Arachidonic acid can be found mainly in the fatty parts of meats and fish (largely red meat), so vegetarians usually have lower levels of arachidonic acid in the body than those with omnivorous diets. There is a great deal of controversy about arachidonic acid.

What foods contain high arachidonic acid?

The main food sources of ARA are meat, poultry, eggs, fish and dairy foods, as shown in Table 1 [20, 21].

What is arachidonic acid used for?

Arachidonic acid is important because the human body uses it as a starting material in the synthesis of two kinds of essential substances, the prostaglandins and the leukotrienes, both of which are also unsaturated carboxylic acids.