Fish Oil and Omega 3 Health Benefits

There’s a great article at USA Today that does a good job of explaining how food manufacturers are misleading health conscious consumers with their Omega 3 claims. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

But grocery aisles these days are packed with food labels boasting of omega-3 content. You can buy milk, eggs, yogurt, cereal, orange juice, butter substitutes, mayonnaise and other products that carry the claim.

Behind the boom: studies that show certain omega-3 fats can help prevent fatal heart attacks and offer other heart benefits; less conclusive research hints at brain and eye benefits and possible anti-cancer effects.

But don’t cross fish off your shopping list yet, nutrition watchdogs say. That’s because many of the new products contain little or none of the omega-3 fats backed by the most scientific evidence: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

“The numbers are tiny, but the claims they are making are huge,” says Katherine Tallmadge, a Washington, D.C., registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

“It’s all very confusing,” says Bonnie Liebman, a nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. She reviewed omega-3 food claims for a recent newsletter article (at cspinet.org).

Her conclusion: Consumers are in real danger of being misled. Even a careful label reader won’t learn, for instance, that a carton of Breyers Smart DHA Omega-3 yogurt has less DHA than a teaspoon of salmon.

And that bottle of Hellmann’s mayo proclaiming the product is “naturally rich in Omega-3 ALA”? True enough, Liebman says: Most mayonnaise is made with soybean oil, which is a source of ALA (alpha-linolenic acid). But that kind of omega-3 fat, found most abundantly in flaxseed, has not been proven to convey the same health benefits as DHA plus EPA, she says.

You can read the entire article here: Got omega-3? Not so much

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If you’d like to have a baby, you need to learn about the benefits of Omega 3 Fish Oil. The DHA and EPA in fish oil is known to play a big role in the development of the fetus and it is recommended that pregnant women get up to 900 milligrams of Omega 3 rich fish in their diet daily.

Many scientists also state that even before you conceive, you need to build up your supply of EPA and DHA so you’ll have plenty available for your growing baby. Also, your eggs will be healthier and for men, it is just as important to get the supplement to get their production of their sperm at a higher rate.

Omega 3 Fish Oil rich in EPA and DHA is very important for a baby’s brain and nervous system development. It has been found that up to 70 percent of a newborn’s brain, retinas, and nervous system is made up of it. The fetus gets the nutrients from its mother so it’s important to eat enough fish in omega 3 oil or take supplements.

However, many women do not get enough Omega 3 fish oil in their diet. Actually, a survey showed that only two percent had enough of the nutrient in their diets. This can be dangerous as it can put a woman at risk for pre-eclampsia or pregnancy related high-blood pressure and post-partum depression. It has been found that women can lose up to three percent of their brain mass during the last trimester due to transferring DHA and EPA to their child. This can be a contributing factor in post-partum depression. A defiency can also lead to premature birth and low-birth weight.

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According to a research team from the University of Bologna in Italy, Omega 3 Fish Oil can greatly help Crohn’s disease patients to have longer periods between flare-ups.

For those who have it, Crohn’s is a disease which includes inflammation of the small intestine and/or the colon. The symptoms include abdominal cramping, diarrhea, fever, and bleeding from the rectum.

Omega 3 Fish Oil or DHA which is also known as Docosahexaenoic Acid and also EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid are fatty acids which are the best protection against such diseases as Crohn’s. In addition, it has been shown that the supplement can also help other conditions such as heart disease, stoke, arthritis, and ulcerative colitis.

It is worth noting that Crohn’s patients often get relapse. During this research, 70 percent of those in the placebo group did indeed experience a relapse, while just 29 percent of those taking the fish oil supplement did. After the study was concluded, nearly 60 percent of those who took the supplement stayed in remission.

The members of the fish oil group greatly reduced their symptoms by up to 56 percent, while the placebo group only had a 4 percent reduction. In addition, 72 percent of the those who participated in the fish oil study either reduced or eliminated their symptoms, according to American Journal of Gastroenterology.

In an additional study, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, it was discovered that with those who have Ulcerative Colitis or UC and Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS had much the same effect.

For those who have Crohn’s and other disease like it, this is music to their ears as many of them take drugs like NSAIDS, cortisoids, and various others which can have detrimental side effects.

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