What are the benefits of DHA to your health, and what about EPA?

Today we want to look at the benefits of DHA, (Docosahexaenoic acid), the most important of the essential fatty acids (EFAs) known as Omega 3 fatty acids, but which sometimes go under the name of n-3 fatty acids or long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The DHA benefits are numerous. Lets consider some of the reasons why DHA is so important to your health.

There are so many different fats, like saturated fats, trans-fats, unsaturated fats, essential fats that it all gets confusing. The bottom line is that there’s good fats and bad fats. Some are useful to your health and some are not. DHA as well as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are what is known as polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are beneficial to your health and most of us are deficient in our levels of these fats.

In the past our diet was much higher in fish and other seafoods. We got our polyunsaturated fatty acids in our diet. Now the average Western diet is too low in seafoods and as a result almost all of us are deficient in DHA and EPA, (unless you take high quality Omega-3 supplements).

Your body doesn’t produce essential fatty acids itself and so all of them have to come from your diet.

DHA and EPA are not the only omega 3 fatty acids. Whilst these are found in fish it is also possible to get ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) from plants, however ALA is not as useful to our body as DHA and EPA.

As well as omega 3 fatty acids there are also Omega 6 fatty acids. However whilst our intake of Omega3 fats has reduced over the years our intake of Omega 6 fats has increased. That is because the main sources of Omega 6 are oils such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, sesame oil and corn oil. As much of our processed food is cooked in or contains one or more of these oils our Omega 6 intake has increased.

An increase in the n-6 to n-3 ratio also has some serious health implications, we need to increase our intake of Omega 3 EFAs and reduce our intake of Omega 6 EFAs.

So lets have a look at the health benefits of docosahexaenoic acid. Somewhere around 60 % of the brain is made up of fat, and DHA is the predominant fat in the brain. It is also the predominant fat in the retina of the eyes.

An adequate supply of DHA is essential for the development of the brain and eyes, and pregnant or nursing mothers can supply of DHA to the fetus and the baby by taking DHA supplements themselves. Some infant formulas now contain DHA.

It is taken up more readily by the brain than any other fatty acid, because it crosses the blood/brain/placenta barrier more successfully. Most of the development of the brain occurs during the life of the fetus and infant. At birth the body weight of an infant is 5 percent of adult weight but the brain size is 70 percent of the size of an adult right. Most brain growth is completed by the age of 5 or 6.

There is evidence that 40% of children with ADHD have low levels of DHA. It is considered that it also has a beneficial effect on the academic performance of children in school.

It is also known that DHA has an important role in the development and health of the central nervous system.

For the adults studies are showing that it can help lower triglycerides and reduce the risks of heart disease, decrease blood viscosity thereby lowering the risks of blood clots and reduce the effects of various inflammatory diseases.

A study published in 2009 found that a deficiency of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats was the 6th most important cause of premature and avoidable death in the US, with somewhere around 72000 to 96000 people dying from this deficiency.

In many cases the studies are showing that the benefits of fish oil come from the combination of DHA and EPA together, and it’s difficult to separate out DHA benefits on their own. However it’s clear that increasing your intake of DHA is very important to your health.

Fish and fish oils supplements contain DHA and EPA together. However many have way more EPA than DHA, and some are now beginning to think it should be the other way round. That the DHA is more important to your health, and that this should be the predominant n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in the fish oil capsules.

The best omega-3 capsules now have more DHA than EPA.

There’s no doubt now that almost all of us on the western diet are chronically short of the essential fatty acids known as Omega-3, particularly DHA. And that for some of us this could cause our premature death. Read the rest of this entry

Up to 96000 of us die each year from Omega 3 deficiency. Are you taking your Omega 3 capsules?

That sounds a little melodramatic doesn’t it? That omega 3 deficiency could be killing you? Melodramatic or not the results of a recent study has concluded that omega 3 deficiency was responsible for between 72000 and 96000 preventable deaths in the US every year.

This study was not just intended to study the negative effects of Omega 3 deficiency but was in fact intended to study the general mortality effects of a range of identifiable dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors in the US.

It was intended to study these factors so that the data could be used for health policy and priorities setting.

The 12 dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors that were studied included high blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, obesity, high dietary trans fatty acids and salt,  dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid levels, Omega 3 fatty acids, fruits and vegetable intake and  low physical activity, use of alcohol and smoking.

Not surprisingly the results concluded that the 2 biggest preventable lifestyle factors causing the highest number of preventable deaths in the US were smoking and high blood pressure. It was estimated that in 2005 smoking and high blood pressure were responsible for almost 800,000 preventable deaths in the US, accounting for around one in every 5 or 6 deaths of adults in America. Next came obesity and physical inactivity accounting for around one in 10 deaths.

The first thing that surprised us about this study is that omega 3 deficiency was studied at all. There is ample evidence that omega 3 deficiency can contribute to various poor health outcomes including heart attack and stroke, however we had still not considered the possibility that deficiency of omega 3 in the population of the US could possibly contribute to so many deaths.

Estimates are that over 90 percent of adults in the US have too little intake of Omega 3 essential fatty acids and their diet and are therefore omega 3 deficient. It seems clear from the study that this now contributes significantly to the risk of death from an omega 3 deficiency related condition such as heart attack or stroke.

And it’s not just an increase in the likelihood of health problems that are directly related to omega 3 deficiency. For example studies now show that low levels of Omega 3 essential fatty acids in the body can contribute to becoming overweight and that increasing your intake of both DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), the 2 most important Omega 3 essential fatty acids, can help you lose weight as part of an overall weight loss program.

And of course obesity itself contributes to a range of lifestyle diseases which themselves can result in disability or death. Therefore omega 3 deficiency also contributes to these diseases indirectly by contributing to the sufferer carrying excess weight.

If you browse our categories at the right you will see a wide range of health conditions which have all been found to benefit from higher levels of Omega 3 essential fatty acids in the diet. The evidence is now so overwhelming that omega 3 supplements are now the first nutritional supplements recommended by the American Heart Association.

With 90 percent or more of American adults being deficient in Omega 3 this has major implications for individuals and also for our health system.

There is an easy way to improve your levels of omega 3 essential fatty acids. One way is to eat more fish however fish is expensive and contaminated with toxins including mercury and for this reason the FDA recommend against eating too much fish. However the best omega 3 capsules are entirely clean and are a very cost effective and safe way to add omega 3 essential fatty acids to your daily diet.

Melodramatic or not the studies are now clearly showing the benefits of an increased intake of Omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil and it is now quite clear that virtually all of this should be supplementing our diet with daily Omega 3 capsules.

The best Omega 3 capsules are way better than the worst and we have written articles helping you compare Omega 3 supplements, both for value and for quality. We hope you enjoy those articles.

There’s so many reasons to add fish oil capsules to your daily diet. Read the rest of this entry

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