Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Those who eat more dha have been clinically proven to be smarter in adulthood. And guess what's found in cow brains? dha.
In fact, some of the best animal sources of dha are the retina, the brain and another bodily fluid that's too gross to mention here as a food source. It's interesting that people who eat beef skip all the parts of the animal that would enhance their own brain function, isn't it? A lack of dietary dha promotes heart disease, Alzheimer's, dementia and poor cognitive function. Poor cognitive function (i.e. |
| It's beef, stupid
It's no exaggeration to say that people who eat lots of beef, but who fail to eat the DHA-rich parts of the animal or supplement with other sources of dha (such as fish oils) display lower intelligence than people who follow plant-based diets with dha supplementation. It doesn't mean that eating beef makes you stupid. Rather, it means that the dumber a person is, the more beef they're likely to eat and the less likely they are to seek out and consume healthy oils like dha. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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 Other than fresh-picked seaweed, which is not a staple of the American diet, plant foods rarely contain EPA or dha. By contrast, the third omega-3, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is
FACT
Fish oil is the best source EPA and dha omega-3 found primarily in dark green leafy vegetables, flaxseed oil, and certain vegetable oils. Although ALA has different influences than dha and EPA, your body has enzymes that can convert ALA to EPA. EPA, dha, and ALA are important to human health.
Both omega-3s and -6s are vital to your health, but most people consume too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Morris believes that increased levels of dha may be responsible for the slower decline in thinking ability. In a previous study, Morris found that dha reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. "DHA is very important for the communication between neurons and the overall functioning of neurons," she explains.
THE JURY IS STILL OUT
At least one expert thinks this study does not make a conclusive case that DHA—or any other omega-3 fatty acid, for that matter—is the reason that fish consumption appears to slow a decline in thinking ability.
Greg M. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 The other two omega-3s, which I consider to be the most important of all (docosahexaenoic acid, dha, and eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA), can theoretically be made in the body from the first omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid), but the body does a lousy job of it—only about 20 percent of alpha-linolenic acid gets converted to dha and EPA. That's why fish and fish oil are so great—they give you ready-made dha and EPA so your body doesn't have to make them. But I digress.
What's Wrong with Omega-6? |
Bottom Line Health
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| In a previous study, Morris found that dha reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. "DHA is very important for the communication between neurons and the overall functioning of neurons," she explains.
THE JURY IS STILL OUT
At least one expert thinks this study does not make a conclusive case that DHA—or any other omega-3 fatty acid, for that matter—is the reason that fish consumption appears to slow a decline in thinking ability.
Greg M. |
Gary Null and Amy McDonald
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 Probably most Americans are deficient in dha because we are not getting it from our foods. dha is found in highest concentration in cold water fish. But most Americans don't eat enough of it. The body can also make dha from flaxseed oil, but there are a variety of conditions that impact the body's ability to do so, and the red blood cell fatty acid analysis can tell us whether the body is actually making that conversion or not."
Amino acid analysis also is important. "The amino acids are the building blocks, the precursors for the neurotransmitters." Dr. Debe explains. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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| The two you may be most familiar with are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and dha (docosahexaenoic acid), which are found primarily in oily coldwater fish such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Other than fresh-picked seaweed, which is not a staple of the American diet, plant foods rarely contain EPA or dha. By contrast, the third omega-3, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is
FACT
Fish oil is the best source EPA and dha omega-3 found primarily in dark green leafy vegetables, flaxseed oil, and certain vegetable oils. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |
| And guess what's found in cow brains? dha.
In fact, some of the best animal sources of dha are the retina, the brain and another bodily fluid that's too gross to mention here as a food source. It's interesting that people who eat beef skip all the parts of the animal that would enhance their own brain function, isn't it? A lack of dietary dha promotes heart disease, Alzheimer's, dementia and poor cognitive function. Poor cognitive function (i.e. a poorly performing brain) causes people to make poor decisions about diet, such as eating more beef. And so the cycle continues. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| ALA from walnuts is still a great omega-3 and has health benefits of its own, but I personally recommend getting some additional, fully formed EPA and dha in your diet either through fish or fish-oil supplements.
EXPERTS' TOP TEN MBHHBHI
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.
