If you’re pregnant or nursing you ought consider increasing your intake of Omega 3 fish oil.

If you’re having a baby soon you may be concerned about the possibility of postpartum depression. Otherwise known as postnatal depression, this is a form of depression suffered by women shortly after childbirth.

It is estimated that somewhere between 15% and 20% of women can suffer from postpartum depression symptoms after birth. In some the symptoms of postpartum depression can be mild and soon overcome but in others it can result in serious depressive symptoms and develop into a depressive illness. So anything that may work is a good postpartum depression treatment is worth investigating.

We have already written an article about the use of omega 3 fish oil supplements for depression. There is now emerging evidence that supplementation of DHA, the major active ingredient of omega 3 fish oil supplements, can also be an effective, albeit partial, postpartum depression treatment. There is a series of studies suggesting that this is in fact the case.

It has been known for some time that women who suffer from poor nutrition can be more prone to postnatal depression. This is not just a lower intake of fish or fish oil but also includes a range of other important nutrients, both before during and after pregnancy including folic acid, calcium and iron as well as omega 3 fats.

Recently David Kyle, the US director of the Mother and Child Foundation, suggested that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding can improve their babies neurological development and reduce the chances of postnatal depression by increasing their intake of DHA. DHA is the most important of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids found primarily in fish oil and available to all of us from eating fish and in particular from daily supplementation by fish oil capsules.

This claim followed a number of research studies that have confirmed that higher levels of DHA in the diet can reduce postpartum depression symptoms. And by increasing the mothers intake of DHA there is also an increase of DHA in the breastmilk and this, in turn, as well is reducing postpartum depression symptoms, leads to improved development outcomes for the child.

The evidence for increasing DHA in the intake of babies and children is now so compelling that the FDA has approved the addition of DHA to infant formulas.

In one of the studies of the role of DHA as a postpartum depression treatment all of the women who received the DHA showed substantial improvement in their postpartum depression symptoms with their depression scores dropping by around 50 percent.

David Kyle has now suggested that the evidence pointing to the role of DHA in limiting depression after birth is sufficient to warrant women who are pregnant or nursing taking daily Omega 3 fish oil supplements or eating more fish. Unfortunately there are also FDA warnings about toxic contamination of fish and therefore it is not suggested that women eat too much fish particularly if pregnant or nursing.

Therefore the best way of increasing their DHA intake is to take the best fish oil supplements available on the market.

Note that not all fish oil supplements are the same. Many vary enormously in the level of DHA found in the supplements and there are also issues of toxic contamination of fish oil used in some supplements.

The very best fish oil supplements have around 2 1/2 times more DHA than average supplements and are also cost-effective for this reason.

So if you’re pregnant or nursing there is good evidence that the health of both you and your baby can be improved by taking daily fish oil supplements. Read the rest of this entry

Written by - Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oils

(And make sure you read our page explaining why you need Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, and find out how to choose the Best Fish Oil Supplements).

Don’t be taken in by claims that Omega 3 supplements contain “pharmaceutical grade fish oil”.

Often when you’re researching information about the benefits of Omega 3 fish oils you will see the term “pharmaceutical grade fish oil”. We would like spend some time discussing exactly what “pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplements “are and are not.

The bottom line is that “pharmaceutical grade Omega 3” doesn’t actually exist. It is in fact a marketing term rather than a technical definition relating to the purity or quality of fish oil supplements.

There is no definition of “pharmaceutical grade” in the US Pharmacopeia. The term has come into more common use because companies that manufacture and market Omega 3 supplements use it in an attempt to prove that their products are clean or “pure”.

However there is no organization that determines what “pharmaceutical grade fish oils” are and there is no test to decide whether or not any particular fish oil is “pharmaceutical grade” or not.

In fact it’s very difficult to find any formal standards to which any particular fish oil supplement must comply. There are no binding standards internationally for fish oil grade and every company that manufactures fish oil capsules is free to choose whether or not they comply with any voluntary standards.

There are voluntary standards and you can read more about these in our article about  fish oil purity however none of these are binding and any supplement manufacturer can choose to adhere to the standards or not, or to set its own standards.

There is a very official sounding organization. It is the International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS). In fact this is a private organisation that charges a fee to test fish oil products.

Some companies that pass the IFOS test often claim that their products are “pharmaceutical grade fish oil“. As we previously said this is a meaningless term.

However whilst this is a meaningless term there is no doubt that fish oil purity is a serious issue. Fish generally are contaminated with toxins including Mercury, and the FDA warns us not to eat too much for this reason.

