There have been some significant health discoveries over the last few decades, but perhaps the most important is that most of us are deficient in the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. The major omega 3 fatty acids are ALA, DHA and EPA. ALA (alpha linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are all healthy fats.

DHA is generally considered to be the most important of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. This makes up a large proportion of our brain and is essential to good health. EPA is also very important to good health.

There has been a significant decline over the last hundred years in our intake of seafood and in particular fish. As these are the most important sources of DHA and EPA our intake of these 2 essential omega 3 fats has declined thereby opening us up to to an increased risk of contracting various health problems.

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.

But vegetarians do not take omega 3 supplements contain DHA and EPA as these come from fish, and so in most cases are taking Omega 3 supplements that come from such sources as flax seed oil. Therefore they are getting ALA only. Are they getting sufficient Omega3 fats?

Unfortunately no. The reason is that DHA and EPA are by far the most important of the essential fatty acids. ALA can be converted in the body into DHA and EPA, however the rate at which the body converts it is very poor, and varies according to your state of health. Those amongst us who are healthier can convert ALA at a higher rate, those of us less healthy, as well as the elderly, convert it at a slower rate. But in any event the rate at which it is converted to the important essential fatty acids DHA and EPA is very low.

So if it isn’t sufficient to take vegetarian Omega 3 supplements why do people take them? Because as vegetarians they cannot take traditional Omega 3 supplements sourced from seafood. And many people taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements are unaware that they are not providing sufficient levels of the important 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.