Can you comment on the daily requirements for teenagers and active females?

The Food and Nutrition Board (Institute of Medicine) in the United States recommended (in 2002) that 0.6% of total daily energy should be consumed as the plant based omega-3 fatty acid known as alpha-linolenic acid (LNA). If your teenage were consuming approximately 2100 kcal per day, this would amount to a recommended intake for LNA of 1400 mg per day. If you insert the term ‘dietary sources’ into the search window on our website, would will find a table giving the levels of LNA (also referred to as ALA) in a wide variety of various foods and oils. While North American government agencies have not yet provided specific recommended intakes for DHA/EPA, this has occurred in Australia and New Zealand where they have advised that girls between the ages 14-18 years consume at least 85 mg per day of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids as DHA+EPA+DPA as commonly found in fish/fish oils. We cannot comment on recommended allowances for vitamins and minerals as our focus on this website is primarily on DHA/EPA omega-3 fatty acids.

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