Are You Getting Much Omega 3 In Fish That You've Fried? And If Not What Should You Do?

So you're eating fish tonight. Is there much Omega 3 in fish that might be served up to you tonight? Surely there is because everyone now knows that fish is the best source of those all-important Omega 3 essential fatty acids.
Not necessarily. The amount of Omega 3 in fish varies greatly depending on the type of fish and a number of other factors, including, if it's salmon that you're having, whether it's wild or farmed.
But a new factor that seems to affect the amount of Omega 3 in fish that we are eating has also been uncovered in a recent study. It would seem that how you cook your fish affects how much of those all-important essential fatty acids you'll be eating tonight.
A recent study undertaken and published in Neurology journal seems to be showing that how you cook your fish determines whether or not you're getting the maximum benefit from those Omega 3 fats.
The study was undertaken on residents of what is sometimes called the "stroke belt", a string of southern States which includes Mississippi, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia and more. In these States the rate of death from stroke and the rate of stroke in general is much higher than the rest of the country, and in particular much higher amongst African-Americans.
And the study established that people living in these States ate much higher than levels of fried fish than in other states.
In other words there was a correlation between the amount of fried fish consumed by those residents and their rate of stroke. And in particular it was found that African-Americans in those states have extremely high rates of consumption of fried fish.
Now of course this doesn't establish that all these people are getting strokes from eating fried fish, it would require much more study to firmly establish this. However it is certainly worrying and offers a powerful suggestion to those amongst us who understand the health benefits of more Omega 3 fatty acids in the diet that they should be baking or steaming their fish rather than frying it.
Of course there are problems with getting your Omega3 fats by eating fish, regardless of how you cook it. Fish is becoming extremely expensive and we are now warned by our government not to eat too much due to contamination with Mercury and other toxic contaminants.
And for this reason, in my view, the most cost-effective way to get a regular daily intake of the Omega3 fats is through the use of high quality Omega 3 supplements.
However there is no doubt that fish is good to eat, provided you don't eat too much. But if you're eating your fish confident in in the knowledge that you're getting all those good fats in your diet you may be fooling yourself, there may not be so much Omega 3 in fish that youv'e fried.

Omega 3 Oils Are Now Essential in Everyone's Diet, Including Yours

In many cases claims about the health benefits of various alternative and nutritional supplements are little short of voodoo. However it is now clear that this is not the case when it comes to the health benefits of Omega 3 oils.
Many of the alternative and health supplements available on the market are backed up with very little solid scientific evidence to support the health claims made about them. Often mainstream science and medicine is extremely sceptical about any of the health claims made for so many alternative products.
But there is one nutrient that must be in your diet. It's the Omega 3 oils, and there is now solid scientific and medical agreement worldwide about the health benefits of these essential nutrients.
These can sometimes be known as the essential fatty acids, and the 2 most important of these are DHA and EPA, which are primarily found in seafood and in particular in oily fish.
The recognition of the health benefits of the Omega 3 oils has just received a substantial boost. On the 3rd and 4th of March 2011 there was an Omega 3 summit held in Bruges in Belgium. This summit was addressed by some eminent experts in the health care field, and the intentions of the summit were to examine the evidence of the health benefits of the Omega oils and to "start the turnaround" in the consumption of the long chain essential fatty acids worldwide.
In its press release the summit made a very significant statement about the health benefits of the essential fats, known as the long chain Omega 3 fats. This press release observed that disorders of the brain and heart resulting from a deficiency of the long chain Omega 3 fats called DHA and EPA are "the biggest challenges to the future of humanity".
This is about as mainstream as you can get. This is a significant recognition by mainstream medicine and science that many of the lifestyle diseases that afflict so many of us may be prevented by an increase in the intake of the Omega 3 oils. The best way to do this is by taking high quality Omega 3 supplements.
Not only that but the summit recognized the financial burden placed on health care systems worldwide of the costs of dealing with what are, in many cases, diseases preventable by some simple measures such as Omega 3 supplementation.
There is now no doubt at all that everyone should be sustaining a minimum level of intake of the long chain essential fatty acids. It is not difficult to do. There are excellent fish oil supplements available which contain high levels of DHA and EPA, and they are entirely accessible to everyone, and are cost effective to take.
For a collection of mainstream experts such as this to recognize that health and lifestyle diseases resulting from deficiencies in the Omega 3 oils can be this serious is a very powerful message to us all, and everyone should hear the message.

