Fish Oil and Omega 3 Health Benefits

Is your child getting enough omega 3? The odds are fifty to one the answer is “No!”

How do I know? Because studies show that only 2% of American women are getting the omega 3 DHA and EPA fatty acids they need for their own health and well-being. And, if Mom isn’t getting enough omega 3s, you can bet her children aren’t either.

Why is this so? The answer’s simple. Omega 3 DHA and EPA fatty acids are found only in salmon and other fatty fish such as sardines, herring, anchovies and albacore tuna. Very few adults and even less children are eating these fish at all, not least a couple times a week, as recommended by the American Heart Association and just about every other health authority.

We’re not the only country with kids not eating enough fish. A recent study in Ireland found that 98% of the children weren’t getting adequate amounts of omega 3s in their diets. And Ireland is totally surrounded by water and has a long, rich heritage of fishing.

But we don’t need research studies on the eating habits of children to know that there’s a major deficiency of omega 3s in the diets of American children. All we have to do is look at the health of kids today and it’s not a very pretty picture.

Childhood asthma, juvenile diabetes and ADD/ADHD are at epidemic levels in this country and they’ve all been found to be related to dietary deficiencies of omega 3 fatty acids.

Asthma, for example, is responsible for nearly 14 million lost school days each year. But, did you know, according to Australian researchers, children who eat fish on a regular basis have four times less risk of developing asthma. And fish oil supplements have been shown in other studies to significantly reduce the severity of children’s asthma symptoms. So there’s definitely a link.

And nearly 30,000 children and young people under the age of 20 are afflicted each year with juvenile (type 1) diabetes. Yet, studies have proven when pregnant and nursing mothers supplement their diet with fish oil rich in DHA and EPA fatty acids they reduce their child’s risk of developing juvenile diabetes by amazing 26 percent.

Dietary deficiencies of fish oil DHA and EPA have also been found to significantly increase the incidence of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children, while fish oil supplements have been shown to decrease both the incidence and severity of ADD and ADHD symptoms in children.

But don’t be afraid of mercury toxicity in fish. According to the Harvard University School of Public Health, as long as your child doesn’t eat shark, swordfish and other large predator fish, the health benefits of fish outweigh any perceived risk of toxicity by as much as 300 to 500 to one. In other words, despite the negative press, fish toxicity in reality is just a tiny blip on the screen.

When you take everything into consideration, feeding your child wild caught salmon or some other fatty fish (but not fish sticks) two or three times a week and/or getting them to take good quality fish oil supplements makes good sense.

Actually, it makes good sense for the whole family.

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Menstrual cramps are the most common gynecological complaint of teenage girls and their main reason for missing school.

Wouldn’t it be great to help them find a simple, natural solution?

Well, the University Of Cincinnati Medical Center may have done that. Researchers assert fish oil supplementation helps to significantly reduce menstrual pain in adolescent schoolgirls. (American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 174: 1335-38)

To begin with, the researchers started with pretty conclusive evidence that menstrual pain was caused by inflammation of the uterus as a result of a high dietary intake of omega 6 arachidonic acid (AA).

The standard American diet (SAD) is quite high in omega 6 fatty acids, particularly arachidonic acid. AA is found mainly in plant derived corn, soy and canola cooking oils.

The researchers also knew omega 3 DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), which are found only in fatty fish such as salmon or sardines, were natural anti-inflammatory agents. Many previous studies found these specific fish oil fatty acids helpful in reducing the inflammation associated with heart disease, stroke, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.

So the research team set up a clinical trial designed to investigate the relationship of omega 3 DHA and EPA and dysmenorrheal (menstrual cramps). For a period of two months, they studied forty-two girls between the ages of 15 and 18 years of age, all of whom experienced significantly painful menstrual cycles.

Half were put on a placebo. The other half took a daily supplement of 1080 mg of EPA and 720 mg of DHA.

The fish oil group showed a 36.5% decrease menstrual pain and a 50% decrease in the amount of painkiller ibuprofen tablets used during their menstrual periods. The placebo group experienced no change.

The researchers concluded fish oil supplementation is a safer and more natural solution than painkillers for the problem of menstrual cramps and that’s not only for teenage girls but for all women experiencing menstrual cycles.

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Omega 3 fish oil has been shown to thwart yet another cancer.

New research published in the Journal of the American Medical association (JAMA) indicates that omega 3 fish oil plus vitamin D can help to overcome kidney cancer.

The amazing health benefits of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from certain fatty fish such as wild salmon, herring and sardines just seem to go on and on. Why? Because those cold water fatty fish contain high amounts of omega 3 oils along with some smaller amounts of vitamin D.

This new research specifically compares the intake of fatty fish, such as salmon, to the consumption of lean fish and other types of seafood such as lobster and shrimp.

The scientists examined the risk of cancer or renal cell carcinoma in a group of over 61,000 Swedish women for more than 15 years. Those who reported consistent long-term consumption of omega 3 fatty acids from fatty fish had a very significant 73% lower risk of kidney cancer. In fact all cancers were lower in the omega 3 group.

What about those who ate lean fish? The researchers found there were no cancer protecting benefits in lean fish or other types of seafood.

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