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Our Brains Need Animal Fat to Fully Function, Psychiatrist Says

// returntonow.net

There is no plant source of DHA, a fatty acid "Necessary for higher intelligence, sustained attention, decision-making, and complex problem-solving," says a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and several studies.

Of that, 20% is supposed to be comprised of an omega-3 fatty acid called DHA. There are no plant sources of DHA, only animal sources.

There is a plant source of a precursor to DHA called ALA, but the body is only capable of converting less than 10% of it, at most, into the DHA. Some studies find the conversion rate to be zero.

DHA is required for the formation of myelin, the white matter that insulates our brain circuits, allowing electricity to flow through them and our nervous system to function properly.

"Perhaps most importantly, DHA is critical to the development of the human cortex-the part of the brain responsible for higher-order thinking," writes Harvard-trained psychiatrist Georgia Ede in a Psychology Today article titled The Brain Needs Animal Fat.

"Without DHA, the highly sophisticated connections necessary for sustained attention, decision-making, and complex problem-solving do not form properly. It has been hypothesized that without DHA, consciousness and symbolic thinking-hallmarks of the human race-would be impossible.”

Our first animal source of DHA is our mothers, in their wombs during the third trimester, and then from their mammary glands, ideally for at least 2 years.

Around 80 percent of American adults are deficient in DHA. Even many meat eaters are deficient, Ede says, because of the high concentration of the omega-6 fatty acid LA in their diets, especially from refined vegetable oils.

What is clear is the fewer animal foods we eat, the lower our DHA levels tend to be.

The best sources of DHA are wild-caught fatty fish like anchovies, salmon, herring, mackerel and tuna, and wild or pasture-raised meats, eggs and dairy.

It's important to note, factory-farmed, grain-fed animal products are not nearly as high in DHA, and contain a harmful concentration of omega-6 fatty acids.

It is a refined product, making it less bioavailable and it contains lower amounts of DHA per calorie than animal sources.