Essential Fatty Acids

EPA/DHA: 180/120 (one 1000 mg soft gel)   

• Retail is not available                                 
• 100 soft gels/bottle  $1.99/bottle 38,000 to 40,000 bottles CIF most Asia Ports.  $2.18/bottle CIF Europe Ports   
• Bulk soft gels of this item are available.  $1.29/1000 soft gels CIF most Asia Ports (20 million soft gels minimum).
• please call or go to contact us page for more information.

The following powder form of Omega 3 fatty acids are available for wholesale and bulk sale.

Omega 3 fatty acid powder:

EPA/DHA Actual min% guaranteed

30% powder of 50/10 or 15/3

30% powder of 36/24 or 11/7

Minimum order:  20kg.

                          The Building Block of the Brain

 

 Few people realize how important fats are to a healthy brain. In fact, our brains are primarily fat, 60% by dry weight! And DHA, the most plentiful fatty acid in the brain, is crucial to brain health, from infancy to old age. 

DHA is shorthand for docosahexaenoic acid. This omega-3 long chain fatty acid is an essential fatty acid (one of the omega-3 fatty acids) that serves as the primary building block in the gray matter of the brain and retina of the eye. . The brain is 60% fat, and DHA is the most abundant fatty acid in the brain, comprising 25-35%. DHA is found in even greater concentrations - 50-60% - in the retina. DHA is critical for infant development. Compelling research links DHA to the rapid cerebral and eye development that occurs during pregnancy and in the first few months after birth.

DHA passes through the placenta to the fetus during pregnancy, and to the nursing baby through breast milk. Optimal levels of DHA in the bloodstream of pregnant women and the breast milk of nursing mothers are crucial to babies. In fact, DHA's presence in breast milk may explain why breast-fed babies have demonstrable IQ advantages over babies fed formula without DHA. An emerging body of research led an expert committee of the World Health Organization to recommend that DHA be included in infant formulas at levels comparable to those of mothers' milk. Yet DHA levels in the breast milk of American women rank among the lowest in the world, and DHA is still not available in U.S. infant formulas.


Supporting a Healthy Nervous System 
DHA's benefits are not limited to infant development. Supplementation may be helpful to anyone with a low DHA intake, especially for supporting a healthy nervous system. DHA has been associated with optimal memory function, visual acuity, and maintaining a positive mental state. DHA is an integral component of all membranes with electrical activity. The cells in our brain, retina and other parts of the nervous system have a complex network of connecting arms that transport electrical messages throughout the body. DHA's presence in nerve cell membranes is critical because this is messages are transmitted. It is at the membrane that nerve cells perform their unique function of generating the electrical impulses that are the basis of all communication in the nervous system. Without the necessary fatty acids, this communication system can break down or become less effective. DHA supplementation may be especially important as we grow older. The body's ability to synthesize DHA, which is very limited in all human beings, may decline even further with age. Research suggests that aging interferes with the activity if delta-6-desaturase, the enzyme involved in the conversion of omega-3 fatty acids into DNA. Elderly people with inadequate or DHA-deficient diets may benefit from a supplementary source of DHA.

Insufficient in Today's Diet
Because human beings cannot  synthesize DHA, most of it is obtained from our diets. Omega-3 fatty acids must be obtained either from the diet -- cold-water fish are the best source such as sardines, salmon, or tuna.-- or from supplements. Human must eat several times a week to provide enough DHA for optimal brain function. Seaweeds (such as hijiki, nori, and kombu) are a good source of DHA as well. A patent was recently issued for an algae-based  fed chicken that is rich in DHA and the chicken already sold on the market in Europe

North Americans have some of the lowest brain DHA levels of any population on earth, due, some scientists believe, to the fact that Americans generally eat less seafood than people in other cultures. The DHA level of breast milk in Japanese women is estimated to be about three times that of American women.

