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Normal level of arachidonic acid in blood?

Posted by Laurie Beth on December 21, 2005, at 11:13:12

Several months ago, I got my phospholipids tested for essential fatty acids. As a nursing mom, I'd been supplementing with 2.5 - 5 grams of EPA/DHA combined a day (at the time, I was using a 2:1 ratio of EPA/DHA).

Here's what they were:

GLA 0.00
AA 6.91
EPA 5.57
DHA 6.02

I was surprised to see my AA so low, but I have since realized that might not be so surprising. I don't eat a lot of meat, never eat organ meat, and usually get only the egg yolks that are in whatever processed food I eat. I get most of my protein from dairy and nuts (and some from whole-wheat bread). Since apparently dairy does not contain preformed arachidonic acid, maybe I don't typically get a huge amount of AA from my diet, especially relative to what I must be giving a nursing baby.

I get a good about of LA, however, and I would have assumed that that was getting converted into GLA, then into DGLA, then into AA. But there's alcoholism in a first-degree relative, and apparently people with alcoholism genes may be deficient in the enzyme needed to convert LA into GLA. The lab I used doesn't measure DGLA, unfortunately, and I'm not sure if a 0.00 GLA level also means my DGLA levels are low.

Anyhow, seeing these numbers made me wonder if I have too low a level of DGLA AND AA, at least while consuming so much omega-3 acids, and while giving my baby these essential fatty acids through my milk.

I am suffering from my second post-partum depression, which started about 2 months after this baby was born.

Does anyone know what a normal level of phospholipid AA is? Is 6.91 too low?

Thanks.


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poster:Laurie Beth thread:590968
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20051208/msgs/590968.html