{
  "dataset": "flaxseed-oil-cost-by-brand",
  "title": "Flaxseed Oil Supplements Compared — cost per gram of disclosed ALA",
  "sourcePage": "https://verifiedsupplementdata.com/flaxseed-oil/best-overall/",
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "Verified Supplement Data (2026), Flaxseed Oil Cost Comparison",
  "dateModified": "2026-07-19",
  "methodology": "Flaxseed oil is roughly 50-60% ALA by weight, so the front-of-label oil mg (or softgel mg) is not the ALA mg — shopping by oil mg alone overstates the actual ALA dose. Only 2 of 6 products tracked here (Barlean's liquid, NatureWise softgels) disclose ALA mg per serving directly; the other 4 disclose only total flaxseed-oil mg and are flagged as a separate, unrankable-by-ALA group rather than filled in with an estimated number. costPerGramAla = (price / (servings x disclosed ALA mg per serving)) x 1000, computed only for the 2 disclosed products. Even for disclosed products, more ALA does not proportionally raise blood EPA and essentially never raises DHA: the ALA→EPA conversion pathway runs at roughly 5% and ALA→DHA at under 0.5% in healthy nonvegetarian adults (Plourde & Cunnane 2007, PMID 17622276) — flaxseed oil reliably raises plasma/erythrocyte EPA (Harper 2006, PMID 16365063: +60% plasma EPA on 3g ALA/day) but does not raise DHA in any multi-week human dosing trial reviewed for this cluster. A 2022 scoping review (Lane et al., PMID 33576691) found high-dose flaxseed oil produced no increase to the omega-3 index across the RCTs reviewed, while algal oil raised it in every study reviewed — see /algal-omega-3/ for the vegan source that actually delivers DHA. ALA's own cardiovascular-risk association is real but observational-strength, not RCT hard-outcome evidence: Pan et al. 2012 (PMID 23076616, meta-analysis, n=251,049) found a pooled RR of 0.9 for dietary-intake studies, but the more rigorous biomarker-based studies found a non-significant RR of 0.8. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA; these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.",
  "headline": {
    "productsCompared": 6,
    "disclosedCount": 2,
    "undisclosedCount": 4,
    "referenceGramMg": 1000,
    "cheapestPerGramAlaBrand": "NatureWise",
    "cheapestPerGramAlaCost": 0.1099,
    "highestAlaDisclosedBrand": "Barlean's",
    "highestAlaDisclosedMg": 7640,
    "tablespoonAlaMg": 7640,
    "alaAdequateIntakeMenMg": 1600,
    "alaAdequateIntakeWomenMg": 1100,
    "alaToEpaConversionPct": 5,
    "alaToDhaConversionPct": 0.5,
    "note": "Only the 2 ALA-disclosed products (Barlean's liquid, NatureWise softgels) can be ranked by cost per gram ALA. The other 4 (NOW Foods, Nature Made, Nutricost, Barlean's Omega 3-6-9) disclose only total oil mg or an ambiguous-serving ALA claim, and are flagged, not estimated into the ranking."
  },
  "columns": [
    "brand",
    "product",
    "slug",
    "form",
    "oilMgPerServing",
    "alaMgPerServing",
    "servings",
    "price",
    "costPerServing",
    "costPerGramAla",
    "verdict",
    "note",
    "certification"
  ],
  "units": {
    "oilMgPerServing": "mg flaxseed oil",
    "alaMgPerServing": "mg ALA",
    "price": "USD",
    "costPerServing": "USD/serving",
    "costPerGramAla": "USD per gram of disclosed ALA"
  },
  "citations": [
    {
      "claim": "\"In vivo studies in humans show that ≈5% of ALA is converted to EPA and <0.5% of ALA is converted to DHA... even large amounts of dietary ALA have a negligible effect on plasma DHA.\" Narrative review, no apparent industry association.",
      "source": "Plourde M, Cunnane SC. 2007, Appl Physiol Nutr Metab",
      "pmid": "17622276"
    },
    {
      "claim": "3g ALA/day from flaxseed oil for 12 weeks (n=56): plasma EPA rose 60% (p=0.004), plasma DPA rose 25% (p=0.03) — plasma DHA did NOT change in either group.",
      "source": "Harper CR, et al. 2006, J Nutr",
      "pmid": "16365063"
    },
    {
      "claim": "1.2-3.6g ALA/day dose-ranging vs. fish-oil EPA+DHA vs. placebo, 12 weeks, n=62 firefighters: 2.4-3.6g ALA/day significantly raised erythrocyte ALA, EPA, and DPA — no significant erythrocyte DHA rise reported in the flax arms.",
      "source": "Barceló-Coblijn G, et al. 2008, Am J Clin Nutr",
      "pmid": "18779299"
    },
    {
      "claim": "\"High dose flaxseed or echium seed oil supplements provided no increases to O3I [omega-3 index] and some studies showed reductions... microalgal oil supplementation increased O3I levels for all studies.\" Scoping review of 13 RCTs.",
      "source": "Lane KE, et al. 2022, Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr",
      "pmid": "33576691"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Meta-analysis of 27 observational studies (n=251,049, 15,327 CVD events): pooled RR 0.90 (95% CI 0.81-0.99) for dietary-intake studies; pooled RR 0.80 (95% CI 0.63-1.03, NOT significant) for biomarker-based studies. Harvard-affiliated, no apparent industry association.",
