Omega 3 Edge

John Thomson BSc. PGCE

Welcome to Omega 3 Edge. My name is John Thomson. I have been interested in the health benefits of Omega fish oil for many years. I dare say you are as well since you are reading this! I think taking it regularly has prolonged my active life and I want to pass on what I know about it to you.

We have all come across health products claiming miracle cures which turn out to be pure hype. It is unusual to find something that lives up to expectations and to the publicity that it gets in the media.

Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids are one of the few things that deserve pretty well all of the good things said about them. What is particularly interesting is that both alternative and conventional medicine tend to agree about their many health benefits. In fact it would appear that the evidence about omega 3s is so overwhelming that most doctors recommend that we should increase our intake either by changing our diet or through supplementation.

Conservative agreement exists amongst all experts that Omega-3 fatty acids are dietary nutrients offering human health plus disease preventing/managing potential

Many doctors and health researchers are of the opinion that omega 3 is the one essential ingredient most missing in our western diet. This shortfall is now thought to be at least partly responsible for widespread heart disease, cancers and brain disorders. Studies have shown an improvement in some of these diseases when omega 3 is used as a supplement.

Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid because we can only get it from what we eat

Sources of Omega 3

Omega 3 fatty acids are mainly found in some plants and fish notably flaxseeds, squash, collard greens, nuts – especially almonds and walnuts, broccoli and cauliflower, leafy greens such as spinach, brussel sprouts, cabbage, eggs, scallops, tuna and halibut

Not All Omega 3s are equal

Only omega 3 derived from fish oil contains DHA and EPA in significant quantities

There is a clear distinction between plant based omega 3 and fish omega 3. plant based omega 3 is a-linolenic acid or ALA for short whereas Fish oil omega 3 is a combination of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). While it has been shown that ALA offers some health benefits, it is now well known that it is the combination of DHA and EPA which offers the real health benefits. Our bodies can convert ALA to DHA but it is not a very efficient process. Thus it is that omega 3 and fish oil have become synonymous.

How much Omega 3 Fatty Acid do we consume daily?

A typical Western diet provides approximately 2-3 gm per day of ALA from plant and animal sources. EPA and DHA are consumed at levels of approximately 50 mg and 80 mg per day, respectively giving a combined DHA/EPA intake per person of approximately 130-150 mg per day. The vast majority of DHA and EPA comes from fish and fish oil sources.

How much Omega 3 Fatty Acid should we consume daily?

The Food and Nutrition Board in the USA recommended in 2002 that adult men should be taking 1.6 gm per day of combined DHA and EPA. For women the figure is 1.1 gm per day. No breakdown between DHA and EPA has been recommended but it is generally though that DHA is more important than EPA.

Benefits of Omega 3 Fatty Acid

A very large amount of omega 3 fatty acids are required by the human body every day simply for it to function properly.

The human brain comprises 60% fats of which approximately half is a form of omega 3

A significant proportion of our brain is made of the omega 3 fatty acid known as docosahexaenoic acid – DHA for short.

The Miracle of Omega 3 for Health

Let’s take a look at some of the disorders and conditions that omega 3 may help to improve

Brain Health

Omega 3 fatty acid deficiencies have been linked to depression, anxiety, mood swings, bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and ADD.

Research including that from The Harvard School of Public Health, has shown that some of these conditions are massively improved with increases in omega 3 fatty acid intake.

Even if you don’t have any of these conditions, other studies have shown that both memory and focus can be improved with consistent use of omega 3 fatty acids.

Heart Disease

The American Heart Association stated “Omega 3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk of… or who have… cardiovascular disease”

Heart disease has only recently been overtaken by cancer as the number one killer in the Western world. As a consequence the connection between heart health and omega 3 fatty acid has been widely studied. Fish oil supplements have been found to alleviate heart disease and protect those who don’t have it. Read more about Omega 3 Heart Disease Benefits.

Inflammation

Omega 3 excels in an anti-inflammatory role. This means that omega 3 benefits rheumatoid arthritis sufferers by alleviating the associated pain. Omega 3 also benefit Psoriasis, Acne and other skin disorders. The same is true of inflammatory bowel disorders like Crohn’s disease. In a particular study 69% of Crohn’s sufferers given a fish oil supplement remained symptom free as compared with only 28% given a placebo.