Dharma Singh Khalsa is the only United States-born and-trained medical doctor I know of who is also a practicing Sikh. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 Aim for 13 ounces of fish a week, or, if you prefer supplements, take 2 grams of fish oil a day (metabolically distilled), or dha from algae (where fish get their omega-3s), or an ounce of walnuts a day. dha is the omega-3 that seems best for the brain.
YOU Tip: Try Chi. Chi-gong, an activity that looks like slow-mo martial arts, can not only help improve your physical well-being but can serve as a mind-clearing exercise. This slow, gentle series of movements can help reduce the noise and is especially great if you have aches and pains that hold you back from your normal routine. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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| Although ALA has different influences than dha and EPA, your body has enzymes that can convert ALA to EPA. EPA, dha, and ALA are important to human health.
Both omega-3s and -6s are vital to your health, but most people consume too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3.The reason for this is that most Americans have a diet rich in omega-6 source foods (fried foods, margarine, whole-grain bread, baked goods, and other saturated fats), and low in omega-3 source foods such as fish. Due to these eating habits, the typical American diet contains as much as 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3! |
Gary Null and Amy McDonald
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| Fish oil capsules have two different types of omega-3s in them called EPA and dha. It usually comes in 1000 milligram capsules and you need to take quite a lot of it. I recommend a total of about 10 grams per day of EPA and dha divided into two doses. That usually works out to about 20 capsules per day. You should also increase the amount of fish and greens in your diet. If you have a bleeding disorder or if you are on aspirin or Coumadin or other drugs affecting your clotting, you should really only take fish oil under the close monitoring of a physician because fish oils do thin the blood. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 But if you had to choose, I'd go with the fish oil, since it's the only way to be sure you're actually getting EPA and dha.
Also note: Although it's definitely possible to get all of your fish oil from actual fish, you'd have to eat an awful lot to get the therapeutic dose for lowering triglycerides, for example, or for relieving depression. Nonetheless, fish is a great way to get the basic preventive dose of
EPA and dha. Concerns about the quality of fish and possible contaminations have left some people nervous about eating too much of it. |
Bottom Line Health
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| The rate reduction is the equivalent of being three to four years younger in age," Morris says.
THE dha CONNECTION
Fish is a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to be essential for neurocogni-tive development and normal brain functioning. In addition, fish consumption has been associated with a lower risk of dementia and stroke. Some recent studies have discovered that one omega-3 fatty acid in particular, docosahexae-noic acid (DHA), is important for memory in older animals. |
Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews
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 They didn't feel it was possible to set an acceptable range for all omega-3 fatty acids (ALA, dha, EPA). They therefore recommended that a target amount of EPA or dha is 160 milligrams a day for men and 110 milligrams a day for women. I personally feel the EPA/DHA recommendation should be higher to achieve optimal health. My goal is about 1 gram of marine-derived EPA/DHA a day and I concur with the Food and Nutrition Board's daily recommendation on ALA, which is the amount found in less than 1 tablespoon of flaxseed. |
F. Batmanghelidj
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 It is rich in both lecithin, which is the precursor of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). dha is an essential fat for maintaining brain function. It is needed for the constant repair of brain-cell membranes and their cell-to-cell contact points—synaptosomes. The nerve structure of the eyes uses much dha for interpreting colors and for quality and sharpness of vision. Apart from being found in eggs, dha is also found in cold-water fish and algae. |
Mary-Ann Shearer
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 EPA and dha are needed by the body along with vitamin E to be efficiently processed. Fish oil lacks vitamin E whereas flaxseed oil and other cold-pressed vegetable oils have an abundance of vitamin E. Eating fats from plants allows your body to make all the EPA and dha it needs, whereas you could be seriously overdosing when taking fish oil. It seems somewhat insane to be killing fish to extract the oils when you can get everything you need from plant foods in a far better, more natural and usable state. Some people claim that we do not have the ability to convert Omega 3 to EPA and dha. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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| Although ALA has different influences than dha and EPA, your body has enzymes that can convert ALA to EPA. EPA, dha, and ALA are important to human health.
