RE: EPA/DHA ratio in essential fatty acids

[Guest guest]

Hi Ken,Thank you for taking the time to reply. My dds are 9 and 12 and ds is 2 and 1/2 yrs old - the biggest issues are with my 9 year old brain-wise, eldest has asthma, youngest- sensory issues, bowel probs and coordination probs. What sort of ratio would you recommend? AM i right in thinking it's during the first couple of years dha is preferential to epa? 9 year old does have 'speak' caps with much more epa than dha- ratio of about 3:1 - it's helped slightly with her speech but not greatly. The c.l.o that i've recently started alongside has more dha than epa and am wondering now about the pro-inflammatory effects of the dha. Was also considering rubbing in some evening primrose oil for the omega 6s given that they're all casein-free, gf/cf etc in middle daughter's case).I've read that epa can convert easily into dha if needed but also have read the reverse and that if there is alot of epa they can block the receptor sites for dha- confusing to say the least.JanetTo: Autism-Biomedical-Europe From: drken.aitken@...Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:48:11 +0100Subject: Re: EPA/DHA ratio in essential fatty acids

Hi Jane,this is a complex area. Intake depends partly on what someone is consuming from dietary sources in addition to supplements and whether there are deficiencies due to any issues with metabolism of fatty acids as you see in SLOS which is a problem in Northern Europe and reduces cholesterol production due to an enzyme defect. The main issue in inflammatory responses depends on the levels of thromboxanes, prostaglandins and leucotrienes from different sources, the pro-inflammatory ones coming from DHA not EPA. Developmental stage is also important because DHA is needed more at stags when cell membranes are being consolidated ad there is rapid brain growth while EPA is required at higher levels at most other times.I have covered a fair bit of this stuff in my diet book for

JKP.Hope this helps,Ken Subject: EPA/DHA ratio in essential fatty acidsTo: autism-biomedical-europe Date: Monday, 24 October, 2011, 23:33

Does anyone know what the ratio of these should be to help with inflammation? Some research says higher DHA than EPA others vice versa and one the same!! Also, further confused by GLA which comes into it somewhere i think..Thanks Janet

[Guest guest]

Hi Janet,you are right that more DHA is needed in the early stages of brain growth, but the same is also true of the adolescent growth spurt - this is why it can be useful to plot head circumference to see when there is a period of rapid growth - this is usually preceded by more broken sleep as the sleep pattern reorganizes to produce more growth hormone by boosting REM.Hope this helps.Ken Subject: EPA/DHA ratio in essential fatty acidsTo: autism-biomedical-europe Date: Monday, 24 October, 2011, 23:33

Does anyone know what the ratio of these should be to help with inflammation? Some research says higher DHA than EPA others vice versa and one the same!! Also, further confused by GLA which comes into it somewhere i think..Thanks Janet

[Guest guest]

Thank you Ken- very interesting re head circumference also.JanetTo: Autism-Biomedical-Europe From: drken.aitken@...Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:13:41 +0100Subject: RE: EPA/DHA ratio in essential fatty acids

Hi Janet,you are right that more DHA is needed in the early stages of brain growth, but the same is also true of the adolescent growth spurt - this is why it can be useful to plot head circumference to see when there is a period of rapid growth - this is usually preceded by more broken sleep as the sleep pattern reorganizes to produce more growth hormone by boosting REM.Hope this helps.Ken Subject: EPA/DHA ratio in essential fatty acidsTo: autism-biomedical-europe Date: Monday, 24 October, 2011, 23:33

Does anyone know what the ratio of these should be to help with inflammation? Some research says higher DHA than EPA others vice versa and one the same!! Also, further confused by GLA which comes into it somewhere i think..Thanks Janet