If You Take Omega 3 Supplements You Must Read This

Omega 3 supplements are big business, and it is now estimated that sales of various Omega 3 products run into the billions of dollars. And for extremely powerful reasons. Taking high quality fish oil supplements containing DHA and EPA may well be one of the best things that you can do for your health.
Many health conditions can benefit from increasing your intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids, from birth, or even before, right through into older age. That's why a whole range of Omega 3 products have now, over the last decade or so, become available.
And that's why the sales of products which have DHA and EPA, the major Omega 3 essential fatty acids, have exploded.
Many people, including me, have taken fish oil supplements for many years, and intend to do so for the rest of their life.
But they may not be able to.
Yes, there is a powerful reason why you, myself and everyone else may not be able to take Omega 3 fish oil supplements for the rest of our lives.
The reason is this. The pharmaceutical industry is an immensely powerful and profitable industry. It has been both powerful and profitable for many decades, and its tentacles reach right into government.
And the tentacles of the pharmaceutical industry also reach into the FDA.
The FDA, with the support of the pharmaceutical industry, now proposes a range of actions which, if they are allowed to take them, will make virtually all nutritional supplements, including Omega 3 supplements, illegal.
Yes that's right. Most nutritional supplements will no longer be marketed to anyone in the US if the FDA is allowed to get its way. You will no longer be able to buy your Omega 3 supplements.
Of course the pharmaceutical industry will be able to produce similar products, and in fact they already do. At about 10 times the price.
This is an outrage. This is an assault on the right of people to choose how they manage their health. It is an attempt by the pharmaceutical industry to drive their competitors out of business.
Whilst you may only be an individual, and you do not have the power of the pharmaceutical industry, if enough individuals protest their voice will be heard.
To find out more about this visit my website and add your voice to the growing protest.

Will More Fish On The Dining Table Cure Your Depression? Huh?

That probably sounds a little silly, asking if eating fish will cure your depression. But even if you're a little sceptical stay with me here.
You see there is evidence that that is in fact the case.
You see fish, and a particularly oily fish, is packed with the Omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA. And there is substantial evidence that increasing our intake of the Omega 3 fatty acids known as DHA and EPA could improve our health. And there is now evidence that this may include depression.
It was observed almost 20 years ago that there has been a reduction in our intake of seafood over the last century together with an increase in the rate of depression. It was also observed that societies where fish formed a large part of the diet had lower rates of depression.
There are now studies showing that there may well be a link between the 2. There are encouraging results suggesting that increasing your intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids may well have a role in helping treat depression.
Of course like all these things there are also studies suggesting the opposite. It is always extremely difficult to say when something is proven and when it is not. But there is clearly now evidence to suggest that Omega 3 supplementation, or eating more fish, may affect your depression.
There is no doubt about the health benefits of eating more fish. There is solid scientific evidence which is now accepted by the mainstream medical community that there are worthwhile health benefits to eating more of the Omega 3 fats, including reducing your risk of dying from a heart attack.
And whilst it is not yet sufficiently proven that eating more fish will improve your depression there is no doubt that it will certainly help other areas of your health.
However there is a problem. Fish is getting increasingly expensive and out of the reach of many families. Not only that but it is commonly recognised that many fish are contaminated with Mercury and other industrial toxins, and we shouldn't eat too much for this reason.
So there is a conundrum. Eating more fish will help your health and may well help your depression, but exposes you to other problems, namely the cost and the risk of toxic contamination.
Fortunately there are high quality fish oil supplements available which are safe to take and cost-effective to use daily.
Note however that not all fish oil supplements are high quality.
Interested in seeing some of the evidence? Click here and here

It's Confusing Finding The Right Fish Oil Dosage.

It's not quite clear what the right fish oil dosage is, I constantly see questions about how much fish oil should I take.

How much fish oil should you take? What is the recommended dosage of fish oil capsules for someone who has heart disease already? Should they take more fish oil supplements?

Lets have a look at the view of the American Heart Association. They tell us the benefits of Omega 3 fish oil on their website, and they look at what is the correct dosage of fish oil for people with, and without, heart disease.

Lets look at what they recommend.

Firstly though, lets consider the source of the fish oil. Now of course you could get your fish oil from eating fish. That's fine, but be aware that there are some problems associated with this, (apart from the fact that fish is very expensive and its cheaper to buy fish oil supplements).

Fish can be contaminated and for this reason the FDA tell us not to eat too much.

The very best fish oil capsules do through a strict decontamination process, so are free from chemicals. But not all fish oil capsules are.

The next problem is how much Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats you get from different types of fish. The level varies from one type of fish to another, and its hard to know what you need to eat to get enough. Generally speaking oily fish such as mackerel, herring, sardines, lake trout, albacore tuna and salmon is better than non oily fish.

Now the AHA tells us to eat 2 fish meals a week, but what if you're worried about contamination, or fish is too expensive?

And they also say evidence from prospective secondary prevention studies suggests that taking EPA+DHA ranging from 0.5 to 1.8 grams per day (either as fatty fish or supplements) significantly reduces deaths from heart disease and all causes.

So for healthy people we should be taking around half to 1.8 grams of EPA and DHA a day from fish or supplements.

And for people who have heart disease already:

For those with documented Coronary Heart Disease: 1 gram of EPA and DHA a day. (Note that those with known heart health problems should consult a doctor before starting any supplements).

And 2 to 4 grams a day if you have triglycerides that need lowering.

That's not too vague, but lets look somewhere else.

In a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on 11th August 2009 the recommendations are at least 500 mg per day for those with no known cardio vascular issues, and 800 to 1000 mg per day for those with known pre existing heart disease problems, of EPA and DHA.

But what about the ratio between DHA and EPA, the 2 major Omega 3 fats? How much of each? The AHA don't tell us, it's being studied.

What's the conclusion? Firstly, those with known heart disease should take more fish oil than those without.

We don't know what ratio we should aim for between EPA and DHA, but otherwise it's reasonably clear.

A minimum of a half gram a day of EPA and DHA together for healthy people and about double that for those with known heart issues. More for lowering triglycerides.

The best fish oil supplements money can buy have 280 mg of DHA and 120 mg of EPA in them. (Double the amount of DHA than your "average" capsules). So they have a total of 400 mg.

So 2 capsules a day will give you 800 mg in total, around the level proposed by the AHA. And the recommended dosage, (taken from the label), for adults is 2 capsules a day.

So if you have no known heart issues take the best fish oil supplements at a fish oil dosage of 2 capsules a day. You need to take up to double that for your "average" fish oil supplements, depending on what is in them.

So I hope that helps a little for those looking for the correct fish oil dosage. There's no exact recommendations, it's still being studied.

We can draw some conclusions from the recommendations of the AHA and others.

And those dosage conclusions correspond with the dosage recommendations of the best Omega 3 supplements money can buy. Take 2 of the best fish oil capsules day for general heart health.