For those who don't know, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an omega-3 fatty acid that has been shown to help prevent heart disease by lowering the amount of triglycerides in the blood. It’s also essential to the formation of the optical and nervous systems, and remains important to eye and brain health throughout life. It has anti-inflammatory properties. Contained in fish oil (anchovies, salmon, mackerel, tuna, halibut and herring), DHA is also found in algae, organ meat and to a small degree in egg yolk.

Hi! I think that liquid form will give you a higher amount of omega 3 per dose but unless you're taking it for a specific condition that's not so relevant. I have taken both and it really depends on what you tolerate better. Initially, I had some problem burping up the fish flavor when I was taking capsules, so I switched to liquid. Carlson with lemon flavor is what I recommend. But now I have switched back to capsules and am having no problem at all. So I also recommend Nordic Naturals Complete Omega 3/6/9. You should be able to buy either kind at Whole Foods or another natural market. Any specific request on the soup--vegetarian, hearty, meat-based, legume?

No, thank YOU!

Hmmm...it's kind of complicated. The short answer is: you're probably fine, as long as you're taking enough flax seed oil (and maybe also eating plenty of walnuts and maybe even drinking hemp milk). For a much longer answer, keep reading. Flax seed oil contains an omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is one of two fatty acids that the body needs and cannot make for itself. You can also get ALA by eating walnuts and hemp seed. Omega-3s are needed by every cell in the body to help ensure that cell membranes stay flexible so nutrients can permeate easily. The body can use ALA to make all the other omega-3 fatty acids that it needs, including both EPA and DHA. So, in theory, if you get enough ALA, you don’t need to eat any other sources of omega-3s. Another advantage of getting one’s omega-3s from the ALA in flax oil is that the body does not create more EPA and DHA than it needs. Therefore, ingesting too much EPA/DHA is not an issue. The human body uses a variety of omega-3s, not just EPA and DHA. To make the full range of these omega-3s, the body needs ALA from flax oil (or walnuts or other sources) in addition to EPA and DHA. Thus, one needs to consume some ALA even if fish and/or fish oil are plentiful in one’s diet. OK, since you need ALA anyway, and the body can make all the other omega-3s it needs from ALA—does that mean flax seed oil is a better source than fish oil for omega-3s? Not so fast. The body uses various enzymes to convert ALA to other omega-3s, and this process becomes increasingly less efficient with age. Estimates of the rate of conversion range from 5% to 25%. In order to make sufficient amounts of EPA and DHA, you need to consume 5 or 6 times more ALA than if you rely on fish oil alone. (Women convert ALA to the other omega-3s more efficiently than men, by the way.) Another consideration is that ALA competes metabolically with the other essential fatty acid that the body cannot make for itself. Linoleic acid plays the same role for omega-6 fatty acids that ALA does for omega-3s: The body uses LA to make all the other omega-6s that it needs. So when LA is oversupplied in the diet, the body makes more of the LA-derived fatty acids than it needs, and not enough of the ALA-derived ones. Consuming smaller amounts of the omega-6 LA helps the body maintain a healthy balance between the “stimulating” LA substances and the “calming” ALA substances. One good way to help balance this ratio is by switching to monounsaturated oils like olive oil. Evening primrose, for those who might not know, is a wildflower whose seeds contain oil that is rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 essential fatty acid. The body converts GLA into prostaglandins, which function like hormones and help to regulate body processes. So evening primrose oil is often recommended as an alternative treatment for PMS or symptoms of peri-menopause symptoms, as well as inflammatory diseases like eczema and arthritis.