Why You Need to Take Omega 3 Fish Oil

A Fish Story

Why you need to be taking EFA (Omega-3) supplements?

Bottom line answer: “because you need it and it’s hard to get from food now-a-days.”

Expanded answer: KEEP READING!

EFA stands for Essential Fatty Acids

They are called “essential” because our bodies cannot manufacture omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA) and we must therefore, get them through our diet.

As is often true in nature, balance is essential.

Our bodies need both omega-3s & omega-6s, but the correct ratio is necessary for health.

Omega 6s are inflammatory; they promote inflammation in our bodies.

Omega 3s are anti-inflammatory. They are necessary to “turn off” the inflammatory response in our bodies.

For thousands of years human diets had an Omega-6/Omega-3 ratio of about 2:1

Over the last 75 years or so, omega-6s in our diet have soared. Now the ratio is about 20:1. The average American eats 10 times more omega-6 than our ancestors.

Where do these “essential” fatty acids come from?
• The main sources of inflammatory omega-6s are vegetable seed oils (soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, etc.), processed foods (with vegetable seed oils added) and grain-fed beef and farm-raised fish.

• Our main sources of Omega 3s today are egg yolks, flax seeds, walnuts and cold-water fish (farm-raised fish has NO Omega 3s). Since most people don’t eat enough of those foods each day to offset the damage of the Omega 6s (and fluctuating insulin levels in the bloodstream and the resulting systemic inflammation), supplementing with fish oil capsules is prudent.

Two of the essential Omega 3s are EPA & DHA. Our bodies can make these from other Omega 3 fatty acids, but not very efficiently. They are only found in cold water fish oil, egg yolks, grass-fed beef and game animals (deer, rabbits, etc).

Over 2,000 studies have demonstrated association with Omega-3 deficiencies and the following disorders:

• ADHD and learning and behavior disorders
• Dyslexia
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Memory problems
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Arthritis
• Depression
• Eczema and other skin disorders
• Macular degeneration
• Autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis

In last week’s email, I wrote:

Inflammation is a common link in most degenerative diseases depending on which tissues are affected the earliest. Asthma: airway inflammation. Heart disease: blood vessel inflammation. Alzheimer’s disease: inflammation of the brain. Crohn’s disease and Colitis: inflammation of the small and large intestine. Arthritis: inflammation of the joints. Diabetes is so devastating because there is widespread inflammation throughout the body. It damages the blood vessels, kidneys, nerves, eyes, etc. There is a major inflammatory component to cancer, cognitive decline, stroke, psoriasis, gum disease, osteoporosis, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis. And on and on and on.

COMMON DENOMINATOR… INFLAMMATION!

None of these diseases come on rapidly.

The progressive damage is occurring LONG BEFORE symptoms are EVER FELT or DETECTED! They come on slowly as the involved tissues are damaged and progressively deteriorate.

Controlling inflammation inside your body is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health, vitality and longevity.

Now, here comes the research…

A Purdue University study showed that children low in Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EPA/DHA) are significantly more likely to be hyperactive, have learning disorders, and to display behavioral problems. Imagine a child in school. The act of learning requires the brain to form new neural pathways. DHA is needed, especially for the delicate neural synapses which are composed entirely of DHA. If this child, like the vast majority of U.S. children, eats almost no Omega-3 fatty acids, what does the brain do? It uses other types of fats, which are the wrong shape. The neural network develops slowly and is defective. The child has learning and memory problems as well as behavior problems.

A Tufts University study analyzed ten years of data taken from more than 1,100 elderly men and women. Those who had high levels of DHA had a 48 percent reduction of Alzheimer's Disease risk. The researchers cautioned that high intake of omega-6 fatty acids interferes with the potential benefits.

The human brain is more than 60% structural fat. But it has to be certain types of fats, and the same types of fats (Omega 3s) our ancestors ate are largely missing from the typical American diet. We eat man-made trans-fats and vegetable seed oils high in Omega-6 fatty acids, all of which interfere with our body's attempt to utilize the tiny amount of Omega-3 fats that we do get.

Bad Information: The health “gurus” of the 1970s and 1980s made (another) big mistake. They implicated red meat in the development of heart disease because grain-fed, commercial cattle have a very high, (20:1) ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s.

But they never chose to investigate why native cultures – who eat meat from grass-fed cattle – have very low incidence of heart disease.

The omega-6s and omega-3s ratio in wild or grass-fed animals (animals that eat their natural diets), is very different picture from cattle that are “finished” on grain (corn and soybeans). The omega-6s and omega-3s ratio of wild or grass-fed animals ratio is dramatically reversed – and heart healthy – about 0.16 to 1. In other words, the culprit is not the fat in meat. It’s the unnatural foods that we force the cattle to eat that dramatically changes the ratio of fats in their bodies.

