Fish Oil and Omega 3 Health Benefits

Found this article on MSNBC.com today. Here’s the bottom line. Don’t count on foods that have been artificially fortified with vitamins, minerals or omega 3s for your nutrition. The best place to look for your nutrition are whole foods and whole food supplements like Omega 3 Salmon Oil Plus.

Are Vitamin Fortified Foods Healthier?
You may not get all the nutritional benefits with these functional foods.

By Janice Lieberman
TODAY consumer correspondent
Jan 31, 2007

There’s been an explosion in foods fortified with vitamins and minerals. They’re called “functional foods, and Americans spend billions of dollars a year on them. Your milk is fortified with Vitamin D; your OJ has so many added vitamins its container has more letters in the alphabet than your child’s school books, and your cereal claims to help you lose weight and reduce your risk of a heart attack and stroke. Feeling guilty about eating junk food? Even ice-pops, chocolate pudding, and sugary drinks these days have added vitamins and minerals. It’s hard to find a product that doesn’t contain some healthy-sounding additive.

But are these foods worth buying and consuming? The answer isn’t all that simple. I’m concerned about it, because it’s a way of getting us to eat things that may not be completely healthy for us, says Dr. Marc Siegel of New York University Hospital in New York City. A lot of these products have additives that in and of themselves are good, [such as] vitamins. But what about the overall product? Do they have too many sugars in them [or] caffeine? A lot of these products are not that healthy.

So is a cereal containing yogurt bits healthier than one without them? Not according to nutritionists. Basically, this is a marketing tease. You’re persuaded to buy a sugary product, because you think it is healthier than similar cereals. And what about omega-3 fatty acids that have been added to everything from waffles to peanut butter? Doctors say additional omega-3 fatty acids found aren’t harmful. But they say that we shouldn’t substitute these types of functional foods for ones that naturally contain omega-3 fatty acids, such salmon, sardines or mackerel. (It is recommended that you eat three servings of fish containing omega-3 a week.)

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Premature birth and low birth weight put enormous stress on a baby.

To begin with, premature birth is the leading cause of death in infants. But even those infants who survive may face a lifetime of serious health concerns, such as cerebral palsy and mental retardation, as well as vision and lung function problems.

Premature births also put enormous emotional and financial stress on the parents. For example, the national hospital bill for premature births is estimated at 11.9 billion dollars.

What exactly is premature birth and low birth weight? Well, it’s not just those tiny “preemies” weighing a couple of pounds that are at risk. Any baby born more than three weeks before its due date is considered premature. And low birth weight is anything less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces.

But, there’s good news for women and babies. In a study of nearly 9,000 pregnant women, Danish researchers discovered that those ate fish just once a week during their first trimester had 3.6 times less risk of premature birth and low birth weight than those who ate no fish. (British Medical Journal, Vol. 324: 1-5)

In fact, fish oil omega 3 fatty acids DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (acid) are absolutely essential (i.e. vital for life itself) for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy full term baby.

Women need omega 3 DHA and EPA just to produce healthy eggs. Men need them for increased energy and mobility of sperm. A lack of these essential oils also puts the mother at a much higher risk for both pre-eclampsia (pregnancy-related high blood pressure) and post-partum depression.

DHA and EPA are also essential for the optimum growth and development of the fetus throughout the entire term of pregnancy. Did you know, for example, that DHA and EPA make up nearly 70% of a newborn baby’s brain, retina and central nervous system?

Omega 3 fish oils have also been found to reduce the risk of three of the most common and debilitating conditions affecting young children – asthma, juvenile diabetes and ADD/ADHD.

And the only way the fetus or a young infant is going to get these essential oils is through the mother’s diet during pregnancy and nursing or through supplementation.

So, if you’re thinking about getting pregnant or are pregnant or nursing, get started now eating more fatty fish, such as salmon, tuna and sardines, and/or taking good quality daily fish oil supplements that provide a combined total of 1 g DHA and EPA.

You and your baby will be glad you did!

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Eating fish is a healthy thing to do. It’s high in protein, iron and vitamin B12 and very low in saturated fat and provides a whole range of significant health benefits.

But not all fish is created equal.

Some fish are fatty and some are lean and it’s the fatty fish that contains the most omega 3 fatty acids, which many scientists call the most miraculous health discovery of the 20th century.

Danish scientists, some thirty years ago, discovered Greenland Eskimos had extremely low heart disease risk. This was despite the fact they ate a high fat diet of mostly fatty fish and blubber. Ever since then, researchers from all over the world have been studying fish oil health benefits and their conclusions are nothing short of amazing.

To begin with, so to speak, fish oil omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), are absolutely essential for conception, healthy pregnancy, optimum growth and development of the fetus and the prevention of asthma, juvenile diabetes and ADD/ADHD.

Omega 3 DHA and EPA have also been found to significantly reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

That’s why the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends everyone eat fatty fish at least once or twice a week and those people with or at high risk for heart disease take daily fish oil supplements.

Omega 3 DHA and EPA are also nature’s most potent anti-inflammatories and have been found to be extremely effective at preventing and reducing the severity of symptoms of such inflammatory conditions as arthritis, bursitis, emphysema, irritable bowel syndrome and colitis, to name just a few.

That’s why so many other nutrition and health organizations also strongly recommend everyone eat fatty fish at least once and twice a week and/or take daily fish oil supplements.

Bu, like I said, “Not all fish are created equal.”

Fatty fish, such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel, contains as much as 20 to 30 times as much omega 3 DHA and EPA fatty acids than lean fish. Lean fish include cod, halibut, shellfish and fresh water fish.

Eat fish either baked or broiled and not battered and deep fried. Also, according to a recent Harvard University School of Public Health study, as long as you avoid larger, predatory species such as shark and swordfish, the enormous health benefits of fatty fish far outweigh any perceived threat of mercury poisoning.

So eat fish and lots of it to get healthy and stay healthy.

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