The benefits of fish oil. 3 reasons is only the start.

Today we want to talk about the benefits of fish oil. 3 reasons to take it are presented here and in fact if you read to the end you’ll find many more reasons than 3 to take fish oil. 3 is just the start.

Sales of fish oil supplements, or what are otherwise known as omega 3 supplements, have increased faster than sales any other nutritional supplements in history. This is not a coincidence. There is now widespread scientific acceptance of the fact that our diets are low in essential Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil, and that if we increase our intake of omega 3 fats there are a wide range of health benefits. Omega 3 fats found in fish oil are essential fatty acids that the body is unable to produce itself. Therefore it must take these fats from foods in your diet.

The primary source of the 2 important omega 3 fats is fish. The most important of these essential fatty acids is called DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid). This makes up a major percentage of the fats in our brain. A second fatty acid that is an Omega 3 fat is EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid). This is also very important to our health.

High levels of these essential fatty acids are found almost exclusively in marine sources and in particular in fish and in fishoil and also of course in the best fish oil supplements. It is possible to find Omega 3 fatty acids in plant sources however this is a different chemical composition and is not considered anywhere near as important to the body as the 2 previously mentioned.

Studies have shown that the average American diet is extremely low in Omega 3 fatty acids because of our heavy reliance on red meat, low intake of fresh fruit and vegetables and fish. Early studies on the health benefits of omega 3 fats focused on the healthy diets and lifestyle of the Japanese and Eskimos and it was found that their low incidence of health problems, particularly heart disease, was primarily due to their high intake of fish containing Omega 3 fats.

Whilst there is DHA and EPA in red meat the amount has been decreasing gradually over the last few decades due to the way we feed our animals. There are some amounts of DHA and EPA in beef fed on grass however there has been a major movement towards grain feeding of our livestock over the last few decades and this has significantly reduced the amount of Omega 3 fats found in red meat. The same applies to chicken and eggs.

Hence the only realistic supply of Omega3 fats for our purposes is fish oil. 3 good reasons to increase your intake of fish oil follow.

1. A significant reduction in heart disease and cardiovascular problems.

There is very significant scientific evidence that a higher intake of Omega3 fats gives us some protection from many of the cardiovascular diseases that affect so many in our society today. Heart disease is the number 1 killer today and it has been shown over and over again that increasing our intake of omega 3 fatty acids gives us some protection from heart disease, and in particular possibility of death from heart attack.

This evidence is now so overwhelming that the American Heart Association recommends that we all increase our intake of fish for the heart health benefits that fish oil provides or that we supplement our diet with omega 3 capsules. This is the first time that the AHA has accepted the benefits of supplementation of any kind.

2. Brain health.

As previously mentioned DHA makes up a significant proportion of the fats found in our brain. There is now ample evidence that increasing our intake of DHA supplements improves our brain function as we age including our ability to concentrate and our memory. And at the other end of the age spectrum there is also ample evidence that increasing DHA intake improves fetal brain development.

Many now recommend that pregnant and nursing mothers increase their DHA supplementation for their own health and for the health of their developing babies and to this reason omega 3 fats are now added to infant formulas.

3. Improvements in age related diseases.

As we age there is a range of well-known health conditions that are age related. A few examples are arthritis, macular degeneration and prostate cancer. There is mounting evidence that increasing our intake of Omega3 fats found in fish oil will help reduce the symptoms of arthritis, protect us from macular degeneration (which can lead to age-related blindness) and also offer some protective benefits from prostate cancer.

There are some of the many benefits of taking fish oil. 3 benefits are just the start, there are many more. That’s why, as we said, sales of fish oil supplements are increasing faster than any other supplement in history and there is more mainstream acceptance of the benefits of Omega 3 supplementation than of any other form of supplementation.

However if you are considering taking fishoil supplements you need to understand a little more about the various Omega 3 capsules available. For example you will find a wide range of prices when you start to look at the different capsules available. It is not possible to compare Omega 3 supplements on price alone. There are in fact a range of considerations in making your choice of the best omega 3 supplements. If your interest we have written an article on how to compare Omega 3 supplements by price.

