ALA conversion into EPA and DHA

[Deleted member 12226]

Is it really true ALA is really not converted much at all into the other types of omega 3's? Before seafood was available in grocery stores, how did people around the world who lived nowhere near the sea or rivers with fish like salmon and trout get their EPA and DHA?

 

[Lou]

Is it really true ALA is really not converted much at all into the other types of omega 3's?

I think that is something that is not wholly understood. I have read that the conversion process is slow so that that Maybe a person won't get enough of the other types of Omega 3 just from the conversion. I've also read that the conversion is worse in older people and people with health issues.

Before seafood was available in grocery stores, how did people around the world who lived nowhere near the sea or rivers with fish like salmon and trout get their EPA and DHA?

Some recent studies have pointed out that even fresh water fish are good sources of Omega 3.

Also remember that Omega 3s are not entirely necessary for life. Its mostly necessary to ward off diseases and other things that affect life span. And before there were grocery stores people did have shorter life spans due to plague, famine, and wars.

 

[bEt]

Is it really true ALA is really not converted much at all into the other types of omega 3's? Before seafood was available in grocery stores, how did people around the world who lived nowhere near the sea or rivers with fish like salmon and trout get their EPA and DHA?

Okay, I am not a scientist, but my understanding is that the green parts of plants (leaves, stalks, stems) have more ALA than seeds like grains and legumes, especially when the balance of omega 3s to omega6s is compared. Both people and their domesticated animals used to rely more on green plants, including wild plants and plants now considered weeds. (We have become better at farming and storing large quantities of grain etc; plus modern life doesn't lend itself to foraging, I guess)
So even though conversion of ALA to DHA and EPA is small, we used to get so much more ALA that it really added up. Add to that the fact that our chickens (like their humans) got more greens and less grains and ditto for cows, and the ALA in those greens was converted by them into DHA and EPA and passed on in the milk and eggs we collected from them. (And by the way they were mostly more like backyard chickens/cattle, not factory farmed like today).
These two links are to the same article that claims that pasture fed chickens lay eggs with more DHA and EPA than chickens living in factory conditions. I copied the title and author too in case the links don't work.
By the way I am a big fan of foraging too. Depending on where you live some forageable weeds include starweed (aka chickweed), dandelion, sowthistle (a close relative of dandelion, I used to think it was a kind of dandelion), lambsquarters (cool climate cousin is good king henry), europeon thistle (aka tumbleweed, a relative in the salsoa genus, some of whose members are served in place of seaweed in the "seaweed salads" in some sushi/'california roll' restaurants here in southern California), mustards, and purslane.

The Mediterranean Diets: What Is So Special about the Diet of Greece? The Scientific Evidence

ABSTRACT. The term “Mediterranean diet,” implying that all Mediterranean people have the same diet, is a misnomer. The countries around the Mediterranean basin

academic.oup.com

The Mediterranean diets: What is so special about the diet of Greece? The scientific evidence - PubMed

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Mediterranean diets: What is so special about the diet of Greece? The scientific evidence​

A P Simopoulos 1

And here is a link about essential fatty acids. I find Linus Pauling institute to offer info that is reasonably comprehensive and accessible, both on this topic and on others.

Essential Fatty Acids | Linus Pauling Institute | Oregon State University

lpi.oregonstate.edu