Ahiflower® Oil’s diverse fatty acid profile yields solutions for brands and consumers.
New Ahiflower research challenges long-held beliefs of ‘inefficient’ DHA formation.
Existing published human dietary intervention research has shown that dietary Ahiflower oil boosts circulating omega-3 EPA efficiently (up to 4x more efficiently than flaxseed oil), raising the Omega-3 Index moderately after 28 days. It has further shown that dietary Ahiflower oil boosts IL-10 in macrophages and upregulates other important anti-inflammatory oxylipin precursors like ETA (C20:4,n-3), DPA (C22:5,n-3), and DGLA (C20:3,n-6), which together will not occur from DHA or fish oil supplementation alone.
The latest University of Toronto research findings underscore that healthy adults likely do not need to consume high levels of preformed DHA in order to maintain DHA levels in key tissues like the liver, adipose, and the brain — outside of clear medically supported intakes of omega-3 DHA during prenatal gestation, early childhood, or after traumatic brain injury. For their part, rodents and humans have already been shown to have comparable rates of ALA-to-DHA accretion and biosynthesis. When supplied with a rich dietary source of omega-3 SDA like Ahiflower oil, the rate of new DHA synthesis in mice was found to be statistically comparable to consuming pure marine DHA itself, at human-equivalent intakes normalized for total PUFA content.
These latest findings challenge the commonly accepted rubric that all plant-based omega-3 sources are ‘inefficiently’ converted to DHA. Not so with Ahiflower oil. Instead, these findings elegantly show how the mammal body can quite efficiently form, maintain, and replace DHA in key tissues like the liver, adipose, and brain without raising circulating DHA levels in blood fractions, when Ahiflower oil is consumed. Rather than raising circulating DHA, dietary Ahiflower oil forms as much DHA, as and when needed, to support optimal wellness in cell membranes and tissues.
Changes for human and planetary health.
We hope that this study will help to start turning the prow of a very large ship—global commerce in wild-harvested marine EPA/DHA sourcing—away from an ecologically extractive model towards a fully sustainable, scalable, and regeneratively farmed plant-based omega-3 sourcing model led by Ahiflower oil. Our highest hope with this study is that the tide will turn in favor of aligning human and planetary health.
Once omega-3 lipid researchers, health care practitioners, and concerned consumers realize that we, as mammals, are fully capable of efficiently forming all the EPA and DHA in key tissues we need from a rich omega-3 SDA source like Ahiflower oil, it changes the eco-sustainability equation in omega-3 nutrition considerably. Widespread uptake of Ahiflower oil is justified — not only as an efficient ‘pro-EPA/DHA’ dietary supplement oil, but also due to its demonstrated capacity to upregulate anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10) and form a wider array of oxylipin precursors than occurs from DHA alone. Further, in many food and beverage formulations (think: sports nutrition, plant-based dairy) that were effectively blocked from including most EPA/DHA oils due to off-putting sensory issues, Ahiflower oil can be used since it has inherently more oxidative stability and a clean-tasting profile.
Therapeutically and ecologically, we hope that this study foments a rapid shift towards aligning recognized omega-3 health benefits with climate resilience and ocean health. Overcoming the widely acknowledged challenge of omega-3 deficiency in modern Western diets no longer has to come at the expense of increasingly fragile marine ecosystems, nor instigating ecological uncertainty (eg to pollinators) from genetically-modified plant EPA/DHA sources. Instead, many colder temperate regions could grow Ahiflower crops regeneratively, benefitting soil microbial health, pollinator health, and net carbon sequestration. We see regenerative personal and metabolic health from omega-3 nutrition aligning with regenerative soil and ocean health, over time in one virtuous circle.
Brands are catching the rising tide of Ahiflower.
In 2024, mainstream consumer- and practitioner-facing supplement brands are catching the rising tide for plant-based omegas by incorporating Ahiflower oil into stand-alone or existing products, or in formulating innovative functional blends that leverage Ahiflower oil’s body of peer-reviewed evidence and efficacy. They will also sidestep widely recognized fish oil supply chain disruptions and dramatically rising costs. Core Ahiflower oil supply costs have maintained steadily (not increased) over the past 5 years through Covid, the Russia-Ukraine war, and rising climate change impacts. Early brand adopters like Nouri, Wiley’s Finest, Clean Machine, Braini, GreenFat, Regenerative Omegas, Bond, Purina and Pavo (horses), and Wagwell (dogs) are taking advantage of Ahiflower oil’s de-risked supply chain benefits and overall peace of mind — while also gaining strong consumer loyalty for how Ahiflower makes people (and their animals) move well, look well, and feel well.
Building on the success of over 100 brands globally that are already bringing Ahiflower oil forward for human and companion animal wellness, we believe there is so much white space where traditional EPA/DHA oils are not commonly used. Examples are in protein powders, greens powders, plant-based milks/spreads, snack bars, functional chocolates, squeezable fruits/vegetables, and plant-based seafoods. Adding Ahiflower oil into these matrices would confer functional benefits and yield key product differentiation in often crowded categories.
Ahiflower provides solutions for human, pet and topical skin care brands.
Ahiflower oil is exclusively produced by Natures Crops in PEI, Canada and sold as a bulk liquid triglyceride oil by select distribution partners in various territories around the world. It is also available in an organic acacia fiber powder at a 70% oil loading level from CoreFX. This water-soluble, clean sensory, and clean label powder format is extremely versatile in a range of gummy, emulsion, and bulk powder blend formats. Ahiflower+DHA oil is also available through our partnership with Algarithm, for brands who require a mg amount of DHA on packaged product labels. Ahiflower seed by-products are also now available in select regions where the exceptionally high calcium and silica content of the Ahiflower seed coat coupled with a low-carbohydrate, low-protein content makes it useful in a range of companion backyard poultry, pet and companion animal, and honeybee colony supplementation applications. Natralipid® Ahiflower and Advanced Omega Comples oils are also available in topical skin care and cosmetic uses, since its rich combined SDA and GLA content has shown controlled trial evidence in humans of anti-wrinkle, moisturization, and pro-collagen synthesis activity. There is hardly a dietary or topical category where consumers are seeking holistic, plant-based, full-spectrum wellness benefits that an Ahiflower delivery system isn’t readily available.
Check out the current human brands who formulate with Ahiflower. More pet and equine brands are turning to Ahiflower as well. The possibilities are endless with this diverse plant-based omega.