Pregnant or Nursing Mothers

Studies have categorically shown that fetuses and infants require a great deal of omega 3s derived from fish oil for proper brain development. Consequently pregnant and breast feeding mothers should consider taking fish oil supplements.

Cancers

Cancer has now overtaken heart disease as the biggest killer in the Western World. Some interesting recent research has shown that omega 3 fatty acids may protect against such cancers as breast, prostate, testicular and ovarian. More research is urgently needed but omega 3 does show some promise in this direction.

Our Modern Diet

Modern farming methods have made our food much less wholesome than it used to be. As a consequence, foods that did contain high levels of omega 3 are now a poor source. To be blunt, profit is the driving force now for farmers, they want to raise and fatten their animals as fast as possible for a rapid turnround. This means that instead of animals eating their natural diet (grass for instance) they are typically grain fed and their omega 3 content virtually disappears.

It’s a different story for fish but just as bad. Industrial pollution has accumulated in our oceans and waterways throughout most of the world and fatty fish which used to be considered the best source of omega 3′s, harbor many pollutants, things like PCB’s, mercury, lead and dioxins.

What is the Best Source of Omega 3?

Plant omega 3 fatty acids (ALA) are not worth considering because our bodies cannot directly use it and conversion to EPA and then DHA is not very efficient

If you want all the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids in the right form (DHA and EPA) then you have to go for a fish oil source. It is not wise to simply eat a lot of fish because of the harmful toxins absorbed by the fish from the ocean water. The answer is to take what is called a molecularly distilled fish oil supplement. Molecular distillation allows the fish oils to be separated from the toxins and concentrated at a low temperature. Usually the omega 3 fish oil is encapsulated in soft gels for easy swallowing.

How to choose a good Omega 3 Fish Oil Capsule

7 Rules to Choose the Best Fish Oil

Here are my criteria for evaluating fish oil supplements:

• What Type of fish being used — is it naturally high in DHA and EPA omega 3? And especially DHA?
• Is it molecularly distilled?
• Is the fish caught locally to where the product is produced, ensuring freshness? Or is rancidity a concern?
• Does the manufacturer list a breakdown of each capsule’s contents?
• Does the product tell you the exact breakdown between DHA omega 3 and EPA omega 3 and not just the total omega 3 content per serving? Does it even tell you the total omega 3 per serving?
• How many servings does it contain per bottle?
• Do you get a strong after taste?

If you have the answer to these types of questions, then you can do true price comparisons to see what kind of value you are getting.

What I Personally Take

After researching the market and doing just the type of comparisons I mention above, I decided a fish oil supplement product from New Zealand was the best one available.

Here’s why I decided on this product.

1. It is made from a fish species called hoki. Hoki are a sustainable, natural resource regulated by the New Zealand government. They thrive natively in the cold, deep waters off the Southern coast of New Zealand, one of the most pristine areas of the world, virtually untouched by industry and pollution issues.

2. Even more important, hoki are one of the few fish species very naturally high in omega 3′s, particularly containing a higher level of DHA omega 3 than EPA omega 3. DHA can be converted by the body into EPA when more EPA is needed, but not the other way around. It’s very important your fish oil supplements have more DHA than EPA.

3. The fish oil product, produced by a company called Xtend-Life Natural Products, is molecularly distilled. Why does it need molecular distillation if the fish is already coming from the cleanest area of the world? Because nature can create pollution too! Just think how much contamination is spewed into the atmosphere and waters when a volcano erupts, for example. All fish oil products should undergo molecular distillation, period.

4. Cost. Given the amount of DHA and EPA, and total omega 3 per serving, I have yet to find a better priced product than the Omega 3 fish oils produced by Xtend-Life Natural Products. This is when you do a real apples to apples comparison.

I now have been using the Xtend-Life Omega 3 fish oil product for years, including my whole family. In my opinion, it has been and will continue to be one of the best health decisions I have ever made. Especially when it comes to dollar to dollar value.

It amazes me that people will spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars (sometimes well over a thousand dollars) per month for organic produce, grass-fed meats, smoothies, gym memberships, etc., in order to try to live a healthier lifestyle — and all of these things can be good — but for less than $20 dollars a month they can be doing more good for their health than many of these things put together.

Even if you decide on using a different brand than the Xtend-Life fish oils, you should at least read the information presented at their page, as it will educate you much further, and in simple fashion, on how to choose a really good omega 3 product.

To your health,
John Thomson