The Health and beauty Benefits of Omega
One of the best dietary sources of these omega-3 fatty acids is oily fish. As a regular part of your diet, oily fish have the benefit of containing the omega-3 fatty acids Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The oily fish themselves do not produce omega-3 fatty acids, but by eating microalgae they accumulate them into the tissues of their bodies in the case of fish such as sardine or herring, and by eating prey fish with the accumulated omega-3 oils in their bodies in the case of fish like albacore tuna, flounders, salmon, mackerel and lake trout. The predatory fish tend to contain very high levels of omega-3 oils, but because of their position right at the top of the food chain, they might also be heavily contaminated with pollutants and toxins such as dioxin, PCBs, mercury and chlordane.
When Were The Health and beauty Benefits of Fish Oil Discovered?
The fish oil that you eat should come from the body of a fish and not it’s liver. Although the livers of oily fish and marine mammals contain high levels of omega-3, they also contain a lot of the active form of Vitamin A. Vitamin A in high concentrations is toxic to the body, as was discovered by early Arctic explorers. They were given raw liver to eat by the local Inuit and became ill due to ingesting the Vitamin A. The eating of the liver did not affect the Inuit as they were accustomed to it and they had no other sources of Vitamin A in their normal diet.
So when were the health and beauty benefits of including fish oils in your diet first recognised? There has been awareness among scientists since the 1930’s that omega-3 fatty acids were an essential building block in human growth and achieving optimal health. This awareness has grown hugely over the last few decades and was greatly helped in the 1970’s by a study into the diet of the Inuit people living in Greenland. Despite eating a great deal of fat in their seafood and marine mammal diet, it was discovered that the Inuit suffered from very low levels of cardiovascular disease. The research showed that because the Inuit took in such a high level of omega-3 fatty acids in their foods, the omega-3 was helping to reduce their triglycerides, heart rate, atherosclerosis and blood pressure.
A lot of people in the Western world are deficient in omega-3, so what are the benefits to your health of including the omega-3 in fish oils in your diet? It was announced in 2004 that the US Food and Drug Administration gave ‘qualified health claim’ status to both EPA and DHA reducing the risk of coronary heart disease if included in the diet. There is also evidence that a regular intake of fish oils can lower the risk of secondary and primary heart attacks. Omega-3 oils are also believed to help regulate cholesterol, as fish oils are a polyunsaturated ‘healthy’ fat. Including fish oil in your diet is believed to reduce triglyceride levels and increase the levels of the good cholesterol you need. This is beneficial to your health as high triglyceride levels are linked to an increased chance of heart disease.
Studies have also shown that consuming fish oils is very important to the human brain. They can help to improve Alzheimer’s and dementia, as the DHA can reduce the formation of plaques in the brain. It has also been shown that including fish oils in your diet can help with depression and anxiety. Omega-3 fatty acids are vital to human growth and it is very important that pregnant women consume enough fish oil as it helps their baby’s nervous system to develop properly.
Further Benefits of Omega-3
It has also been suggested that omega-3 fatty acids can also help to protect against developing certain cancers; in particular prostate, breast and colon cancer. Omega-3 has also been shown to help protect against one of the most prevalent causes of blindness in older people, age-related macular degeneration. Omega-3 is said to improve circulatory problems such as varicose veins. This is because omega-3 fatty acids boost blood circulation as they increase the breakdown of fibrin, a compound that is used in the formation of blood clots and scar tissue. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and also a study found that the higher the levels of omega-3 in the body the slower the damage to DNA in the cells and possibly have anti-ageing properties.
The inclusion of omega-3 in the diet has also been shown to reduce the levels of aggression in prisoners. Studies in England and Finland showed that prisoners who were given high doses of omega-3 were less likely to be involved in assaults and violence, and also that prisoners who had been convicted for violent offenses had lower levels of omega-3 in their bodies than those inmates who were incarcerated for non-violent crimes. The theory is that omega-3 fatty acids are involved in the development of the frontal cortex of the brain, believed to be linked to personal behaviour.
So how much omega-3 oil do you need to include in your diet? There are no recommended daily levels for fish oils in the UK, but eating two portions of fish, one portion being oily fish, is believed to provide enough omega-3 in most people’s diets. However, last year a team of doctors in America recommended that everybody should have 500mg of fish oil a day and that people who suffered from hear t disease should try to take between 800 and 1000mg daily.
There is also the question of whether you should get your daily omega-3 from eating fish or taking supplements. Most specialists recommend that you get your fish oil from eating oily fish on a regular basis. However, there has been a concern that as the predatory oily fish are the top of their food chain, predatory oily fish can be heavily contaminated with toxins and pollutants. High levels of dioxins and PCB’s have been a particular concern, especially for women who are pregnant. It has also been advised that only one portion of swordfish should be eaten a week as this fish can contain high levels of mercury. Tinned tuna is not included as an oily fish as the canning process reduces the levels of omega-3 to around that of white fish; so choose fresh tuna to reap the benefits of fish oil.
Omega-3 Oil Supplements
Taking omega-3 oil supplements is a good idea for those who do not like eating fish or who do not cook it on a regular basis. Most fish used for omega-3 oils are caught in the waters of Peru, Chile and Morocco as the fish there have higher omega-3 oil levels than fish caught in other marine areas. For vegetarians, DHA supplements can be produced directly from the microalgae without involving killing a fish. However, there have also been concerns over the level of toxins present in fish oil supplements. A voluntary review process called the International Fish Oils Standards was created at the University of Guelph to help to address these growing concerns over toxins and pollutants in fish oil supplements. In early 2006 some brands were removed from the shelves in the European Market as they had reported PCB levels that exceeded stricter new European regulations. EU regulations have set a limit on the percentage of toxins that can be present in the fish oil supplement for it still to be of benefit to the health of the consumer. However, there are patented production purification processes that remove pollutants and dioxins from fish to levels far below the EU limits.health and beauty
So whether you choose to eat a couple of portions of oily fish a week or to take daily fish oil supplements, there is a good chance that you are improving your health and protecting yourself against certain diseases. Sardines on toast anyone?
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