Posts Tagged ‘essential fatty acids’

Does Taking Vegetarian Omega 3 Supplements Give You Sufficient Essential Fatty Acids?

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

There have been some significant health discoveries over the last few decades, but perhaps the most important is that most of us are deficient in the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. The major omega 3 fatty acids are ALA, DHA and EPA. ALA (alpha linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are all healthy fats.

It is considered generally that DHA, which makes up a large percentage of our brain, is the most important these however EPA, also an Omega 3 fat, is also essential to optimum health.

But sadly over the last century there have been significant changes to our diets and we are now eating much less DHA and EPA as these are mainly found in seafood and particularly in oily fish. As we are eating less seafood and therefore taking less omega 3 fats his increases our risk of a wide range of health conditions, and increasing our intake of these essential fatty acids can help protect us against contracting some of these conditions.

ALA on the other hand is found only in plant-based foods and is not found in seafoods, therefore even eating more seafood does not increase our intake of ALA.

But many people who are vegetarian are taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements such as flax seed oil supplements. These do contain ALA but do not contain DHA or EPA. Are they getting all the omega 3 fats they need?

The answer is no because DHA and EPA are much more important to your health than ALA. The benefit of ALA is that the body can convert it into DHA and EPA but it is converted at a very poor rate, and the less healthy amongst us convert it less successfully.

So if it isn’t sufficient to take vegetarian Omega 3 supplements why do people take them? Because as vegetarians they cannot take traditional Omega 3 supplements sourced from seafood. And many people taking vegetarian Omega 3 supplements are unaware that they are not providing sufficient levels of the important Omega 3 fats.

The bottom line is that virtually all of us are deficient in the fish-based Omega 3 fats DHA and EPA. These are what are important to our health and taking an ALA Omega 3 supplement such as a flax seed oil supplement does not address this problem. To find out more about the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA and in particular about where to source high quality fish oil supplements containing these fats visit my website.

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Fats in your Diet are Essential ,so which one’s to Choose?

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Have you ever wondered if what you know about omega 3 is accurate?  Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the latest info on omega 3.  Adding fats to your diet is essential if you want to live a healthy lifestyle that results in feeling and looking great, but it has to be the right kind of fats. Essential fatty acids fall within this category and are a crucially important addition to anyone’s diet.  Omega-3 essential fatty acids are made up of two components: DHA (which stands for docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).  The best source of DHA and EPA are fish, especially salmon, seaweed, shellfish and algae. Furthermore, you can also get omega-3's from unrefined whole grains, dark; leafy greens and certain nuts and seeds like walnuts, flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds. This second group contains ALA (alpha linolenic acid) which your body then converts to EPA and DHA.  Your best bet, however, is to get your omega-3’s from seafood because your body converts only about 15 percent of dietary ALA to EPA and much less to DHA.

What do you do if you don’t like, and absolutely refuse to eat, seafood?  Well, fortunately you can get omega-3’s in capsule form. Not everyone’s stomach can handle these capsules, but try them out for one month. It’s an extremely convenient way to add omega-3’s to your diet. When purchasing omega-3’s in pill form, you’ll notice some products also contain the other two components of essential fatty acids: omega-6 and omega-9. Stick with the products that contain only high amounts of omega-3’s. Most people already get high amounts of these two fatty acids from their diet, and it’s this lack of omega-3’s that is potentially the culprit behind many health problems today.  Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about omega 3?  Or was there something completely new?  What about the remaining paragraphs? When adding omega-3’s to your diet through pills, look for 1,000 mg pills and take 3-9 per day with food depending on your current health status and healthy living goals. Your Doctor or physician should be able to consult with you about this. 

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Fish Oil Pills. What Are They And Why Should You Eat Them?

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Nutritional supplements are big business but the sales of fish oil pills are growing faster than sales of any other supplement in history. Fish oil pills can sometimes be called omega 3 supplements or Omega 3 capsules. Lets look at the benefits of fish oil and why you should be taking fish oil pills every day.

There are 2 essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fatty acids. These are called DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and they are good fats. Contrary to what you may have heard about diet fats in your diet are not all bad.

It is certainly true that eating lots of animal products such as chicken and red meat containing saturated fat is not good for you and you should reduce your intake of saturated fat. But the essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fats are highly important to good health and your body does not manufacture these fats, so getting them in your diet is the only way to get plenty of Omega3 fats inside you. You can do this by eating lots of fish or by taking daily oil fish pills.

Estimates are that the vast majority of people in the US have way too little essential fatty acids in their diet. Studies have shown that populations of people who eat lots of fish are healthier, and in particular have better heart health than so many of our citizens and studies have linked this good heart health to their high intake of fish and other seafood products.