References

Crawford, M.A. (1990). Upsala J Med Sci Suppl 48: 43-78.
Crawford, M.A. et al. (1993). Nutr and Health: 9. 81-97. 
FAO/WHO Expert Committee (1994). Fats and Oils in Human Nutrition. Food and Nutrition Paper No. 57. FAO: Rome. 49-55. 
Hibbeln, Joseph R. & Salem, Norman Jr. Am J Clin Nutr: 62. 1-9.
Horrobin, David F., ed. (1982). Clinnical Uses of Essential Fatty Acids. Eden Press. 3-36. 
Makrides, M. et al. (1996). Eur J Clin Nutr:50. 352-7.
Sanders, T.A.B. & Reddy, Sheela (1992). J Pediatr: 120. S71-7. 
Simopoulos, Artemis P. (1989). J Nutri 119: 521-8. 
Simopoulos, Artemis P. (1991). Am J Clin Nutr: 54. 438-63.
Söderberg, M. et al. (1991). Lipids 26: 6. 421-5. 
Uauy, Ricardo et al. (1992). J Pediatr: 120. S168-80.

Fish & Omega-3 Fatty Acid Consumption and Cardiac Health

By: Robert A. Wascher, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Jewish World Review

Two new studies add further evidence that the consumption of fish, or fish oil supplements, can improve the health of your heart. In the Journal of the American Medical Association this week, the dietary habits of nearly 85,000 women enrolled in the long-term Nurses’ Health Study were evaluated and compared with the incidence of coronary heart disease in that group. Over the course of 14 years, the study’s participants were periodically surveyed and examined for interval changes in their health (none of the volunteers had known heart disease upon entering the study). The respondents were then categorized according to the amount of fish or omega-3 fatty acid supplements in their diet. In the group that consumed fish 5 or more times per week, the likelihood of developing heart disease was 34% less than those who rarely ate fish. Eating fish 2 to 4 times per week reduced the risk of heart disease by 31%, and even eating fish 1 to 3 times per month reduced the risk of heart disease by 29%. Among women taking supplements of omega-3 fatty acids (the substance in fish that is thought to protect the heart), those taking the highest amounts had a 33% reduction in heart disease risk, while those taking lesser amounts still experienced a significant benefit. In those volunteers eating fish 5 or more times per week or taking the highest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, the risk of dying from coronary heart disease was reduced by a very substantial 45%. This study is particularly important, as previous studies involving fish and omega-3 fatty acid consumption and their effects on heart disease have all confined their assessments to men. While retrospective dietary surveys can suffer from lack of reliability, the power of this study is very high due to the large number of study participants and the carefully controlled conditions of the study.

A related study, the Physicians’ Health Study, has been following more than 22,000 physician volunteers over the past 17 years. In this week’s New England Journal of Medicine is a report on the impact of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on the risk of sudden cardiac death in this study group, all of whom were without known heart disease. The study’s authors tested the blood of 94 male study volunteers who experienced an episode of sudden cardiac death (but in whom there was no prior history of heart disease) and 184 matched control study participants who did not experience any cardiac events. Among the men with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood, there was a 72% reduction in the risk of experiencing sudden cardiac death when compared to the men with the lowest levels of these substances in their blood. The reasons for the protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids are unclear at this time, although there is some evidence that these nutrients can suppress the abnormal electrical rhythms in the heart that can lead to sudden cardiac death. Omega-3 fatty acids are also thought to reduce the levels of the “bad cholesterol” (LDL) in the blood, which is thought to be the primary basis of their coronary heart disease protective effect.

Importantly, both of these studies involved volunteers who initially had no evidence of active coronary heart disease, and encompassed many years of careful follow-up. These two factors make their results especially compelling. However, large doses of omega-3 fatty acids can adversely affect the body’s clotting system, and may increase the risk of bleeding in patients with underlying clotting abnormalities, or in those patients taking certain medications such as anti-inflammatory medications (e.g., aspirin, Motrin, Naprosyn, Indocin, Vioxx, Celebrex, etc.) or blood thinners (e.g., Coumadin, Lovenox, etc.). At the same time, concerns about the widespread contamination of commercially harvested fish with mercury and other potentially harmful substances may be a compelling reason to consider omega-3 fatty acid supplements. As always, one should first discuss changes in diet and dietary supplements with one’s  physician.

 

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