Find the highest quality Omega 3 supplements
It’s true to say that many of the “alternative” health claims made for a wide range of cures, herbal treatments and supplements and more are much more hype than substance. Many of the claims made for even well-known alternative supplements are not backed up by science and are not supported by mainstream medicine.
However that is not true for claims made about the health benefits of the Omega 3 fatty acids. Gradually, as science has begun to research the importance of the Omega 3 fatty acids to our health, more and more solid scientific evidence has mounted to support the conclusion that the Omega 3 essential fatty acids are extremely important to our good health.
Medicine and “Alternative” medicine agree
And what is even more interesting is that both mainstream medicine and alternative medical sources agree on the conclusion that we should all have an adequate supply of the Omega 3 fats DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) in our diet for optimum health.
This is rare. I’m sure you’ve seen on many occasions that mainstream medical sources are very quick to dump on any claims made for the curative benefits of a whole range of herbal and other alternative treatments. But this isn’t the case for the Omega 3 fats.
There is a long and growing body of evidence that most of us are deficient in our intake of the Omega 3 fats, and that this deficiency is causing or exacerbating a wide range of lifestyle diseases that seem to afflict so many of us in these modern times.
Omega 3 deficiency is quite serious, and can kill you
There are now health experts who consider that an inadequate supply of the Omega 3 fats in our diet is one of the most serious health issues confronting our generation. And studies are showing that a low level of the Omega 3 fatty acids in our diet is as serious a health problem as other high risk issues like a high intake of the trans fats, or a low intake of fruit and vegetables, or the use of alcohol.
In particular there is now extremely solid research supporting the heart health benefits of a higher intake of the Omega3 fats. The American Heart Association, on its website, urges us all to maintain a minimum intake of these essential fatty acids for the benefit of our heart, and evidence is clearly showing that a deficiency of these essential fatty acids can increase our risk of stroke and heart attack and even death.
Evidence is showing that more Omega3 in the diet can help reduce high triglycerides which are also a risk factor for heart disease and death.
But it doesn’t just stop with heart health. There is growing evidence that an inadequate intake of the essential fatty acids can also be a risk factor in a wide range of other health issues. For example it is now well known that DHA, the most important of the Omega 3 fats, is the most prevalent fat in our brain, and that an adequate supply of DHA may well influence the development of cognitive abilities in infants as well as improve the memory for older people.
DHA is also particularly prevalent in the retina in the eye, and evidence is also showing that an adequate supply of DHA in the diet helps with the development of childhood vision as well as helps protect the elderly from the most common cause of blindness amongst older people, macular degeneration.
The essential fatty acids are known for their anti-inflammatory properties. In other words they fight inflammation in the body. Gradually it is becoming recognised that inflammation in the body is one of the major causes of so many of our lifestyle diseases. Of course there are other anti-inflammatories, mainly drugs. However the Omega3 fats, whilst being an effective anti-inflammatory, have no significant health side effects, unlike many of the anti-inflammatory drugs available.
In fact the range of health conditions which may be either prevented or positively impacted by increasing the amount of Omega 3 in the diet is enormous. In some cases the evidence to support this conclusion is overwhelming, for example in the case of heart health, and in some cases it is still not fully clear whether or not more Omega3 in the diet will help prevent or ameliorate the condition. In the case of many of these health conditions scientific research is ongoing.
There’s many conditions that may be prevented by more Omega 3 in the diet
We do not intend to list on this page all of the health conditions which research is showing may be benefit from more Omega 3. You can see a list of these conditions on the right of our website, and if you’d like to find out more about any particular health condition benefited by increasing the intake of Omega3 then please click on the link.
So why is this so?
Why is it that so many of us now seem to be suffering from Omega3 deficiency? Is it just because modern science has only recently discovered the Omega3 fatty acids?
Research on the benefits of the Omega3 fats began when scientists began to realise that populations of people who ate a lot of fish didn’t exhibit many of the lifestyle diseases that so many of us seem to suffer from.
Research showed that fish were high in the Omega 3 fats, and that eating fish seem to protect us for this reason.
Research has continued to this day, and it is now clear that fish, some more so than others, are our best source of the essential fatty acids.
But modern dietary habits have changed. Now most of us eat very little fish, and hence very little of the Omega 3 fats.
In the past there were other dietary sources of these fats. For example beef had reasonable levels of Omega 3. However in the past our cattle were grass fed, and this is where the Omega 3 in beef came from. Our cattle are now primarily grain fed, and hence very low in Omega 3.
The same applies to chicken and eggs, both of which were higher in Omega 3, but now have very little due to modern farm feeding practices.
So what can you do about this?
Well of course you can eat more fish, however fish are getting increasingly expensive and there is now evidence that Mercury contamination, along with contamination by, amongst others, dioxane and PCBs, is a real issue.
You can take fish oil supplements, though some of these have also been found to be contaminated.
The authors of this website, and their families, take fish oil supplements every day. But only after researching the different brands of fish oil supplements available, the amount of Omega 3 in each supplement, the quality and cleanliness of the supplements as well as the price.
We have made our conclusions about the best fish oil supplements, click there to read that page.
There’s no doubt that many lifestyle diseases are on the rise, and that many of us suffer from conditions which are painful or debilitating or can even kill us, and many of these conditions were rare or even unheard of a century ago.
Could it be that simply increasing your intake of the Omega3 fatty acids could help protect you against these conditions? It’s hard to say in some cases, though not all, but we take our Omega 3 supplements every single day, without fail.
And an update to this, written quite some months later. As time goes by there are more and more scientific reports coming out about the health benefits of the Omega 3 fats for a wide range of specific health conditions, as well as generally.
Science takes a long time to fully investigate the health benefits of anything, including the Omega 3 fats, but gradually there is a growing consensus about the benefits of adding more Omega 3 to your diet.
