ALA, EPA and DHA

[HealthFreak]

Jeff,

Is this a true statement? It was made by William Harris of the Stanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota. It’s from an article in the November issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter. It’s from an article about fish oil and heart disease.

“We need to eliminate ALA as a surrogate omega-3, our bodies convert very little ALA to EPA and none to DHA. Why? The body can’t take the first step, which is to change ALA to an intermediate fat called stearidonic acid (SDA).”

I also read a similar statement in the current issue of the Economist on page 91. The article is called Food, glorious food-The way health claims about food are regulated is changing.

The Nutrition Policy Unit at London Metropolitan University says that claiming health benefits from products with the short chain omega 3s (ALA) is deceptive because proven health benefits only come from products with the long chain omega 3s (EPA and DHA). “Products that contain short-chain omega 3s, such as alpha-linolenic acid from plant oils like flax-seed oil, have not been linked with the strong health benefits shown by fish oils.”

[Laurav]

There's an EPA/DHA supplement made from algae available from http://water4.net. It has 25 mg EPA and 175 mg DHA per capsule.
It's the only algae supplement I know of that has EPA as well as DHA.
Laura

[geoffreylevens]

If I remember correctly ALA is a precursor to EPA and DHA. Many convert just fine and some do not. The ones who don't are used by the fish oil purveyors as advertising leverage to say that flax is no good. From what I have seen, it is not a lot of people who do not convert well. The big problem w/ ALA is that the conversion chain branches before the end products (EPA/DHA) and ALA can go other or to arachidonic (AA) acid which is inflammatory. We need a small amount of AA but not a lot. I think the determining factors on which branch the ALA takes include liver function and antioxidant status of the person. That means, someone eating SAD could easily produce a lot of AA from ALA. Someone on a plant based, whole foods, healthy diet would be much less likely to have a problem.

[oceanfrontcabin]

I've been trying to figure this out too. There are no plant sources of DHA. Yet the brain needs mostly DHA and some EPA (maybe as a catalyst) which is found in fish. Infants can convert ALA (flax/leafy greens/walnuts) to DHA and EPA, but apparantly human adults cannot convert enough ALA to DHA and EPA.

So, what's a human adult vegan to do? Supplement with DHA and EPA?

[JeffN]

On ALA, LA, EPA and DHA,


http://drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11105

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6735

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11112

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6293

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12720

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8461

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6183

In Health
Jeff
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[geoffreylevens]

[HealthFreak]

Thanks Jeff. Those links cleared up a lot of confusion for me on this topic.

[Langeranger]

Oceanfrontcabin wrote, "There are no plant sources of DHA." Not so. I've been ordering V-Pure from overseas for some time now. Says right on the container Vegetarian EPA-DHA. All from Algae. Google V-pure. It's pricey but available. Don't use the stuff myself, but my wife still does.

[f1jim]

The "plant source" referred to is residue from animal sources(getting the visual picture?) left behind on the sea plants. So technically it's still animal but the most recent literature shows this conversion is really not a problem.
f1jim
_________________
While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at http://www.drmcdougall.com/star.html Scroll to James Brown

[geoffreylevens]

[geoffreylevens]

DOH!

[geoffreylevens]

Akkk

[f1jim]

I heard this discussed at one of the study weekends at Dr. McDougalls facility in Santa Rosa but I can't find a source so for now scratch my comment. It may just be poor blood flow to my brain. What still holds true is we have no problem making the conversion to DHA from sources such as flax seed. The most recent studies lay that controversy to rest.
f1jim
_________________
While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at http://www.drmcdougall.com/star.html Scroll to James Brown

[geoffreylevens]

oops

[f1jim]

I think I figured out who Batman is!
f1jim
_________________
While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at http://www.drmcdougall.com/star.html Scroll to James Brown