Eating termites for EPA?

[panacea]

I'm trying to figure out the nutrient composition of termites, I know they have a lot of protein, I'm trying to find out if they have omega fats like fish?

We must have gotten them somehow in prehistoric times since we couldn't catch fish with our bare hands, and apes use sticks to catch termites off mounds, perhaps this was our source too? Do insects in general contain any omega fats?

[panacea]

I meant with EPA, and all other omega 3, so that it wouldn't need another food source to explain how we got them..

[RRM]

I dont know about their omega 3 contents (no info in PubMed), but it seems that

The alates are nutritious, having a good store of fat and protein

which may include omega 3 fats.
Alates are the winged termites. The wings are shed and can be removed.
Though their body is relatively weak, fragile and moist, they may be hard to digest, as closely related to cockroaches.

There is now strong evidence suggesting that termites are really highly modified, social, wood-eating cockroaches

[dime]

But why do we have to even look at what we have eaten in prehistoric times, or what apes are eating now? At least to me it doesn't make much sense. I'd consider their menu only if they have lived longer and healthier than normal. We're much more intelligent and can do better than any animal/homo erectus/whatever in terms of optimal nutrition. Although yes, most people can't resist to crappy food, or are actually not aware of what it does to the body.

[RRM]

But why do we have to even look at what we have eaten in prehistoric times, or what apes are eating now?

We dont have to, at all.
Its just panacea's choice to try eating termites.
An interesting experiment, i think.

[dime]

Yep, have fun panacea. Insects are very popular in Mexico, at one dinner there I was supposed to eat all those kinds of termites, worms, etc. So include Mexico when googling, I'm pretty sure some research will pop up. First link I got: http://www.food-insects.com/Insects%20a ... 20Food.htm
Just remember, you should eat them raw They have something like twice as much protein as beef. I guess you could blend them, to make it easier

[panacea]

haha I'm not going to eat termites, I'm trying to figure out how we got EPA in prehistoric time to evolve our large brain, or if we didn't and the truth is that perhaps we don't need EPA, just a lot of ALA and DHA and we can make our own EPA, idk yet. Trying to see if there's a non-fish EPA foodsource that we could've gotten..

[RRM]

perhaps we don't need EPA, just a lot of ALA and DHA and we can make our own EPA

Yes, potentially, ALA is metabolized to EPA, DPA and DHA, but the human capacity to convert ALA is limited,
which may (similar to vitamins such as B3) be due to sufficient availability of omega 3 fats in our natural diet.
Maybe termites are high in EPA. Who knows?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1232 ... t=Abstract
"...Estimated net fractional ALNA inter-conversion was EPA 21 %, DPA 6 % and DHA 9 %."
"...women may possess a greater capacity for ALNA conversion than men. Such metabolic capacity may be important for meeting the demands of the fetus and neonate for DHA during pregnancy and lactation. Differences in DHA status between women both in the non-pregnant state and in pregnancy may reflect variations in metabolic capacity for DHA synthesis..."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1232 ... t=Abstract
"...inhibition or restriction of DHA synthesis downstream of DPA."
""...the capacity of adult males to convert ALNA to DHA was either very low or absent, uptake of pre-formed DHA from the diet may be critical for maintaining adequate membrane DHA concentrations in these individuals."

[panacea]

Well there must be something big we're missing, since I can't find anything high in EPA that's on land and that we could get get with our bare hands. I just found this and it seemed like an interesting theory,

http://www.iibc.com/the-epa-theory/

David Horrabin first began to develop his own theory about human evolution in the 1970's, while he was working as Professor of Medical Physiology in a new medical school in Nairobi, Kenya. In the process of research into schizophrenia, he came to the conclusion that we evolved into humans rather than remaining as apes because of a relatively small change in the chemical make-up of the fat inside our brain. Professor Horrabin's theory differs from both the savannah dweller theory and the aquatic ape theory.

He believes that at the time of our brain development, our ape ancestors were neither wholly savannah dwellers nor wholly aquatic dwellers, but semi-aquatic dwellers, i.e. we lived near lakes, rivers and marshes, 'thriving on the marginal interface between and land'. Although the human fossil bones of this period were discovered in savannah, the remains were almost all centred on areas that had previously contained water, such as dried-up riverbeds, lakes and, later on, the seashore. Horrobin's proposition is that our brain enlarged and developed as a result of the largely marine diet, rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs, of which EPA is one), which were available in abundance in these watery locations. He believes the serious savannah hunting came later, when the water had dried up and our brains had grown, making us mentally capable of getting our heads round the complexities of weapon-making and hunting.

It would make sense to me largely because we are unique in having one of the most creative/intelligent brains, and this would be a largely unique diet for our size of brain. Isn't the only other animal that feeds on marine life (with EPA) and fruits just birds?

Still I haven't been able to find bird information that says there is a bird that eats fruits AND marine life (with EPA) primarily.. although I found many articles showing that some birds (like crows) have an understanding of causal reasoning - and chimps don't. Perhaps the fruits aren't a requirement for intelligence for all animals, just the fatty acids. Still it doesn't explain why sea life isn't much much more intelligent, even though dolphins and some whales are.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... -test.html

[RRM]

Well there must be something big we're missing, since I can't find anything high in EPA that's on land

Who says it needs to be on land?

[panacea]

it's just that, if we assume EPA is essential for intelligent thinking, how could we have caught fish without such thinking in the first place to benefit from the EPAs added to diet? Other than mussels on the shore, I don't see any way we could've caught them.. is there easy food laying on the beach-bed that we could've dove into to get? I've never been around oceans/lakes/rivers..

[abicahsoul]

Every lower intelligence is intelligent enough to eat, or find something to eat..