What Is Fish Oil Good For? Your Health Of Course

What is fish oil good for is a question asked from time to time by people who are interested in improving their health. The question is usually asked because they have started reading about the health benefits of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil, and their interested in finding out more about what fish oil is good for.
Increasing your intake of fish oil, or more specifically the Omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA found in fish oil, benefits your health in a wide range of areas.
The first of these is your heart health. There is significant evidence that increasing your intake of the essential fatty acids known as the Omega 3 fats has significant benefits to your heart including reducing your risk of dying from heart attack. That's a very significant health benefit indeed.
In fact the amount of scientific evidence in support of the fact that the Omega 3 essential fatty acids have significant heart health benefits is so overwhelming that the American Heart Association now recommends that all of us have a minimum intake of the Omega 3 fats for the sake of our heart.
However it doesn't just stop at heart health. Fish oil is good for a wide range of other health problems. That's because it's one of the most powerful anti-inflammatories that we know of.
An anti-inflammatory is something which reduces inflammation in our body. Given that inflammation is a significant factor in a wide range of health problems, reducing inflammation must be good, and it is.
The health benefits of increasing the amount of fish oil in your diet are widespread. They include reducing your risks of allergies, a range of cancers, reducing blood pressure, improving vision, helping improve a weight loss outcome, helping improve diabetes, helping improve depression and lots more.
It would almost seem from that list that fish oil is the new wonder drug. And the good news is that it's not even a drug, it just comes from fish.
So if the Omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA found in fish oil are so good for you should and should be getting more fish oil in your diet?
Probably, because the evidence is that almost all of us now are deficient in our intake of the Omega3 fats, and this is due to the fact that almost all of us are now eating much less fish then we did 100 years ago.
Yes the evidence is that this decline in our intake of fish, and with it our intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids, is responsible for increasing our risk of a wide range of health problems.
Of course you can always eat more fish, but fish is very expensive. The good news is that there are excellent high quality Omega3 supplements made from fish oil, and they are much more cost-effective to add to your diet every day. It's a simple matter to pop a simple Omega 3 capsule every day than it is to eat fish.
So if you're asking yourself what fish oil is good for then there's the answer. It's good for your health. It's extremely good for your health, and you should be getting more fish oil in your diet, by taking high quality essential fatty acid supplements, every single day of your life.

Why Should You Take Omega 3 Supplements? Because of the Dead Fish. Huh ?

Just about everybody is heard of the benefits of Omega 3 supplements. The essential fatty acids known as Omega three fatty acids are extremely important to our health. There's a wide range of health conditions which are exacerbated by a deficiency of the essential fatty acids.
In fact research is showing that if you are very low in the Omega 3 essential fats it can even lead to premature death, commonly by heart attack. The American Heart Association recommends that we increase our intake of the Omega3 fats because doing so is extremely beneficial to our heart health.
This there's a wide range of other health conditions which can also be prevented, or if not prevented them positively impacted, by increasing our intake of the essential fatty acids. These include a reduction in the risk of allergies, high blood pressure, pancreatic cancer, periodontal disease, diabetes, postpartum depression, macular degeneration, mood disorders and much more.
And the list is even longer than that.
But whilst there are a range of health conditions which are benefited from increasing our intake of Omega three fatty acids what do the dead fish have to do with it?
Unfortunately over the last few decades we have managed to pollute many of our oceans. Industrial chemicals are now present in a range of our oceans, and in particular in the Atlantic between America and Europe. These toxins include such nasties as PCBs, Dioxine, Mercury and much more.
And of course fish live in the same places. So fish which are living in the Atlantic Ocean will also come into contact with these chemical contaminants. And in fact they do. Our government is now warning us that we should be avoiding eating too much fish because of the risk of toxic contamination from eating fish which are themselves contaminated.
The omega three essential fatty acids are most commonly found in fish and fish oil. The reason in fact that most of us are deficient in our intake of the Omega three fatty acids is that our intake of fish is dramatically declined over the last century.
But here is the conundrum. Increasing our intake of fish puts us at risk of increasing chemical contamination. But now the situation is even worse.
Remember the Gulf oil spill? It wasn't that long ago, and a chemical called Corexit was being used to disperse the spill.
It is now being found that there is an enormous fish kill in the Atlantic Ocean, and large numbers of dead fish are washing up on the beaches bordering the ocean.
Whilst it has not been clearly demonstrated that the Corexit, or for that matter the oil, is killing the fish it would seem pretty coincidental.
However by taking the highest quality fish oil supplements you will be avoiding the risk of chemical contamination including, if it exists, the risk of contamination by oil or Corexit. You see guys quality fish oil supplements are made from oil from fish caught way down in the southern ocean where it is cleaner. Not totally clean mind you however the best fish oil supplements are manufactured from oil which undergoes a rigorous decontamination process in the event that there are any contaminants present.
However the majority of Omega three supplements are made with oil sourced from fish caught somewhere between the Americas and Europe.
So as you can see dead fish have quite a bit to do with taking Omega three supplements. There is a substantial risk that fish which are processed for their oil to using fish oil supplements have contamination present, possibly from Corexit. And whilst a decontamination process may remove many of these toxins is unlikely that any decontamination process would be configured to remove Corexit.
So remember, don't eat too much fish as it may be contaminated, and don't take omega three supplements made from all oil from fish caught in the Atlantic.
Use high quality fish oil supplements from fish caught way down south of New Zealand out of the way of adding oil and Corexit.

