A recent analysis of clinical studies using relatively high dose DHA from algal oil (averaging 1,680 mg of DHA per day) found it to be similar to high dose EPA and DHA in lowering triglycerides and increasing HDL cholesterol (Bernstein, J Nutr 2011).
The high-dose algal oil lowered triglycerides by about 15% and increased HDL cholesterol by about 5%. The algal oil also caused an 8% increase in LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is often thought of as “bad” cholesterol; however, the LDL particles themselves became larger in size, which may make them less likely to harden arteries.
Similar results have been seen with purified DHA from fish oil. DHA has also been found to be more effective than EPA at increasing HDL2 cholesterol – the subfraction of HDL cholesterol that may be most protective against coronary heart disease (Mori, Am J Clin Nutr 2000).
If you are primarily interested in DHA or are vegetarian, algal oil supplements -- although more expensive than most fish oil supplements -- are a good option and they are typically very low in contaminants since algae is low on the food chain.
My opinion: I can't see why high-doses are necessary. If you're eating plant-based with no-oil and little processed foods (plus flax & or chia)--you don't need high doses of omega-3's, because you've drastically improved your omega 3-omega 6 ratio! I take 125 mg of algal DHA for "brain" insurance. The capsule size is labeled 345 mg--but has 125 mg of DHA.
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