Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for normal growth and may play an important role in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease, hypertension, arthritis, cancer, and other inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.
The deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids might be linked to mood regulation, attention, memory, and mental health. Omega-3 fatty acids also benefit the body by increasing insulin sensitivity. Cellular circulation is deeply affected by the intake of fatty acids, which in turn affects the fluidity of the cell membrane. Increasing the omega-3 content of one’s diet significantly increases cell-membrane fluidity and allows more nutrients to reach the cells themselves.
There are two major classes of fats the body needs but cannot manufacture on its own; hence they must be obtained through diet alone. These fats are the essential fatty acids (EFA’s). The two EFA classes are called omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
There are two categories of omega-3:
Plant sources, such as flaxseed that contains alpha linolenic acid, and marine sources, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies, which contain the most effective forms of omega-3’s EPA and DHA. Due to the poor conversion within the body of ALA to EPA, plant omega-3 such as flaxseed, cannot on its own meet our body’s nutritional requirements for EPA and DHA.
Fish oil from cold water fish (salmon herring, mackerel) is a direct source of EPA and DHA. In fact, fish oil has been shown to significantly increase life span and delay disease where no other dietary changes are made. It gives a protective effect against chronic inflammation and vascular disease, which is especially common in overweight individuals.
A study published in the January 2010 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that intakes of omega-3 exceeding levels consumed by the general U.S. Population may significantly reduce the risk of chronic disease.
One would assume that eating fish regularly would be prudent; however, high levels of contaminants such as mercury, PCBs, and dioxins in our environment and waters make eating certain fish regularly a potentially risky dietary choice.
Fortunately the wealth of health benefits associated with fish consumption can be safely and readily obtained from premium fish oil supplements. While there is no guarantee that the fish you eat is free of contaminants, the tide has turned when it comes to the safety of omega-3 fish oil supplements.
Because the American diet is rich in omega-6 foods and salad dressings and low in cold water fish, most people tend to eat far too much omega-6 and are dangerously deficient in omega-3. Both the level of omega-3 and the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids are critically important, and a healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is thought to be approx: 3:1. But many Americans have an imbalance of 20:1.
The answer is usually as simple as taking fewer omega-6’s and adding antioxidant protected fish oil to your diet. It’s well worth the price.
High dose fish oil has extraordinary health benefits, but is extremely susceptible to oxidation/ lipid peroxidation witin the body unless therapeutic doses of fat soluble antioxidants (full spectrum vitamin E, tocotrienols, and tocopherols and the super antioxidant astaxanthin) are taken along with the fish oil. Taking the extra steps of vitamins D and A and balancing it all with GLA (a healthy omega-6 from borage seed oil or evening primrose oil) can be enormously beneficial to your health.
Most commercially available fish oils contain miniscule amounts of vitamin E, which addresses the issue of shelf life, but has no protective effect within the body. Purified antioxidant protected fish oils appear to be the wisest choice; however this is so important to one’s health that lesser quality fish oil appears to be better than none at all.