

Heligan

From a vegan perspective the answer seems to be they are mostly in seeds, nuts, legumes and grains.

18:1 looks like the best vegan sources are nut sources. Hazelnuts top it, then macadamia, pecans, almonds, cashews. Also in sunflower oil, hazelnut oil, saffflower oil, olive oil, canola oil, potatoes, onion rings and sun dried tomatoes. Rice bran.

18:2 best sources are seeds and oils. saffflower, grapseseed, sunflower. Walnuts (english), Walnuts (black), watermelon seeds, pine nuts, sesame seeds. Veg sources are potatoes, peppers, soybeans, onion rings. And in wheat germ, rice bran, oat flour, quinoa, amarath, oat bran. In peanuts, tofu, miso, chickpeas, lentils, pigeon peas, baked beans, soymilk, broadbeans.

20:1 Has beechnuts, macadamia, pine nuts.....then a big drop in mg to... black walnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachio, cashew, hazelnuts, seasme seeds, sunflower seeds. Also Tofu, mustard seed... and lower amounts in .., celery seed, cumin seed, curry powder.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/palmitoleic-acid

It seems I may well have been avoiding some sources in my efforts to avoid palm oil as well. I may need to force feed myself macadamia nuts to make up for it... one of the few foods I really dislike.

https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(14)01769-9/pdf

I think Im going to try a sea buckthorn based supplement.... as a trial run to see if it can help my eczema... basically it was looking for stuff that might be a deficiency causing skin to be drier that got me to looking into omega seven to begin with... my diet can be quite bad as I cant cook when skin is at its worst.

Susan_RD_101

@Heligan

Omega 7 fats are not considered essential to the body, so not something I would be overly concerned about consuming. You may wish to pay closer attention to your total intake of omega 3 to 6, as well as your absolute intake of omega 3. If you don't already supplement with DHA as a vegan, it may be helpful to start.

Kind regards,

Heligan

My omega 3 and 6 are fine according to cronometer.
I'm not strict vegetarian or vegan; I eat fish occassionally along with occassional eggs and dairy... I do not like eating fish however, or eggs etc so prefer vegan sources if possble (so my first focus with any nutrient is plant based sources).

I do take epa-dha occassionally alongside flaxseed. Expense is a factor with them epa-dha supplements unfortunately, but they do seem to be getting cheaper than they were and a lot easier to get than a decade ago. Id been vegetarian quite a while before I got hold of the EPA-DHA stuff (it just wasnt really available 15 years ago) and took them dedicatedly for a while, but didnt notice much skin benefit or any benefit really.... so I became a bit less dedicated to taking them everyday- the long term brain stuff is still a concern I suppose though.

Mostly my most immediate worry about my levels of anything is the impact on skin health... my diet has declined since cooking became difficult due to skin cracking and blistering so much. I dont think the bad diet is helping the skin heal- so its become a vicious circle.

Susan_RD_101

@Heligan

This isn't a nutrition recommendation and is completely anecdotal. I have a close friend with severe eczema who has more or less "cured" her skin lesions with CBD oil. May be something worth speaking with your MD about.

It's also possible that you could have psoriatic arthritis; in this condition, medications are often necessary to calm the overactive immune system.

Best of luck!