Sales of DHA supplements are growing faster than any other nutritional dietary supplement in history.

Lets examine exactly what DHA supplements are and what they do.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is one of the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids known as essential fatty acids. It is, however, not the only essential fatty acid. Others include EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), and more. These are known as Omega 3 fatty acids.

They are known as essential fatty acids because scientists and health professionals who research our health consider them to be essential for the maintenance of good health, and to help prevent, or ameliorate a range of common health problems.

We have been brought up to believe that fats are bad for us. And in some cases this is true. For example saturated fat, most commonly found in animal products, is not good for our health. However it’s not true that all fat is bad for us and the Omega 3 fatty acids, particularly DHA and EPA, are considered essential to good health. They are polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Unlike some nutrients our bodies are unable to create DHA, or the other essential fatty acids, itself. Rather we must rely on dietary intake for our supply of these Omega-3 fatty acids.

Whilst in the past there was a range of sources of DHA in our diet these sources have reduced over the past hundred years. Fish oil from oily fish was the single biggest source of DHA in our diets, however during the last century the amount of fish in the average American diet has reduced dramatically.

However there are other sources of DHA as well. For example meat has been a good source of DHA and EPA in the past, however is now not so. This is because most of our meat is now sourced from grain fed animals, and grain fed beef is low in these Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Grass fed beef is much higher in Omega3 fats however grass fed beef is now relatively rare in our diets.

Over the last 30 years research has established clearly that adequate supplies of  DHA and EPA, the 2 most important of the omega 3 essential fatty acids, is essential to a wide range of health issues. Research has shown that the average American diet is inadequate in Omega 3 intake and increasing our intake can offer a wide range of health benefits including a reduction in heart disease, including fatal heart attacks, a reduction in the risk of stroke, a wide range of brain benefits including improved memory and brain function and a wide range of other improvements in our health.

You can read about many of these using the categories listed on the right.

Our brain is made up primarily of fat, and somewhere around 40 percent of that is DHA. DHA is also the most important of the essential fatty acids in the retina of our eyes.

It is now considered established that an adequate supply of DHA is essential to the growing development of the brain in a fetus and baby, as well as the nervous system, and for this reason pregnant and nursing women may also benefit from DHA supplements.

A recent study has shown that Omega 3 deficiency is one of the major causes of preventable deaths in the US.

The reduction in the intake of fish in our diets has meant that the average American diet is way too low in DHA and EPA. For this reason many health professionals, including the American Heart Association, are recommending DHA supplementation, or eating more fish, is a way to improve our levels of Omega 3 fatty acid intake, even during pregnancy. And the need to keep up an adequate intake of DHA and EPA extends to people of any age, with many health professionals recommending DHA supplements for pregnant women right through to our oldest citizens, who can also benefit from adequate dietary supplementation with Omega-3 fats.

DHA supplements are nutritional supplements which have high levels of both DHA and EPA, the 2 most important of the omega 3 fatty acids. For most of us they are the best source of essential fatty acids, and the most effective way to include these long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in our diet.

The DHA and EPA in the capsules comes from fish, which are the single best source of Omega 3 fats.

Of course we can always eat more fish, but fish is getting very expensive and can often be contaminated with toxins such as Mercury and PCBs. The best DHA supplements undergo an exacting purification process and are routinely tested for any evidence of contaminants, and the results of these tests are posted on the manufacturer’s website for customers to examine.

Inadequate intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids may well turn out to be one of the major causes of ill health in our generation. Science is certainly, it seems, tending to this conclusion. For this reason the sales of DHA supplements, or what is otherwise known as fish oil supplements or Omega 3 supplements, have grown faster than any other. Read the rest of this entry

Inadequate essential fatty acid intake can be dangerous to your health, (and kill you). How do you find good Omega 3 sources?

It is now becoming widely known that Omega 3 fatty acids, or what are sometimes called essential fatty acids or n-3 fatty acids are extremely important to your health. So let’s have a look for some good Omega3 sources.

Studies have consistently shown over the last several decades that the average American diet is deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids. These are primarily found in fish and other seafoods, although it is possible also to source omega 3 unsaturated fatty acids from other sources such as plants and animals.

As our diets lean more towards red meats and processed foods and are less comprised of vegetarian sources and are lower in fish and seafood our intake of omega 3 fatty acids reduces and our intake of Omega 6 fats increases.

The benefits of omega-3 fats to our health are well documented, being supported by much research in many studies which have established that a diet low in essential fatty acids has various health risks including increasing the risk of death from heart attack.

There are a number of different omega 3 fats. Most common of these, and the most important polyunsaturated essential fats that offer us benefits to our health, are DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). Also well-known although offering less benefits to our health is ALA (alpha-linolenic acid or a-linolenic acid) which is a plant-based Omega 3 fat. ALA sources include flaxseeds and other plant sources.

The reason that ALA is much less important to our health is that it must be converted to DHA and EPA in the body to be useful, and it is only converted in small quantities.

Over the last century our diet has changed dramatically. We have begun to consume much higher quantities of sugar, salt and fat and processed foods and much lower quantities of fruit, vegetables and fish. The result is that our diet has changed to the point where it is now deficient in DHA and EPA which we previously got from eating fish.

There have also been other changes in our diet, and also in sources of Omega3. For instance in the past beef was a good source of essential fatty acids, however in the past our animals were grass fed. As our modern animal rearing methods change from grass feeding to grain feeding the amount of omega 3 sourced in beef has reduced.

The same applies to other essential fatty acids sources such as eggs.