      "source": "Pan A, et al. 2012, Am J Clin Nutr",
      "pmid": "23076616"
    },
    {
      "claim": "8g ALA/day from flaxseed oil vs. safflower oil (equivalent linoleic acid), 12 weeks, n=59 dyslipidaemic men: significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.016, p=0.011).",
      "source": "Paschos GK, et al. 2007, Eur J Clin Nutr",
      "pmid": "17268413"
    }
  ],
  "products": [
    {
      "brand": "NatureWise",
      "product": "Flaxseed Oil 1200mg, CCOF Organic, 240 Softgels",
      "slug": "naturewise-flaxseed-oil-1200mg",
      "form": "Softgel",
      "oilMgPerServing": 1200,
      "alaMgPerServing": 720,
      "servings": 240,
      "price": 18.99,
      "costPerServing": 0.08,
      "costPerGramAla": 0.1099,
      "verdict": "disclosed",
      "note": "720mg ALA disclosed in the product title — the only softgel product in this comparison with ALA mg disclosed in the listing itself. Whether the 720mg figure is per single softgel or a multi-softgel serving is NOT confirmed against the actual Supplement Facts panel — shown here as a disclosed-but-unverified-serving-count estimate, not a fully confirmed label figure.",
      "certification": "CCOF Certified Organic, Non-GMO"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Barlean's",
      "product": "Organic Flaxseed Oil, 8 fl oz (Liquid)",
      "slug": "barleans-organic-flaxseed-oil-liquid",
      "form": "Liquid",
      "oilMgPerServing": 14000,
      "alaMgPerServing": 7640,
      "servings": 16,
      "price": 14.49,
      "costPerServing": 0.91,
      "costPerGramAla": 0.1185,
      "verdict": "disclosed",
      "note": "7,640mg (7.64g) ALA per 1 tbsp serving, disclosed directly on the label — the cleanest ALA figure in this comparison and the cluster's dose-spine anchor. Servings-per-container (16) inferred from bottle volume ÷ a standard 15mL tbsp, not confirmed against the Supplement Facts panel image.",
      "certification": "Organic (cold-pressed)"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Nature Made",
      "product": "Flaxseed Oil 1000mg, Fish-Free Omega-3, 180 Softgels",
      "slug": "nature-made-flaxseed-oil-1000mg",
      "form": "Softgel",
      "oilMgPerServing": 1000,
      "alaMgPerServing": null,
      "servings": 180,
      "price": 15.49,
      "costPerServing": 0.09,
      "costPerGramAla": null,
      "verdict": "undisclosed",
      "note": "ALA mg not disclosed on this listing. A related Nature Made Extra Strength 1400mg SKU discloses 700mg ALA/serving elsewhere (50% of oil mg), suggesting a similar ratio here, but that figure is NOT confirmed for this specific SKU and is not used in cost-per-gram-ALA math.",
      "certification": "None stated"
    },
    {
      "brand": "NOW Foods",
      "product": "Flax Oil 1000mg, Cold Pressed, 120 Veg Softgels",
      "slug": "now-foods-flax-oil-1000mg",
      "form": "Softgel",
      "oilMgPerServing": 1000,
      "alaMgPerServing": null,
      "servings": 120,
      "price": 11.6,
      "costPerServing": 0.1,
      "costPerGramAla": null,
      "verdict": "undisclosed",
      "note": "ALA mg not disclosed on the Amazon listing — only total flaxseed-oil mg (1000mg/softgel). At the category-typical 50-55% ALA-by-weight, this would estimate to roughly 500-550mg ALA, but that is NOT a label-confirmed figure and is not used in cost-per-gram-ALA math.",
      "certification": "Hexane-free extraction"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Nutricost",
      "product": "Flaxseed Oil 1200mg, 120 Softgels",
      "slug": "nutricost-flaxseed-oil-1200mg",
      "form": "Softgel",
      "oilMgPerServing": 1200,
      "alaMgPerServing": null,
      "servings": 120,
      "price": 11.95,
      "costPerServing": 0.1,
      "costPerGramAla": null,
      "verdict": "undisclosed",
      "note": "ALA mg not disclosed on the Amazon listing — only total flaxseed-oil mg (1200mg/softgel). Not used in cost-per-gram-ALA math.",
      "certification": "GMO-free, gluten-free"
    },
    {
      "brand": "Barlean's",
      "product": "Omega 3-6-9 Flaxseed Oil Softgels, 250 Ct",
      "slug": "barleans-omega-3-6-9-flaxseed-oil",
      "form": "Softgel",
      "oilMgPerServing": 1650,
      "alaMgPerServing": null,
      "servings": 250,
      "price": 38.99,
      "costPerServing": 0.16,
      "costPerGramAla": null,
      "verdict": "undisclosed",
      "note": "1,650mg ALA claimed on the product title, but the softgel-count-per-serving this figure applies to is NOT stated in the fetched listing — an omega 3-6-9 blend (flaxseed oil plus other oils), not flaxseed oil alone. Most expensive product in this comparison; excluded from cost-per-gram-ALA math due to serving-size ambiguity, not dropped from the comparison.",
      "certification": "None stated"
    }
  ]
}