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omega 3fatty acids / usage, preeclampsia, mature lady, eicosapentaenoic acid, volatile fatty acid , agriculture, online, colon cancer, crohns disease, food science, fat bottomed girls , soy, better health,
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LA and senior citizens ALA compete for the same elongase and desaturase enzymes in the synthesis of longer polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as AA and EPA. Although ALA is the preferred substrate of the delta-6 desaturase enzyme, the excess of dietary LA compared to ALA results in greater net formation of AA (20:4n-6) than EPA (20:5n-3).6 The capacity for conversion of ALA to DHA is higher in women than men. Studies of ALA metabolism indicate that approximately 8% of dietary ALA is converted to EPA and 0-4% is converted to DHA in healthy young men.7 In healthy young women, approximately senior citizens 21% of dietary ALA is converted to EPA and 9% is converted to DHA.8 The better conversion efficiency of young women compared to men appears to be related to the effects of estrogen.6, 9 Although ALA is considered the essential omega-3 fatty acid because it cannot be synthesized by humans, evidence that human conversion of EPA and, particularly, DHA is relatively inefficient suggests that EPA and DHA may also be essential under some conditions.10,
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