Can You Use Omega 3 Fatty Acids To Combat Pancreatic Cancer?

Pancreatic cancer is a severe cancer. It is estimated that almost 37,000 people will die from pancreatic cancer every year. Will using fish oil dietary supplements that contain daily fish oil supplements help prevent pancreatic cancer?
While cancers like prostate cancer and breast cancer are commonly in the news pancreatic cancer just isn't. But it is the 4th greatest killer in the US when it comes to cancers. Sadly the prognosis for people who experience cancer of the pancreas isn't great, and just like all cancers it is much better to prevent pancreatic cancer than it is to try to cure it.
There is a growing body of data that many cancers could well be positively benefited from a rise in the consumption of the mega 3 essential fatty acids DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid). These are known as important fatty acids because they are essential for good health, however they cannot be made in the body and must be taken in through the diet.
And during the last hundred years our consumption of Omega3 high foods has dropped considerably. The two most important of the fatty acids are EPA and DHA, and these are found mainly in seafood and in particular in oily fish, and our intakes of fish and seafood in general have dropped considerably. Other sources of the omega3 fatty acids have included grass fed beef and free range eggs, however our beef has become mainly grain fed, which decreases the Omega 3 content, and the same pertains to our eggs.
A new study done on inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Area finds that improving the intake of omega 3 fatty acids, in conjunction with an increase in intake of vitamin E and vitamin C may lessen the risks of pancreatic cancer by up to 30 %.
Plus the study noted also that a high intake of saturated fat may in fact increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by anywhere up to 60 percent.
Obviously it is always difficult to say when this is sufficiently proved, and clearly more studies are needed, however this also lines up with other research suggesting that increasing the consumption of omega 3 fats could help prevent other cancers, in particular breast cancers and bowel cancer.
Even so the health benefits of taking high quality Omega 3 supplements are much more than just the chance of preventing pancreatic cancer. Lots of the health benefits of an increased intake of essential fatty acids are now accepted by mainstream medicine, and mainstream organizations such as the American Heart Association are suggesting that we should ımprove our intake of the essential fatty acids to avoid such health conditions as heart disease.
So whether you are worried about pancreatic cancer or you're not there's numerous benefits to be gained from increasing your intake of essential fatty acids. You do that if you take high quality fishoil dietary supplements containing Omega 3 daily.

What Are DHA Supplements And Why Shoud YOU Be Taking Them?

The growth in sales of DHA supplements has been exponential over the last few years, and for very good reasons. Lets have a look at what DHA supplements are, what they can do for your health and why so many people have taken the step of adding an Omega 3 fish oil supplement to their diet.

We have always been told that fat is bad for us. To an extent this is true, particularly saturated fat, however there are also fats which are good for us and which are considered essential for optimum health. The omega 3 fats, and in particular DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid), are considered to be what is known as essential fatty acids.

They go by other names, for example long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, however the principal is that we ought to have a minimum level of intake of these fats, and in particular DHA, to maintain optimum health and to fight some health problems more successfully.

The most important source of DHA and EPA in the past has been fish in our diet. Fish, and in particular oily fish, are particularly high in Omega 3 essential fatty acids.
Sadly over the last century our intake of fish has declined dramatically, and this has coincided with an increase in the range of serious health concerns, and particularly in the rise in heart disease and deaths from heart disease related conditions such as heart attacks.

Scientists have discovered from over 30 years of research that there is a link between a reduction in intake of fish, being excellent sources of DHA and EPA, and an increase in heart related conditions as well as quite a number of other health problems.

And in societies where the intake of fish remains high such as in Japan, these health conditions are much less prevalent.
The evidence of the health benefits of DHA and EPA is now overwhelming and such mainstream organizations as the American Heart Association are recommending minimum levels of intake of these Omega 3 essential fatty acids.
This can be achieved by eating more fish, however for most people taking dietary supplements containing DHA and EPA, sourced from fish oil, is a much more cost-effective and easy solution.
The range of conditions which, it is considered, are benefited from increasing our intake of DHA and EPA is very wide. It is now well-known that DHA has an extremely important role in development of the brain and nervous system in the fetus and baby, and for this reason many health professionals recommend pregnant or nursing women take DHA supplements, both for their own health and for the health of their developing children.

