DHA Algae Supplements--A New Way to Eat Your Veggies

By Lee Cole
DHA supplements are something plenty of health conscious people are taking. DHA, called docosahexaenoic acid, is among the most all important omega-3 essential fatty acids. You have to have omega-3's in your diet for good health. Unfortunately, you can't make omega-3 essential fatty acids in your body from other chemicals. It's important to eat omega-3's. Cold water fish and free-range fowl and other animals are some good sources of DHA and of omega-3's in general. However , there is a problem with eating so much fish and free-range game. As far as the fish is concerned, there's the challenge with mercury. And free-range fowl and other animal proteins are expensive. Also, there's the problem of being a vegetarian. Wouldn't it be nice if you can get to the source, if you could just eat whatever the fish eat to obtain your fatty acids that way? Well, now there is.
You see our biggest method to obtain omega-3 efas is big, cold-water fish like tuna. The tuna receive the omega-3's from smaller fish they eat. Eventually, farther down the food chain, the original way to obtain omega-3 efas is algae that grows in the sea. If you might just obtain the essential fatty acids directly from the algae, you could possibly skip the fish part. That works well for vegetarians. One more reason why this might be a really great idea is the big ocean fish often times have mercury and other toxins built up in their bodies.
There's one special crowd that this all affects over others. That's pregnant women. You see, DHA is recommended for brain health in fetuses and also in young kids. But women who are pregnant are not recommended to eat loads of seafood, or even to take omega-3 fatty acid supplements, because of the problem with toxins.
Some companies make DHA supplements straight from algae. This is great for expectant mothers, simply because they know they can't get toxins that might hurt their children this way. There are also some infant formulas out now that had DHA supplements.
For anyone who is not pregnant, or even female, there are a few other ways to obtain omega-3's without eating seafood or other forms of meats. You can get them through walnuts and flax seeds. Eggs incorporate some DHA. Probably the best way, however, is to take a vitamin or other pill which has DHA supplements.
About the Author:
Lee Cole is an big health and exercise enthusiast! To learn more on dha supplements, take a look at this article on DHA Supplements.