Many natural health researchers and professionals have shown that omega-3 fish oil benefits the human body in a tremendous number of different ways.
There are a large number of beneficial nutrients in fish oil. Probably one of the most well researched nutrients is omega-3 EFAs (essential fatty acids), which are known to provide benefit for a wide range of health conditions.
Since the human body is unable to produce this type of EFA, they must be ingested through food or dietary supplements. The best dietary source of these EFAs is oily fish, like salmon for example.
One of the most popular theories about why these EFAs benefits such a wide variety of health issues is that it has extraordinary anti-inflammatory properties. High levels of inflammation are always present with many disorders which concern the heart, brain, joints, immune system, digestion and vision. These fatty acids are one of the best non-drug anti-inflammatory substances known.
EPA and DHA
DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) is a complex fatty acid which has been extensively studied and found to have a range of beneficial health effects. DHA is thought to be a required element for maintaining healthy and normal brain function in both adults and children. This is why many natural health providers are finding that EFAs can be very helpful for people struggling with issues like ADHD, ADD, depression, anxiety and stress.
Other omega-3 fatty acids follow DHA in order of complexity, number of carbon chain bonds and overall efficacy for your body. One of these is EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) which has 20 carbon bonds.
It is difficult for the body to convert EPA to DHA because it has to add two carbon bonds. On the other hand the body only has to ‘drop off’ two carbon bonds from DHA to create EPA. ALA (alpha linolenic acid) – commonly found in flaxseed oil, this omega-3 fatty acid only has 18 carbon bonds, making it almost impossible for the body to manufacture DHA from.
ADHD Natural Treatment
Including sufficient DHA in the diet is known to improve learning ability, and deficiencies in this essential fatty acid is associated with learning problems. Some researchers suggest that essential fatty acids may be important and effective in reducing inflammation in the digestive system, which is also sometimes called the “abdominal brain” because of the large role this nervous system plays in mood issues like bipolar disorder and ADHD.
Cholesterol Management
EFAs (essential fatty acids) have been shown in research trials to decrease the incidence of heart diseases. It is suggested that it’s ability to reduce inflammation and lower cholesterol naturally as well as normalize blood pressure is beneficial for individuals at risk for heart disease.
The American Heart Association recommends the following dosage for people needing to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides:
“Two to four grams of EPA+DHA per day provided as capsules such as fish oil or omega 3 capsules under a physician’s care”.
Holistic Support for Arthritis
Arthritis can be a seriously debilitating condition, and pharmaceutical drugs for this condition often have notorious negative side effects. It’s generally accepted that arthritis pain is caused by various forms of inflammation.
As mentioned previously, omega-3 EFAs excel at reducing inflammation naturally. Many natural health care providers have come to rely on nutritional approaches to help their patients recover from the pain of arthritis.
More Health Benefits:
*Skin and Beauty
*Immune system and cancer
*Vision – macular degeneration
*Allergies
*Digestive system
*Diabetes*blood pressure
*bipolar disorder
*nervous system
*pregnant women
*reduce inflammation
Of course, the ideal solution is to include more foods in your diet which can provide these essential fatty acids. Try to eat a variety of fish at least twice a week. Include oils and foods rich in alpha-linolenic acid (flax and borage seed oil, flax seeds and walnuts)
If you’re like most of us and your life is extremely busy, you may find it difficult to consistently stick with an ideal diet. High quality omega-3 fish oil supplements may be an option if this is your situation. Plus, if you’re dealing with troublesome health issues, high potency vitamin supplements can help make up for nutritional deficiencies which may be difficult to account for by diet alone.
However, there is a large variation in quality with nutritional supplements on the market today. Fish oil is no exception. A poor quality supplement may actually be introducing substances into your body that are not helpful; an example of this would be toxic substances such as mercury, PCBs and the resulting free radicals stemming from impure or rancid oils used in low quality products.
After doing extensive research, the supplement we here at i-health-info recommend is Xtend-Life’s Omega 3 Esters made from fish oils. They are very inexpensive and top of the line quality.
In tests, Xtend-Life’s Omega 3 DHA Fish Oil had almost double the anti-inflammatory properties compared with a highly concentrated oil and two and a half times more anti-inflammatory properties than a ‘normal’ fish oil.