Image credit:

https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/blog/nutrition/why-you-need-omega-3-fatty-acids/

Difference between vegetable and animal

Omega-3 dietary fats
It is known that short-chain Omega-3 fatty acids from vegetable sources (α-linolenic acid), such as
from flax seeds, are not relevantly effective in providing the typical beneficial effects on health as long-
chain (EPA and DHA from fish) Omega-3 fatty acids do. It is true that the vegetable Omega-3 fats can
be converted into EPA and DHA in the body. However, this process requires numerous enzymatic
steps, is ineffective and is self-limiting: the longer vegetable Omega-3 fats are provided, the more they
inhibit the same enzymes that are supposed to convert them. In other words, not only the process is
inefficient, but its inefficiency grows over time. Our body needs Omega-3 fatty acids for countless
processes, and, naturally, vegetable sources aren't the way to go.

Another study, by Raphaël Chouinard-Watkins and Richard P. Bazinet, University of Toronto, also
explains the inefficiency of the vegetable Omega-3 fatty acids: the problem persists in the nervous
system too. The brain needs a constant supply of DHA, and the only way to achieve that is by eating
animal sources of Omega-3 fatty acids. What is nature trying to tell us, once and again?

You can find below the abstract of the study.

Note: As technology improves, new products and supplements are being developed. The ability to
produce long-chain (EPA and DHA) Omega-3 fatty acids from algae is now greatly increased.
Commercial algae-derived products containing relevant amounts of EPA and DHA, similar to those
derived from fish, are being released over time. This my be an exception to the rule mentioned above,
bringing vegetable-sourced Omega-3 products to a new level of effectiveness, similar to those of fish.
However, a fatty acid is not simply a fatty acid. Different forms of the same fats exist (For example:
free form, esterified as triacylglycerols or as phospholipids and, in this case, different types of
phospholipids). Also, given any form, for example triacylglicerols, different combinations of other fatty
acids with the EPA and/or DHA exist. My hope is that new studies will be performed, examining the
effects of algal-Omega3 products, by selecting high quality studies performed using fish-sourced EPA
and DHA, and replicating them as much similarly as possible (including doses, type of subjects, etc.)
using EPA and DHA from algae.

Abstract of the study mentioned above:

ACSL6 is critical for maintaining brain DHA levels

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n3) is the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid in the brain,
where it is largely esterified to membrane phospholipids. While DHA is found throughout the brain, its
levels are relatively higher in gray matter and it is especially enriched at the synapse (1). DHA is a
precursor to a series of bioactive molecules, including the specialized proresolving lipid mediators (2)
and docosahexaenoyl ethanolamide (1). Collectively, DHA and its mediators regulate, or are involved
in, numerous processes in the brain, including the maintenance of membrane fluidity, neuronal
survival, synaptic neurotransmission, and regulation of neuroinflammation, among others. Thus,
perhaps not surprisingly, disturbances in brain DHA metabolism have been implicated in a host of
neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases (1). The importance of DHA in the brain has led to many
nutritional studies examining the role of diet in regulating its levels; however, mechanistic details
regarding its uptake into the brain have been relatively scarce. While it is clear that plasma unesterified
DHA can enter the brain (3, 4), the molecular mechanisms regulating this process are not clear. In
PNAS, Fernandez et al. (5) find that a member of the long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase (ACSL) family,
ACSL6, is essential for enriching the brain with DHA.

DHA is a member of the omega-3 family of fatty acids, which cannot be synthesized de novo and are
generally considered to be essential. However, DHA itself is not nutritionally essential because it can
be synthesized from its dietary precursor α-linolenic acid via a series of reactions that primarily occur
in the liver. Importantly, within the brain, the synthesis of DHA from α-linolenic acid is very low.
Thus, the brain requires a constant supply of DHA from the blood to replace the DHA consumed in
metabolic reactions.

Chouinard-Watkins, R., & Bazinet, R. P. (2018). ACSL6 is critical for maintaining brain DHA levels
[Abstract]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(49), 12343-12345.
doi:10.1073/pnas.1817557115

Nicola Di Pietro

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