Both omega-3s and -6s are vital to your health, but most people consume too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3.The reason for this is that most Americans have a diet rich in omega-6 source foods (fried foods, margarine, whole-grain bread, baked goods, and other saturated fats), and low in omega-3 source foods such as fish. Due to these eating habits, the typical American diet contains as much as 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3! |
Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD, FRCP(C) and Dr. Jonathan Prousjy, DPHE, DSC, ND, FRSH
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 For the treatment of mental disorders, the daily dose of fish oil should provide a minimum of 1000 mg of EPA daily, but better results might be more achievable with higher daily doses containing both EPA and dha. In terms of the optimum dosage for cardiovascular protection and treatment, the daily amount of fish oil should provide 450 to 1000 mg of both EPA and dha (the minimum effective daily dose is 400 mg of EPA and 200 mg of dha). |
Dr. Steven R. Gundry
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 The two most useful omega-3 fats are EPA and dha (short for those long, impossible-to-pronounce words I won't trouble you with again), which are "long-chain" omega-3s. Our bodies can join a bunch of short chains together to manufacture long-chains, but it is not clear how efficiently we do this. dha from algae is becoming increasingly available. Again, do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are.
Hate swallowing capsules or pills? Eat your ALA! Walnuts are a very good source of ALA and represent one of the pillars in Dr. G's World-Famous Nut Mix (page 196). |
Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
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 In other words, AFA amplifies the EPA and dha levels in the blood. Momoatomic rhodium and iridium have also been found in AFA.2 These are the only vegan sources we have of EPA. AFA grows almost everywhere. dha, another important long-chain Omega-3 fatty acid, especially for brain function, is available from a golden algae as well as AFA. An extract of the dha from golden algae is available at the Tree of Life. Flax seed and hemp seed will provide most of the short-chain Omega-3 fatty acids. Coconut oil is a great oil for building ojas, as are hemp seed and macadamia nuts. |
Paula Begoun and Bryan Barron
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 DHA, the same ingredient found in most self-tanners. This version is suitable for normal to oily skin, but is not preferred to the Clarins self-tanning products above because of its potentially irritating fragrance components.
© Sheer Bronze Tinted Self Tanning, for Legs ($29.50for 4.4 ounces) contains pigments to turn skin a sheer golden bronze color (with shimmer) instantly, while the self-tanning ingredient dha develops a "tan" over a couple of hours. Although this is a good option from the neck down, it's basically a superfluous addition to the Clarins self-tanning lineup. |
Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.
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 There are basically three omega-3 fatty acids we are interested in: ALA (alpha linolenic acid)—which is found in flaxseeds—and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and dha (docosahexaenoic acid), both of which are found in fish. EPA and dha are the most important, and the body is supposed to make them from ALA. Unfortunately, it doesn't always do this successfully—only about 20 percent of ALA eventually winds up as EPA and dha. |
Paula Begoun and Bryan Barron
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| Despite the lack of ethics involved in encouraging tanning, this is a good self-tanning lotion that contains dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and a small amount of erythrulose, an ingredient similar to dha that develops color at a slower rate.
© Intense Bronze Self Tanning Tint, for Face and Decollete ($28.50for 4.2 ounces) is a tinted self-tanner so you'll get instant sheer bronze color and a longer-lasting "tan" once the dihydroxyacetone has time to work its magic on skin. Alcohol is the third ingredient listed, but it's unlikely to cause irritation because of the small amount. |
Steven V. Joyal
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 We strongly recommend that for optimal metabolic and cardiovascular health, you consume at least 1,400 mg of EPA and 1,000 mg of dha daily. The most convenient way to accomplish this is to consume a high-quality fish oil certified by
International Fish Oil Standards (vfww.nutrasource.ca/ifos_new/ index.asp) to be free of toxins such as heavy metals (mercury, cadmium), PCBs, dioxins, and fluoranes. You can and should consume more ALA from sources such as walnuts and flaxseed, but know that its rate of conversion to EPA and dha becomes inefficient as we age. |
Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.
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| EPA and dha are the most important, and the body is supposed to make them from ALA. Unfortunately, it doesn't always do this successfully—only about 20 percent of ALA eventually winds up as EPA and dha. This has led many clinicians, myself included, to favor supplementing with fish oil—since it contains ready-made EPA and DHA—and to just forget about the "parent molecule" of ALA found in flaxseed oil. |
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