The best fishoil supplements contain 2 1/2 times more DHA (the most important Omega 3 fat) than your average supplements. And it is important to understand that different combinations of fish oils produce different levels of effectiveness and that the best capsules have been shown to be much more effective than average capsules.

If this is all new to you then you need to seriously consider supplementing your diet with fish oil. 3 reasons is just the beginning, science is uncovering many reasons why inadequate levels of Omega3 fats in our diet is damaging our health.

Of course you can always eat more fish, however it’s expensive and the FDA tell us to limit our intake of fish due to toxic contamination of substances such as Mercury and heavy metals which are not found in the best fish oil capsules. 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).

More and more you can find DHA baby foods, including DHA infant formula. But should you be using it?

If you’re familiar with the benefits of omega 3 essential fatty acids you may well have come across a range of foods that are supplemented with DHA. An example of this is DHA infant formula . Now that the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids to the fetus and developing infants are established it is possible to buy a range of baby products which include DHA. It’s even possible to buy baby cereal with DHA.

Many well known baby foods are fortified with DHA, (Docosahexaenoic Acid). It is now common to find DHA in baby formula because the baby food industry is, of course, quick to respond to consumer demand. Expect to see more baby foods with DHA fortification.

But what are the benefits of DHA infant formula and should you be using DHA fortified baby foods?

This question was recently addressed in a lecture given by Peter Williat, a child psychologist from the University of Dundee. It was a lecture to a group of mainly doctors, pharmacists and nutritionists given on behalf of SMA Nutritional, an infant formula manufactured and sold by Wyett Nutrition.

This lecture was to mark an improvement in this brand of baby formula. DHA is now included in this infant formula. It was interesting to note that Mr. Williat cited some of the research relating to DHA and baby and infant development. Amongst these benefits to child development, according to Mr. Williat, were improvements in “cognitive development, improved visual acuity, memory retention and ability to communicate and solve problems as well as psychomotor development”.

He also noted a number of interesting facts, including that studies have shown that DHA levels differ wildly amongst populations of different countries and that some of the lowest levels of DHA are in residents of the US and Canada.

Mr. Williat advised that pregnant women and nursing mothers get an adequate supply of DHA in their diet so that these benefits can be passed on to the infant through breastfeeding. If the mother’s intake of DHA is adequate then the DHA is present in adequate quantities for the baby in her milk.

If the mother’s intake of DHA is inadequate this obviously means that the supply of DHA to the baby or infant will also be inadequate.

As he was promoting a new baby formula with DHA you would expect him to promote the benefits of DHA baby formula, however in fact when pressed on the benefits of DHA infant formulas compared to the benefits of breastfeeding he said “No infant formula can ever substitute breast milk. It will take years before anybody can tell us how to add the hormones in breast milk to infant formula”.

Of course breastfeeding is superior to feeding the baby or infant with formula for many other reasons as well however it now seems that even the manufacturers of DHA baby formula, through their representatives, admit that breastfeeding is superior.

However this does rely on the mother getting adequate supplies of DHA in her diet and as we previously noted the average American mother has very low levels of DHA. This is a result of a very low consumption of fish.

Whilst eating one or two meals of oily fish a week is recommended that too has its problems. Only certain types of fish have adequate levels of DHA, particularly oily fish. And fish is usually very expensive and out of the reach of some families, particularly families with a new baby. There is a further problem as well.

It is now well known that fish is generally contaminated with various toxins such as mercury, PCBs, pesticides and other heavy metals. For this reason the FDA issue warnings about eating too much fish.

It is however cheaper to use the best DHA supplements. These are completely free of contaminants and can be safely taken daily at a lower cost than buying fresh fish.

The supplementation of baby and infant foods with DHA will continue, however it seems clear that pregnant women and nursing mothers should be taking some form of DHA supplementation to the benefit of their developing infants and that they should be breastfeeding rather than using DHA infant formula. But it is important that the mother herself have adequate levels of DHA, both for her own health and that of her child. 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).