There’s many health benefits from essential fatty acids called omega 3 fats. These benefits include many heart health benefits and the American Heart Association recognizes this, recommending we have a minimum intake of DHA and EPA every week. The AHA tells us to do this by eating more fish or taking fish oil pills daily.

The heart health benefits of Omega3 fats include a reduced risk of death. This is a result of better heart health, lower blood pressure, lower triglycerides and less plaque in our arteries. And it doesn’t stop there. Higher intakes of Omega3 fats improve brain function and memory, reduce the incidence and effects of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and reduce the risks of blindness by macular degeneration in older age, and more.

Studies show that DHA, the most important omega 3 fatty acid, is an essential part of the brain development of the fetus and that pregnant women should ensure an adequate intake of Omega3 fats throughout pregnancy. Equally it is important for women who are breastfeeding to maintain her intake of Omega3 fats as these fats are made available to the infant through the milk, and brain development throughout childhood equally relies on an adequate supply of DHA. In fact studies show that children raised with adequate levels of Omega3 fats do better on IQ tests.

Clearly we need to add more DHA and EPA to our diet but how do we do that? We can eat more fish but fish is very expensive and only certain fish have high levels of omega 3. When combined with the fact that fish is high in mercury and that the FDA tell us not to eat too much for this reason then eating more fish isn’t looking so attractive. But taking daily fish oil pills is.

Omega 3 pills are the ideal solution. They are capsules of fish oil which you can take everyday, and you can cut the top off and poor the oil onto the kids breakfast if they can’t take the capsules. They are cost effective and the best fish oil pills are contamination free.

Note that not all Omega 3 capsules are as good as others and the best fish oil supplements contain way more of the active ingredient DHA than the worst.

For some time I have been giving fish oil pills to my family and taking them myself with my breakfast. I buy the fish oil pills that I consider to be the worlds best. To find out which Omega 3 supplements I consider to be the best visit my website.

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Fish Oil Pills. What Are They And Why Should You Eat Them?

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Fish oil pills are big business. In fact sales of fish oil pills, or what can be known as Omega 3 capsules or even as omega 3 supplements, are growing faster than any other nutritional supplement in history. Lets have a look at why and consider whether you should also be taking daily supplements of omega 3.

Fish oil contains 2 essential fatty acids called DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and these are good fats. You may have heard that fat in your diet is bad for you but that is not necessarily true. Some fat in your diet is good for you.

There are some bad fats, in particular saturated fat which is primarily found in animal products such as red meat and chicken. However there are also good fats which are extremely important to your health. The omega 3 fatty acids called essential fatty acids are extremely important to your health and are not manufactured in your body. Therefore the only way you can get Omega 3 fatty acids into you is by taking oil fish pills, or eating a lot of fish.

It is common knowledge, confirmed by studies, that US citizens eat way too little fish and therefore their intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids is inadequate. There are studies which have shown that citizens in countries where fish is on the menu almost daily have much better health and in particular much better heart health then we do and that this is a result of their higher intake of fish and seafood products.

The health benefits from increasing our intake of Omega3 fats go on and on and include many benefits to the heart. The American Heart Association, for this reason, tells us that we should have a minimum intake of DHA and EPA every week and that we should do this by eating more fish or by a daily regime of fish oil pills.

The health benefits include a reduced risk of death from heart disease and heart attack, lowering triglycerides, lowering blood pressure and reducing the build of plaque in the arteries. Other health benefits include an improvement in brain function and memory, a reduction in the risk of macular degeneration causing blindness in older age and a reduction in a range of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and lots lots more.

Studies show that DHA, the most important omega 3 fatty acid, is an essential part of the brain development of the fetus and that pregnant women should ensure an adequate intake of Omega3 fats throughout pregnancy. Equally it is important for women who are breastfeeding to maintain her intake of Omega3 fats as these fats are made available to the infant through the milk, and brain development throughout childhood equally relies on an adequate supply of DHA. In fact studies show that children raised with adequate levels of Omega3 fats do better on IQ tests.

It is quite clear that we need more DHA and EPA in our diets, but how? Of course we can all eat more fish but fish is very expensive and only certain types of fish, namely oily fish, have high levels of Omega3 fats. Fish is generally contaminated with toxins and the FDA tells us to limit our intake of fish for this reason.

Omega 3 pills are the ideal solution. They are capsules of fish oil which you can take everyday, and you can cut the top off and poor the oil onto the kids breakfast if they can’t take the capsules. They are cost effective and the best fish oil pills are contamination free.

However the best fish oil pills contain far more DHA, the most important Omega 3 fat, than the worst and for this reason it is difficult to compare the different omega 3 supplements available.

For some time I have been giving fish oil pills to my family and taking them myself with my breakfast. I buy the fish oil pills that I consider to be the worlds best. To find out which Omega 3 supplements I consider to be the best visit my website.

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