Three omega-3 fats that your body needs to thrive are ALA, EPAY DHA, and while they can be obtained through your diet and supplement routine, new information gathered from analysis of the latest research data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has shown that many people do not they get what they need. After analyzing the data, the study found that although people generally meet their daily needs for ALA, the intake of EPA and DHA is well below what is recommended for adults.
More specifically, the study revealed that most people only consume about 111 milligrams of EPA and DHA on average per day (that is, only 35 milligrams of EPA and 76 milligrams of DHA), demonstrating a significant dietary gap in nutritional adequacy and also -implications for the health of the body.
Although research shows that Americans generally meet their needs for plant-based ALA omega-3s (1.1 grams/day for women and 1.6 grams/day for men), this was definitely not the case for omega-3s -3 marine EPA and DHA.
If you were wondering why that might be, nutrition scientist Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDNshares this information: “One of the primary reasons for ALA sufficiency in our nation is the widespread consumption of ALA-containing oils as canola oil and soybean oil, in the kitchen, but also in processed foods, we should try to consume less.
So American adults are getting enough ALA but failing on the omega-3 EPA and DHA front. But how bad is our “failing score”? Ferira puts things in perspective, sharing this: “Since minimum Reference recommendations for EPA plus DHA intake range from 250 to 500 milligrams daily, and in fact, 1 gram or more of this omega-3 duo is recommended for people with cardiovascular health considerations—our nation’s insufficient intake (111 milligrams on average) of these two healthy fats is truly concerning.”*
Omega-3 Nutrient Gaps are not discussed as often as other nutrients (like vitamin D), but we think they should be.
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