Research
Micronutrients & recovery
In healthy adult men, dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALNA) is converted to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), but conversion to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is severely restricted or absent.
If you rely on plant sources like flaxseed or walnuts for your omega-3s, know that your body converts them to EPA and DPA, but barely makes DHA. To ensure adequate DHA levels, you likely need to consume pre-formed DHA from fish or algae, as your body cannot efficiently make it from plant fats alone.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Since the capacity of adult males to convert ALNA to DHA was either very low or absent, uptake of pre-formed DHA from the diet may be critical for maintaining adequate membrane DHA concentrations in these individuals.
Why this rating
Controlled human trial with stable isotope tracing, though small sample size (n=6).
Source
Eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids are the principal products of α-linolenic acid metabolism in young men
Graham C. Burdge et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2002
mechanism_only · n=6Cited 593×
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