What is DHA
Not a treatment for any conditions or ailments, but an essential nutrient required for a healthy living.
DHA or Docosahexaenoic acid, is an omega-3 fatty acid needed throughout human life. Numerous studies explain the benefits of having omega 3 fatty acids especially DHA as part of our diet. Humans require the particular nutrient from external sources for dietary intake. Thus, the nutrient is deemed essential. DHA plays a key role in development and health of the central nervous system, brain, eyes, the heart and is important for cognitive development, visual health, during pregnancy and prevention of conditions like coronary heart disease, hypertension, certain cancers, asthma etc.
Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? So, what are the sources of DHA?
Algae
Fish
Nuts
Flaxseed
Leafy Vegetables
The primary sources of DHA in our diet is fish like salmon, tuna, sardines, krill, etc. But vegetarian sources of DHA are extremely limited. Low levels of DHA are present in nuts, flaxseed and leafy green vegetables.
Venketesh Biosciences sources DHA from the primary producer of DHA in nature - algae. But, algae is no fun to eat. Thus, we strive to provide DHA in consumer centric formats for all.
It is believed that DHA is found in flax seeds and other high-fat plant sources, but what really is found in sources such as these is Alpha Linolenic Acid, which is an inactive form of DHA that converts into Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), which is needed for heart and cardiovascular health, but only 0.4-5% is converted to DHA. This is a viable way to consume DHA, but is far from optimal as the conversion of ALA is very limited, with only about 5–10% getting converted to EPA and about 0.5–4% getting converted to DHA.