Whilst speaking of the FDA, we should add that although the FDA do have standards for fish oil purity standards their are very easy to meet and most fish oil capsules should have no trouble in meeting them.

So there is every reason for those taking fish oil capsules to be wary about the cleanliness and purity of the Omega 3 fish oils in their capsules.

As you can see from our article about fish oil purity there are in fact a range of standards from different organizations that any manufacturer may or might not choose to meet. The most important thing to consider when buying your fish oil capsules is to get independent evidence of the cleanliness and purity of the fish oil.

We consider the best Omega 3 supplements to be those from Xtend Life. They exceed all the recognized (voluntary) standards and in fact set their own standards for fish oil purity which are substantially below all the recognized standards.

In particular their standard for Mercury is 10 times lower than all 4 major fish oil standards including those of the IFOS.

You should be able to investigate the cleanliness and purity of any fish oil supplements. If you go to the website of any company selling Omega 3 supplements there should be evidence their on the website of independent laboratory testing in the form of an independent certificate of analysis. Read the rest of this entry

Written by - Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oils

(And make sure you read our page explaining why you need Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, and find out how to choose the Best Fish Oil Supplements).

There is a link between Omega 3 and ADHD reduction.

We have already talked about the link between Omega 3 fish oil and a reduction in depression levels. And we have also talked about the importance of adequate levels of Omega 3 for brain development in the fetus and infants.

So it’s no surprise that there is also a link between Omega 3 and ADHD. It now appears that it is possible to use fish oil to treat ADHD. Omega 3 fatty acids are an important part of an ADHD strategy.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or what is known as ADHD, is the inability of a person to concentrate for extended periods of time and to focus on one particular task. Symptoms can include hyperactivity and other impulsive and disruptive behaviour. It is estimated that around 7 percent of children in the US have some form of ADHD. Most of these are boys.

And somewhere around 70 percent of children with ADHD carry those problems through to adulthood.

There have been studies conducted on ADHD sufferers which have found that they have very low levels of the 2 main Omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA. These are 2 essential fatty acids that are very important to the general health of the body. DHA is also one of the major fats found in the brain.

Does your child have ADHD? Fish oil contains the most DHA and EPA of any food that we can take. Fish eat micro algae with DHA and store this in their body. Oil sourced from the fish therefore contains good levels of DHA and EPA.

There are studies about using fish oil for ADHD relief. One at the Inflammation Research Foundation focused on the possibility of reducing the symptoms of ADHD by using fish oil supplementation. This study involved 3 boys and 6 girls, all of which had been diagnosed with ADHD. Omega 3 fatty acids were given to the boys and girls as liquids and measurements were taken of the level of DHA and EPA in their bodies together with the ratio between EPA and AA “arachidonic acid” which was considered to be one of the major causes of the ADHD.

The results of using fish oil for ADHD treatment were impressive. At the end of a trial lasting 8 weeks the levels of EPA and DHA found in the children have increased significantly and there were significant reductions symptoms of ADHD in all of the children.

The inattention score fell from 18 to 10, almost half, and a hyperactivity score fell from 11 to 5, a fall to less than half.

It is still in the early stages of research about the effects of fish oil and ADHD relief. However there are very encouraging results which fall in line with the results of using fish oil for depression. It is clearly worth considering that for anyone with ADHD, Omega 3 fatty acids are an important part of the equation in tackling the problem.

Whilst it is too early to say that using fish oil to treat ADHD can be a stand-alone treatment it is certainly worth considering in conjunction with other treatments.

Note that the levels of DHA and EPA supplementation in the trial were quite high. The children took levels of these Omega 3 fatty acids in excess of the levels recommended for general intake. And there appears has yet to be insufficient evidence of the link between increased intake of fish oil and ADHD relief, so there are as yet, no official recommended dosages.

However it is also very clear that a wide range of health reasons almost everyone in the US should be taking Omega 3 fish oil supplements for general health and for brain health. There are no significant side effects to taking fish oil supplements.

So if your child has ADHD, fish oil may be a part of the answer. Note that it is important to take high quality fish oil supplements. Some fish oil supplements contain low levels of DHA and EPA, the 2 most important Omega 3 fatty acids.

The best fish oil supplements contain high levels of both these essential fatty acids and they evidence this on the label.

Not all fish oil supplements are created equal. You need to be careful in choosing the best brand of fish oil supplements, not only to get the highest levels of the important ingredients but also to get the best value. Read the rest of this entry

Written by - Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oils

(And make sure you read our page explaining why you need Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, and find out how to choose the Best Fish Oil Supplements).