DHA Supplements Improve Your Health, Concentration and Moods at Every Age

DHA supplements are aimed at eliminating what is probably the most common shortcoming in modern foods: lack of omega 3 fatty acids. These are essential fatty acids -- essential, meaning your body can't make them. And DHA is the most powerful omega 3.

By far the best DHA supplement is a quality fish oil.

Flaxseed oil is a very poor source of DHA

Please don't accept the claim that flaxseed or flaxseed oil is a good source of DHA. Some people will tell you that the alpha linolenic acid found in flaxseed oil is converted by our bodies into EPA and DHA, the two most important omega 3 fatty acids.

Don't bet on it.

The truth is, our bodies vary a bit in this respect, but none of us can convert anything but a tiny amount of flaxseed oil to make either EPA or DHA. That doesn't mean that flaxseed oil isn't a good food. It is a good and healthful oil -- but it's useless as a DHA source.

DHA supplements benefit our heart, brain, and moods.

-- There's a very long list of omega 3 benefits reported in thousands of clinical studies, with heart disease being one of them, and the American Heart Association has recommended fish oil for that reason.

-- DHA is also essential to the healthy development of a baby's brain, from the time he or she is in the mother's womb to the early months and years of rapid brain development. Studies have even indicated the babies given omega 3 supplements tend to have higher IQs than other babies.

This is not surprising, since the brain is 60 percent fat, and half of that is DHA.

And the benefit is not just for baby's brains. A fascinating study in France recently found that higher levels of omega 3 consumption protected against development of Alzheimer's disease.

-- Omega 3's appear to protect against clinical depression. For example, Japan, where omega 3 in the diet is among the world's highest, depression rates are extremely. The opposite is true in New Zealand, with very low rates of omega 3 in the diet, and depression rates among the highest in the world.

-- DHA has been shown to be the most potent omega 3 in fish oil, with stronger inflammatory effects than EPA, the other powerful omega 3 believed to be most beneficial.

-- Keep in mind that most fish oils draw quite a few complaints about "off" flavors, fishy taste, digestion problems, and smelly burps. If you're going to take a DHA supplement every day, which is a great idea, it must be a quality fish oil, so pure that it virtually eliminates any off flavors or odors.

The one I take myself overcomes all of these problems. It's the best of the many DHA supplements I've tried over the years.