It’s not natural for cattle to eat grain and it changes their physiology. Their fats are converted from healthy Omega 3s to unhealthy Omega 6s.

The same is true for farm-raised fish.

Fish oils contain fats (EPA and DHA) that help keep platelets from sticking and forming unwanted clots, and are useful in the management of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. P.Palozza, et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64: 297-304, 1996.

Bone Loss and Bone Density: The British Journal of Nutrition recently published their study of omega-3s and bone health: Researchers divided middle-aged rats into 3 groups. One group received a diet high in omega-3s, a second group got a mix of omega-6s and omega-3s and the last group were fed only omega-6s.

The first group – who received the highest level of omega-3s – had the highest bone mineral and bone density, with an enhanced ability to absorb calcium. They also showed high levels of the various hormones needed for bone production. Shen CL, et al. Protective effect of omega-3 on bone loss. Br J Nutr. 2006 Mar;95(3):462-8.

Another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition proved the same in a human study. After following 1,500 men and women for four years, they found those who consumed the highest levels of omega-3s had the strongest bones and the lowest risk of osteoporosis. Weiss LA, et al. Ratio of fatty acids and bone density. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Apr;81(4):934-8.

Cancer: With the rising levels of inflammatory omega-6s in our food, studies from around the world show the resulting lack of omega-3s are linked to rising cancer rates. Bartram HP, et al. Potential role of the n-3:n-6 fatty acid ratio. Eur J Cancer Prev. 1995 Jun;4(3):231-7.

Mental health Findings show a connection between a lack of omega-3s and various mental health disorders. These include depression, anxiety, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia.

The studies show that supplementing with omega-3s can relieve these symptoms: A recent Italian study found that people who took omega-3s for just a month felt improved attention, elevated mood and a “sharper mind,” better equipped for complex information processing. Peet M, et al. Omega-3s in treatment of psychiatric disorders. Drugs. 2005;65(8):1051-9.

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a disorder of the center of the retina, called the macula. Approximately 800,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. every year. There are two types; dry ARMD (the most typical), and the far more debilitating wet ARMD in which blood vessels begin to grow in areas of the macula where they shouldn't be, creating bleeding and scar tissue that leads to severe vision loss.

In research by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) - the National Eye Institute (NEI), one of the federal government's National Institutes of Health, NEI scientists analyzed omega-3 fatty acid consumption through fish intake on subjects whose status ranged from healthy and free of ARMD, to severe cases.

Subjects who ate just one or two servings of fish each week, reduced their chances of developing wet ARMD by about one-third, while subjects that consumed more than two weekly fish servings cut their chances of wet ARMD in half.

As the name implies, age is the primary risk factor for ARMD, with people over the age of 60 being in the greatest danger. Other risk factors include cigarette smoking and a history of immediate family members with ARMD. Prescription blood pressure medications called ACE inhibitors create a greater ARMD risk than smoking. Women are at somewhat more risk than men.

Baked or broiled, not fried.

A University of Washington study demonstrated how those who regularly ate tuna and other baked or broiled fish (3 or more times per week) had a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) than those who ate the same fish infrequently. Those who regularly ate fried fish, however, had a higher risk of both heart attack and death due to CHD (culprits: vegetable seed oil? trans-fats?).

The common denominator of the AREDS study and the University of Washington study is the omega-3 fatty acid content of the fish oil - recognized in both studies as being the active agent that successfully controlled both CHD and ARMD.

Here again, I believe that foods are far superior to supplements. Unfortunately, because of our polluted seas, some fish, depending on the waters in which they lived, may contain unhealthy levels of mercury.

The best sources of omega-3s are dark or pink-fleshed fish: salmon, mackerel, and sardines are the most concentrated sources, with an average of 1.5 grams of omega-3s per 6-ounce serving. Canned tuna provides about .45 grams per serving.

Note: farm-raised salmon does not contain the same amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. It’s the cold water (and natural diet) that causes the fish to produce omega-3’s. Farm raised fish are still an excellent source of protein, but not omega-3’s.

Water-packed tuna is reasonably safe to eat in limited quantities. But, pregnant women and nursing mothers can pass mercury on to their children, potentially causing birth defects and growth disorders.

Anyone on blood-thinners should advise their physician before taking fish oil supplements.

Health comes from within.

“Food may be the most powerful drug you will ever take. Hormones are hundreds of times stronger than drugs. Every time you eat, you start a hormonal cascade. Either you control it, or for the next four to six hours it controls you.
“Furthermore, many of the chronic diseases associated with aging--heart disease, arthritis, and cancer, for example--are strongly connected with (hormonal) imbalances.” – Barry Sears, Ph.D. from Enter the Zone (recommended reading).

I wish you success. You will be your own success story!

Sincerely,
Dr. David Pellington
Pain Relief and Wellness Solutions
7193 Industrial Boulevard
Covington, GA 30014
770-788-8222
DrPellington.com



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