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Fish Oils
Written by: Dr. Jeffrey Gladd, MDDOWN THE HATCH
Scaling the truth about adult fish oil supplements.
The laundry list of health benefits tied to fish oil supplements is long and impressive. Theseproducts increase your daily intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which decreases your risk ofinflammatory conditions such as heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. They also playan important role in maintaining and improving brain chemistry, and help prevent and treatillnesses like depression and anxiety. The acids lowerblood pressure, increase metabolismand decrease the level of blood triglycerides. In infants and children, they have a critical role inbrain and eye development.There are two classes of essential fatty acids: omega-6 and omega-3. Omega-6, used tomake processed and fast foods, is primarily found in vegetable oils (soy, corn, safflower,sunflower and any partially hydrogenated oils). Omega-3 comes from flax, extra virgin olive oil,walnuts and fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines or mackerel). The omega-6s are thepro-inflammatory fats, promoting inflammation in parts of the body as opposed to itscounterpart, the anti-inflammatory omega-3s. Therefore, any condition caused by, or related toinflammation, namely arthritis and heart disease, would be improved by increasing omega-3intake.Since the body requires both of these fats, it is the balance that is critical. It’s thought thatthe ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is 3-to-1. The average American currently ingests 20- or30-to-1, which is directly related to the rate of obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, depression,anxiety and cancer in the U.S. population. To gain perspective, all causes of death increase incultures with higher ratios of 6-to-3. Grocery store and restaurant offerings can make it difficultto get the amounts recommended through food alone, therefore, a daily supplement isencouraged. Enter fish oil.In order to accurately determine how much fish oil is needed daily, you must understand thecontents of the supplements. The product is not composed entirely of the aforementionedomega-3 fats that our bodies need. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA) are the two label buzz words. Doctors recommend most adults take 2,000-3,000mg eachof DHA and EPA in the form of a fish oil supplement. Read the fine print to find the appropriatedosage.
Flax and flax supplements.
Flax is now commonplace in health food stores and organic sections of the grocery store. Butwhat is it? Simply put, flax is the plant that provides flaxseeds. It is most often found as flaxseedoil, whole or ground flaxseed or as flax added to cereals and granola bars. It’s an importantsource of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is converted into EPA, a
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