For adults and the elderly Omega-3 fatty acids are important for maintaining brain function, and adequate Omega 3 fats help with both memory and concentration. People of any age can be helped by improved nutrition by increasing their intake of Omega3 fats. Adequate levels of Omega3 fats reduce your risk of a range of heart related health problems including fatal heart attacks, as well as the risk of stroke.

This alone would be sufficient reason for most of us to start taking the highest quality DHA supplements, however there is a much wider list of health conditions which are beneficially impacted by increasing our intake of essential fatty acids.
A reduction in the risk of macular degeneration, improvements in arthritis, a reduction in the risk of various cancers, reduced symptoms of diabetes, assistance for those suffering from depression and high blood pressure are just a few. There are many more.
Of course we can always eat more fish, and this is recommended, though there are some issues relating to toxic contamination of fish with industrial chemicals. However the reality is that for most of us our intake of fish has reduced dramatically over the last century, and fish is now a luxury item because of the price.
DHA supplements, or what can also be called Omega 3 capsules or fish oil capsules, are dietary supplements specifically designed to increase our intake of DHA and EPA in a cost-effective and simple manner. They can be taken by pregnant women, children, adults and the elderly and all will benefit.
It is arguable that discovery of the importance of DHA and EPA, those all-important essential fatty acids known as Omega 3 fatty acids, is one of the most significant discoveries to impact on the maintenance of good health of our citizens over the last half century. As more and more people begin to understand the importance of eating more fish, or taking high quality DHA supplements, the more we should be able to positively impact the health of our generation.

How Do You Lower Triglycerides With Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids?

There are clear benefits of increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids, the 2 most important being DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). In particular there are well established heart benefits to taking more Omega 3 in your diet, however for anyone with high triglycerides it is also now clear that increasing your intake of essential fats can help in lowering triglycerides.

Research shows that over 90 percent of us are deficient in the important essential fatty acids found in fish oil. And research has also confirmed a wide range of heart benefits from remedying that deficiency by including more fish, or fish oil in the form of supplements, in our diet.

Some of the heart benefits of increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids include a reduction in the risk of arrhythmia, which can lead to fatal heart attack, a reduction in blood pressure and a decrease in the growth rate of plaque in the arteries. But for our purposes today the research also show a decrease in triglycerides levels.

Triglycerides are a fat that is found in your blood and which is manufactured in your body from the food that you eat. If you have high triglycerides this increases the risk of blood clots and can also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol. The bottom line is that high triglycerides are linked to coronary artery disease which can kill you. High triglycerides is also linked to some other diseases such as diabetes.

A diet high in fats and in particular in saturated fat can contribute to high triglyceride levels as can high sugar foods. Being overweight and drinking too much alcohol can also contribute.

So it would seem clear that lowering triglycerides, if you have a problem with a higher than normal triglyceride level, is a good thing, and for this reason there are many people trying to work out how to lower triglycerides.

There are a range of things that you can do to lower triglycerides if you have a problem, including reducing the amount of fatty foods and in particular foods was saturated fats, eating less sugar and exercising more. Also important is reducing alcohol intake and try to lose weight if you are overweight.

But it is now clear from the research that increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids by way of fish oil supplementation is an important part of a strategy to help lower triglycerides.

"A dose-response relationship exists between omega-3 fatty acid intake and triglyceride lowering" is just one of the statements on the website of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Another one is that "omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil decreased serum triglyceride concentrations by 25% to 30%,". These show a clear link between adequate levels of Omega3 intake and triglyceride lowering.

It is clear that increasing the intake of Omega3 fats has a role in lowering triglycerides and for this reason the American Heart Association recommends minimum levels of DHA and EPA of 2 to 4 grams per day by way of fish oil supplements under the care of a physician for people with high triglycerides.

Many people in our society suffer from higher than recommended triglyceride levels. This then is good news for them, providing them with another weapon in the arsenal to help lower triglycerides naturally.

And there is also powerful evidence of a wide range of other health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids, and for these reasons everyone, including people with high triglycerides, should seek to maintain a minimum level of fish oil in the diet, making sure you're taking the very best fish oil supplements.

Of course it is simple to eat more fish but unfortunately fish is contaminated with mercury and is generally very expensive. There are excellent fish oil supplements available which are not contaminated and which can be taken daily very cost effectively. Note however that not all fish oil supplements are of high quality.