Are There Any Benefits To Fish Oil 3 Supplementation?

By Peter Bertonich

Even if you are not particularly interested in a healthy diet you have probably still heard about the benefits of fish oil. The 2 main essential fatty acids which are Omega3 fats are essential to good health and are found mainly in fish oil. 3 benefits of omega 3 fats follow, however there are plenty more.

The 2 most important essential fatty acids are DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA Eicosapentaenoic acid) . There are others, including ALA which is a plant-based form of omega 3 fats, however DHA and EPA are considered essential to our health. DHA in particular makes up a large proportion of the fats in our brain.

The average American diet is very low in Omega3 sources. Our diet is low in fish and is high in red meat, processed foods, sugar and salt and low in essential nutrients. In the past there was a reasonable amount of DHA to be found in red meat but modern feeding methods including grain feeding have reduced the levels of DHA to extremely low levels in red meat. To get more DHA and EPA in our diets we need to either start taking DHA supplements or eat more fish or both.

Here are my 3 benefits of taking increased levels of Omega3 fats into your diet.

Improvements in brain health.

Science is now beginning to understand the importance of DHA to our brain. It is now seeded extremely important for the brain development of the fetus and infant that they have sufficient levels of DHA. Amongst older people DHA supplementation has been shown to improve our cognitive ability, our memory and our concentration.

2. Cardiovascular and Heart Health.

There are a range of reasons now accepted, for example by the American Heart Association, that adequate supplies of omega 3 improve our heart and cardio vascular health and reduce our risk of death. Our risk of death from heart attack can be reduced by increasing our intake of Omega3 fats. And for this and for other reasons AHA tells us to increase our intake of fish each week or undertake fish oil supplementation.

3. Improvements in age related conditions.

I have talked about the improvements to our memory and concentration with age but there are more benefits to the older people amongst us from increasing our level of Omega3 fats. A reduction in the symptoms of arthritis, a reduction in the risk of blindness due to macular degeneration and a reduction in the risks of prostate cancer are just some of them.

Unless there was significant scientific evidence backing up the benefits of fish oil a conservative organisation like the American Heart Association would not be recommending that we increase our intake of Omega3 fats. And as studies have shown that Canadian and US citizens have lower levels of DHA and EPA than almost anyone else in the world there is no doubt we should be increasing our intake of Omega3 fats.

I hope that you can now see some significant benefits to your health of increasing your dietary intake of fish oil. 3 benefits is just the start, there's plenty more.

Mercury contaminates our fish and as fish is expensive many of us rarely it. The very best fish oil supplements are entirely free of contaminants, are safe to take daily and are cost effective compared to eating fish.

But not all fish oil supplements are good supplements.Visit my website to find out how to compare Omega 3 supplements to find the best supplements that represent the best value. - 29955

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