A new analysis predicts that by 2100, increasing water temperatures brought on by a warming planet could result in 96 percent of the world’s population not having access to an omega-3 fatty acid crucial to brain health and function.
It is the most common fatty acid in the mammalian brain and plays a key role in the survival and function of our neural cells, especially during the organ’s development.
Our bodies do not make much DHA, so, for the most part, we obtain it through diet.
Plants and meats have modest amounts of the fatty acid, but the most abundant source by far is fish (or fish-derived supplements).
Marine agriculture such as projects now underway in Japan might be essential to saving ourselves and the planet.
Other researchers are using genetic engineering to grow plants with a more available form of the fatty acid.
Yet she admits the outcome does not look good: “I don’t think this is something we can ignore. »