Omega-3 Longer Chain Fatty acids.
It has been known since 1940s that the the Eskimos in Greenland did not develop heart disease even though they were eating more fat than people on traditional diets in Europe and America. Dyerberg's and colleagues found in 1970 that Eskimos in Greenland had a much lower incidence of pneumonia than Danes and Americans. They concluded that high consumption by Greenlanders on marine fats that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids was the reason. They also found that Omega 3 was absent in traditional diets in America. Since then epidemiological research has found that men who consume fish products to some extent have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. One of the most well-known research was conducted by Kromhout and colleagues, who found that among 25,000 middle-aged men in the town of Zutphen in the Netherlands over a 20-year period, the incidence of coronary heart disease was consumed two fish meals a week 50% lower than those who did not eat fish.
Dr Rabinowitch was in the Arctic communities wrote in 1935 “If there was a serious health problem amongst the Inuit, I was not aware of it. My interest was primarily in the alleged absence of diabetes, cancer and arteriosclerosis and the possible relationship between such absence and the peculiar dietary habits of these people”
Omega-3 fatty acids (20 and 22 C), are mainly found in fish oils and not in the fat of terrestrial animals unless they have been fed on fish products. These acids have been called DHA (22 carbons and 6 double bonds), and EPA (20 carbons and 5 double bonds).
Vegetable oils such as soybean and rapeseed oil are said to contain a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. They contain the 18:3 α-linolenic acid ALA(18 carbons and 3 double bonds). The (ALA) is a shorter chain fatty acid with 3 double bonds , but mammals such as dogs , can utilize the acid to make EPA and DHA in cell reproduction , where the longer chain fatty acids are essential. The ability to make the longer-chain omega−3 fatty acids from ALA may be impaired in aging .
Best for the animals is to get the real thing , which the body can utilize without having to use energy to change the fatty acids to longer chain acids. Salmon oil and Pollock oil contain 2.77 times more Omega 3 fatty acids consisting of longer chain EPA and DHA fatty acids than Rapeseed oil, that does not have the real thing. The essential fatty acids must come from the diet ,and the longer they are the better .
By Snorri Halldorsson
Seafood Science Expert,Director of R&D at TickledPet
