DHA

Alois Kolar

The last few years we look and listen to continuous aggressive marketing advertisings about the necessity of taking chemical-pharmaceutical preparation of DHA. Do we really need it or is it just another one good business matter?

Always quick respond Chemical-Pharmaceutical industry on discovery of any "new element" is, to present to the scientific and non-scientific population the importance of this new element, which they finally discovered and they already produce it in the benefit of entire human population, but special for the benefits of children (excellent marketing move), because parents will spend the last cent of their money for the benefits of their children, right?

There is no difference with DHA product.

Docosahexaenoic acid – DHA (formula C22H32O2) is an omega 3 fatty acid, which is a primary structural component of the human body: skin, sperm, testicles, retina, human brain and cerebral cortex. It is essential for the growth and functional development of the brain in infants and is also required for maintenance of normal brain function in adults.

The inclusion of plentiful DHA in the diet improves learning ability, whereas deficiencies of DHA are associated with deficits in learning. DHA is taken up by the brain in preference to other fatty acids. The turnover of DHA in the brain is very fast, more so than is generally realized.

DHA deficiencies are associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cystic fibrosis, phenylketonuria, unipolar depression, aggressive hostility, and adrenoleukodystrophy.

Decreases in DHA in the brain are associated with cognitive decline during aging and with onset of sporadic Alzheimer disease.

All scientific resources notoriously repeated one after another that we can find DHA in fish oil or microalgae, which are practicaly produced by chemical-pharmaceutical industry (or food industry). If we would not take these products, we and our children could not have sufficient quantity of DHA and children could not be able to study any more, right?

Not exactly! 

The largest number of species - of the organisms in this planet are vegetarians (herbivores, frugivors) and they do not consume fish oil or microalgae to obtain necessary DHA (even carnivores do not), but they simply – naturally follow their diet in the nature and are in excellent health condition.

Human specie as a natural designed frugivor does not need to to take fish oil, microalgae or even chemical-pharmaceutical product DHA to fulfill all its' necessities, we simply have to follow diet regime we are biologically adopted for (optimal diet regime), because human organism (as all vegetarian organisms) can synthesize DHA from alpha linolenic acid and it does it for decades millions of years. We can find alpha linolenic acid in nuts and seeds and in green parts of the plants.

How could human specie would survive without chemical-pharmaceutical industry, without medicine “doctors” for millions of years if would not be this way?

According to Sprecher, in mammals, DHA is synthesized via a retro-conversion process in peroxisomes-the aerobic delta4 desaturation-independent pathway. Recent identification of a Thraustochytrium delta4 desaturase indicates that delta4 desaturation is indeed involved in DHA synthesis in Thraustochytrium. More interestingly, an alternative pathway for DHA biosynthesis-the anaerobic polyketide synthase pathway was also reported recently to occur in Schizochytrium, another member of the Thraustochytriidae.

No nutritional supplement can supply all the factors found in raw, living whole foods! 

Supplementing with isolated nutrient does not work, because nutrients can work only by interaction with other nutrients.

References:

• Natural science of health
• Qiu, X. (2003). "Biosynthesis of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6-4, 7,10,13,16,19): two distinct pathways." Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 68(2): 181-6
  
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  Chiclayo - Lambayeque, Peru, 21.03.2013.