Fish Oil and Omega 3 Health Benefits

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently announced new diabetes prevention guidelines for people at high risk for type 2 diabetes. And the good news is it’s never too late to make a change.

In type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or recognize that which it does. Insulin distributes sugar in the blood to the cells for energy. A buildup of sugar in the blood starves the cells of energy.

Over time diabetes can eventually cause harm to the eyes (retinopathy), nerves (neuropathy), kidneys (nephropathy) and heart (cardiovascular disease). However, if the disease is effectively managed, type 2 diabetics can live long, healthy lives.

The main causes of diabetes, along with age, are obesity and inactivity. Since you can’t do anything about your age the ADA recommends you begin with managing your diet and getting more exercise – two areas of your life you do have some control over.

The ADA suggest you follow a healthy low fat, low glycemic eating plan that includes salmon or other fatty fish (not fried) instead of red meat at least twice a week, low fat dairy, whole grains rather than white bread and pasta, beans and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Eliminate as much fat from your diet as possible, particularly trans fats which are found primarily in baked goods – crackers, cookies, etc. The ADA also recommends you keep your daily cholesterol intake to 200 mgs.

Eating this way will help you lose some weight and just losing 7% of your total weight can greatly reduce your risk of diabetes. This eating plan will also help you maintain a healthier weight. Getting more exercise is another very good idea, However, it’s not necessary for you to run marathons. A brisk half hour walk five days a week will do just fine.

Over 20 million people in the U.S. have diabetes and that number could double since another 40 million people are estimated to have undiagnosed pre-diabetes. If you would rather not be one of these statistics, it’s not too late to change some of your lifestyle choices.

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According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, arthritis pain and disability interferes with the job performance of almost 7 million
American workers.

One out of every five or six Americans between the ages of 18 and 64, or 23.4 million people, suffer from arthritis – a painful, inflammatory joint disease. Of this group, nearly 30% or 6.9 million workers say they have difficulty working to the best of their ability. (Arthritis & Rheumatism, March 29, 2007)
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in Atlanta report arthritis-attributable work limitation is most common among people between the ages of 45 and 64, women, non-hispanic blacks, people without a high school education and those with incomes below $20,000 a year.

Kristina A. Theis of the CDCP and her colleagues also note in their report that many of the adults with arthritis work-related problems were also overweight, suffered joint pain, had frequent doctor’s visits and “multiple indicators of poor physical health and function.”
Theis states the indirect cost of arthritis is over $35 billion a year and that “protecting workers from disability, injury, and prolonged negative effects of illness makes simple social and economic sense.”

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the more common form of arthritis. It affects over twenty million Americans. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects over 2 million. Women are by far the most affected, but men seem to have more serious complications.

Since there’s no known cause or cure for either OA or RA, most sufferers are willing to use controversial painkillers for relief of pain and discomfort. But since most of these painkillers have serious side effects, medication may be a big mistake. New research shows a more holistic approach to arthritis is just as effective and a lot safer.

Moderate exercise, such as walking, swimming and yoga, have all been found to strengthen bones and muscles, improve flexibility and reduce pain. And a low fat diet, rich in fatty fish such as salmon, whole grains and fruits and vegetables is also highly recommended. This eating plan helps to control inflammation and weight gain, both of which add extra stress to the joints.

But there’s good news for the 23 million Americans who suffer from the aches and pains of OA and RA. Two recent studies, published In the British Journal of Nutrition (Vol. 85: 251-69), found omega 3 fish oil was the most effective arthritis anti-inflammatory pain reliever – even better than aspirin and other NSAIDs and corticosteroids.

Fish oil was found to significantly reduce the number of painful joints, reduce inflammation of the joints and relieve chronic morning stiffness. The researchers found fish oil to be so effective many patients were able to completely discontinue or greatly reduce their use of controversial pain medications.

And that’s really good news for anyone who wants the pride, satisfaction and rewards of doing a good job at work.

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The typical American diet contains far too much omega-6 oil and not enough omega-3 oil, according to Dr. Janice K Kiecolt-Glaser of the Ohio State University College of Medicine. (Psychosomatic Mediicne, March 30, 2007)
 
This imbalance could be the reason for the incredibly sharp increase in heart disease and depression over the last 100 years.

Historically, our hunter-gather ancestors ate no more than about two or three times omega-6 than omega-3. But nowadays our modern diet contains as much as 15 to 17 times omega-6 as omega-3. And that’s a huge difference.

Omega-6 fatty acids are found in refined vegetable oils, which are used in margarine, baked goods and snack foods. Omega -3 fatty acids, on the other hand, are found primarily in fatty fish such as salmon and sardines. Ever since refined oils were introduced in the early 20th century, omega-6 fatty acids have become a major part of the typical Western diet.

The problem is these omega-6 oils create compounds such as tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6. These compounds, Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser asserts, are “all-purpose ‘nasties’ for aging.” They’ve been linked among other things to heart disease, type-2 diabetes and arthritis.

Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser and her team studied the relationship of fatty acid consumption, depression and inflammation in a group of 43 older men and women.  They found the six patients with diagnosed major depression had nearly 18 times the amount of omega-6 in their blood as omega-3. The patients who didn’t meet the criteria for major depression averaged 13 times as much omega-6.

The depressed patients also had much higher levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6 and other inflammatory compounds. The researchers also noted that as depression levels increased, so did the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in blood.

Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser said that cutting back on refined corn, sunflower and safflower vegetable cooking oils, using more monounsaturated olive oil and eating a lot more fatty fish and more fresh fruits and vegetables would go a long way to improve the typical fatty acid imbalance.

Following recommendations for a healthy diet — and eating fatty fish like salmon, mackerel or sardines every now and then — could go a long way to promote a healthier omega-6/omega 3 balance, Kiecolt-Glaser said. “If people actually had more fruits and vegetables in their diet, they probably would have less omega-6.”
SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine, online March 30, 2007.

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