The Omega-3 Paradox

How We Became Deficient In The Most Abundant Fat On The Planet.

- Susan Allport

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED why Americans—who, like all humans, evolved on the savannas of Africa—are now being advised to consume fish twice a week?

This would boost our consumption of omega-3s, of course—essential fats that are important for the health of our hearts and brains and every other tissue in the body. But how did we come to be deficient in these fast-acting fats? And where did early humans on the savannas get their daily dose of omega-3s?

Now, some would argue that fish has always been a mainstay of the human diet and that this ancient food choice is in fact responsible for the evolution of our large brains.

But there’s a simpler explanation—one that doesn’t require any revisions to the archeological record. It begins with the fact that omega-3s don’t originate in fish, but rather in the chloroplasts of green leaves, including plankton, the green leaves of the oceans.

The parent omega-3, alphalinolenic acid, is found in highest concentrations in the membranes of the chloroplasts of green leaves. And because green leaves are about the most abundant thing on the planet, it follows that omega-3s are the most abundant fat. They’re not the rare nutrient we’ve been led to believe. They’re all around us and in most of our foods.

Alpha-linolenic acid helps plants photosynthesize—capture light molecules and turn them into sugars—which is the basis, need I say it, of all life on earth. Photosynthesis is a plant’s speediest and most metabolically demanding activity, requiring the coordination of about 75 different enzymes. Alpha-linolenic acid, a fat with three kinks (or double bonds) in its structure, enables all those enzymes to run quickly and smoothly.