The Importance of EPA

EPA stands for Eicosapentaenoic acid, and it is one of many Omega-3 fatty acids needed by the human body.  The body can’t make EPA fatty acid, and must get it from food or supplement sources.

There are many benefits to consuming a healthy amount of EPA.

How to get EPA?

Although omega3  fatty acids in the form of ALA are available in many vegetarian foods, such as nuts, beans and dark, green leafy vegetables, they are present in small amounts and still need to be converted by the body into EPA. In young, healthy adults the conversion rate of ALA into EPA is about 21%. But this is definitely a best case scenario. For alot of people the reality is that it happens far les efficient. A prerequisite also is having enough of ALA containing foods in the diet. For many people this is not the case.

Traditionally the best food source of EPA were fatty fish, such as mackerel, anchovies, sardines, salmon and tuna. However fish obtain EPA by eating, you guessed it,  algae!

Or smaller fish that ate algae. By consuming marine phytoplankton directly we are just cutting out the middleman and go directly to the source. And in our modern day era this actually makes alot of sense. Why? Well, because there’s something rather fishy about fish. The fairly big elephant in the room that nobody talks about is that all fatty fish are heavly polluted with toxins and heavy metals and if overfishing continues the oceans will be empty by 2050. Marine phytoplankton provides us with a safe and sustainable alternative.

The irony of farmed fish is that because they are being fed an unnatural diet like soybean meal, corn meal and genetically modified canola oil, they no longer contain substantial amounts of omega-3 fatty acids! The main reason why fish is still considered healthy!

 A superior source of Omega 3 

Marine phytoplankton offers all the benefits of fish or fish oil omega-3. This means that phytoplankton is perfectly suited for vegetarians and vegans. However , considering the fact that almost everybody is omega-3 deficient, phytoplankton offer great benefits for everybody without concerns about impurities, contaminants and of course diminishing fish stocks.

Marine phytoplankton is the basis of the food chain. Thanks to recent developments in agriculture and technology it can now provide the cornerstone for an optimal modern day human diet as well.  This is very important because these extraordinary fats affect every part of our biochemistry. They control gene function, regulate your immune system, impact the speed and efficacy of your metabolism, and they are a vital component of the cell membrane that covers every one of the 100 trillion cells in your body. This means when you don’t get enough omega-3 fats, messages can’t be properly communicate from one cell to another. If you’re not getting enough omega-3s, your body — including your brain — just can’t work to its optimum potential!

Learn more about the importance of omega-3 fats and how they can impact your brain, body, and even your behavior in our blog section.