There are also fatty acids known as Omega 6 fatty acids. In the past our diet, comprised of more vegetarian sources and lower in fats, particularly saturated fats, had a ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 intake of roughly around 1 to 1. In other words we are roughly as much omega 3 as Omega 6.

However Omega 6 is present in a wide range of oils now commonly used in processed foods and cooking, such as sunflower oil, safflower oil and corn oil, and therefore our intake of Omega 6 fats has increased, and our intake of Omega3 fats has decreased, meaning that we are now consuming far too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega3. This has serious health implications.

It is quite clear that we should be increasing our intake of the most important polyunsaturated fatty acids. There is clear evidence that increasing our intake of omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of a wide range of health problems.

So what are the best Omega 3 sources? Or what are the best sources of essential fatty acids DHA and EPA? The answer is fish and seafoods generally, (and now also high quality Omega 3 supplements).

Our bodies are unable to make DHA and EPA themselves. Therefore our supplies of DHA and EPA must come from our diet. There are no plant sources from which we can obtain significant amounts of DHA and EPA, and other Omega3 sources such as meat and eggs now only have small amounts.

This is now recognized by mainstream medical organizations such as the American Heart Association which recommends dietary minimum levels of DHA and EPA from eating more fish or by taking fish oil supplements.

It’s quite possible to increase your intake of omega 3 fatty acids by increasing your intake of fish, particularly oily fish. However many families find that fish is too expensive, and fish is also, in many cases, contaminated with low levels of industrial chemicals such as PCBs and pesticides. For this reason the FDA recommends that we do not eat too much fish.

This is a conundrum given that there are clear health benefits, particularly a reduction in the risk of heart disease, if we eat fish.

There are excellent omega 3 supplements available and for most people these are the best food sources of essential fatty acids on a daily basis. The best of these fish oil capsules (though not all) are free of industrial chemicals and are a cost-effective way of daily supplementing our diet with DHA and EPA.

And for vegetarians it is possible to get omega 3 supplements made from marine algae, another marine source of Omega 3. Read the rest of this entry

What are the benefits of DHA to your health, and what about EPA?

Today we want to look at the benefits of DHA, (Docosahexaenoic acid), the most important of the essential fatty acids (EFAs) known as Omega 3 fatty acids, but which sometimes go under the name of n-3 fatty acids or long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The DHA benefits are numerous. Lets consider some of the reasons why DHA is so important to your health.

There are so many different fats, like saturated fats, trans-fats, unsaturated fats, essential fats that it all gets confusing. The bottom line is that there’s good fats and bad fats. Some are useful to your health and some are not. DHA as well as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are what is known as polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are beneficial to your health and most of us are deficient in our levels of these fats.

In the past our diet was much higher in fish and other seafoods. We got our polyunsaturated fatty acids in our diet. Now the average Western diet is too low in seafoods and as a result almost all of us are deficient in DHA and EPA, (unless you take high quality Omega-3 supplements).

Your body doesn’t produce essential fatty acids itself and so all of them have to come from your diet.

DHA and EPA are not the only omega 3 fatty acids. Whilst these are found in fish it is also possible to get ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) from plants, however ALA is not as useful to our body as DHA and EPA.

As well as omega 3 fatty acids there are also Omega 6 fatty acids. However whilst our intake of Omega3 fats has reduced over the years our intake of Omega 6 fats has increased. That is because the main sources of Omega 6 are oils such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, sesame oil and corn oil. As much of our processed food is cooked in or contains one or more of these oils our Omega 6 intake has increased.

An increase in the n-6 to n-3 ratio also has some serious health implications, we need to increase our intake of Omega 3 EFAs and reduce our intake of Omega 6 EFAs.

So lets have a look at the health benefits of docosahexaenoic acid. Somewhere around 60 % of the brain is made up of fat, and DHA is the predominant fat in the brain. It is also the predominant fat in the retina of the eyes.

An adequate supply of DHA is essential for the development of the brain and eyes, and pregnant or nursing mothers can supply of DHA to the fetus and the baby by taking DHA supplements themselves. Some infant formulas now contain DHA.

It is taken up more readily by the brain than any other fatty acid, because it crosses the blood/brain/placenta barrier more successfully. Most of the development of the brain occurs during the life of the fetus and infant. At birth the body weight of an infant is 5 percent of adult weight but the brain size is 70 percent of the size of an adult right. Most brain growth is completed by the age of 5 or 6.

There is evidence that 40% of children with ADHD have low levels of DHA. It is considered that it also has a beneficial effect on the academic performance of children in school.

It is also known that DHA has an important role in the development and health of the central nervous system.

For the adults studies are showing that it can help lower triglycerides and reduce the risks of heart disease, decrease blood viscosity thereby lowering the risks of blood clots and reduce the effects of various inflammatory diseases.

A study published in 2009 found that a deficiency of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats was the 6th most important cause of premature and avoidable death in the US, with somewhere around 72000 to 96000 people dying from this deficiency.

In many cases the studies are showing that the benefits of fish oil come from the combination of DHA and EPA together, and it’s difficult to separate out DHA benefits on their own. However it’s clear that increasing your intake of DHA is very important to your health.

Fish and fish oils supplements contain DHA and EPA together. However many have way more EPA than DHA, and some are now beginning to think it should be the other way round. That the DHA is more important to your health, and that this should be the predominant n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in the fish oil capsules.

The best omega-3 capsules now have more DHA than EPA.

There’s no doubt now that almost all of us on the western diet are chronically short of the essential fatty acids known as Omega-3, particularly DHA. And that for some of us this could cause our premature death. Read the rest of this entry