One of the most important health discoveries over the last few decades is that most of us are deficient in what is known as the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. There are a number of these Omega 3 fats, primarily ALA (alpha linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), though there are others.
It is considered generally that DHA, which makes up a large percentage of our brain, is the most important these however EPA, also an Omega 3 fat, is also essential to optimum health.
Unfortunately over the last hundred years our diets have changed and we are now eating less and less of the main source of DHA and EPA, namely seafood and in particular oily fish. For this reason it is now generally considered that most of us are deficient in these 2 important nutrients and that this deficiency can lead to a wide range of risks for poor health, and that increasing our intake of both these essential fats can help guard against various health conditions.
But I also mentioned ALA. What is ALA omega 3 fat and where does it come from? Whereas DHA and EPA come from marine sources ALA comes from plant-based sources. It’s not found in fish and therefore eating fish does not increase your intake of ALA.
However there are many people taking various vegetarian supplements, primarily amongst them flax seed oil supplements. As flax seed oil supplements contain the plant-based form of Omega 3 fat, namely ALA, are these people therefore getting sufficient quantities of the important essential fatty acids?
Sadly taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements is not sufficient as ALA is not as important to your health as DHA and EPA. ALA can be converted in your body to DHA and EPA however is done so at a very low rate, and also converts more poorly for those of us who are less healthy.
The answer is that vegetarian Omega 3 supplements are taken by people who do not wish to take supplements sourced from seafood, and that many of these people are unaware that they are not getting the right Omega 3 fats.
The bottom line is that virtually all of us are deficient in the fish-based Omega 3 fats DHA and EPA. These are what are important to our health and taking an ALA Omega 3 supplement such as a flax seed oil supplement does not address this problem. To find out more about the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA and in particular about where to source high quality fish oil supplements containing these fats visit my website.
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