Omega 3 > EPA > DHA

[Guest guest]

FYI.....

There's an excellent review of the conversion of ALA

to EPA and DHA in Proc Nutr Soc 2006; 65:42-50.

A table in this article summarized studies on

stable-isotope tracer studies of the fractional

conversion

of ALA to longer chain PUFAs; based on this, the

authors concluded that <10% of ALA is converted to EPA

and that at most 4% of ALA is converted to DHA (most

studies reporting <0.05%). One study has shown gender

differences with women having higher rates

of conversion than men. Preliminary data suggests

that conversion rates are higher in pregnancy. I am

not aware of any studies of effects of ethnic

background on conversion rates.