Vegetarians Make Plenty of Essential Fats (DHA)
 

There has been a lot of discussion of Omega-3 fatty acids, DHA, EPA, etc. on this forum. I just wanted to share something I came across on Dr. John McDougall's website, which indicates one is not required to eat fish to obtain the benefits Omega-3 fats.

The text is fairly short on this page:
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2009nl/sep/fav5.htm
and I will just paste some short excerpts here. You can search for "Vegetarians Make Plenty of Essential Fats (DHA)" to find the rest.

" "...it must be concluded that needs for omega-3 fatty acids can be met by dietary ALA (alpha linolenic acid)."1 ALA is made by plants."

"The human body has no difficulty converting the plant-derived omega-3 fat, ALA, into DHA or other omega-3 fatty acids, in the liver, thus supplying our needs even during gestation and infancy.2

With this solid science you can put your friends’ worries at ease—as a non-fish-eater you will be just fine. And you’ll also avoid all that toxic mercury and help restore our oceans."

There are references (1 & 2) for these statements.
Ron

There is much more info here, mainly about why people shouldn't eat fish. I don't care for the first part trying to convince us that fish doesn't taste good (tastes good to me), but other than that there is some good science to back up what Dr. McDougall is saying.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/200...onfessions.htm

Ron

There are gender differences in DHA production from Alpha linolenic acid.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/94/6_Suppl/1914S.full

this chemistry is quite complex, but estrogens seem to favor production and testosterone does not. This is because having children, women have to provide large amounts of DHA to the developing fetus for development of the brain and other components of the nervous system.