The best place to begin is to start taking fish oil supplements and, at the same time, commit to a healthy lifetime eating plan.

Dr. Walter Willet, head of the Harvard School of Public Health, recently published a review of 147 studies related to diet and heart disease in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research shows that moderate exercise, plus a diet low in saturated and trans-fats and high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and omega 3 fatty acids from supplements or fresh fish is the best way to prevent cardiovascular disease.

A cholesterol count of over 200 mg/dl is considered to put a person at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, over 100 million Americans have counts higher than 200 points. The average in the U.S. is about 220 mg/dl.

Cardiovascular disease kills more Americans than the next seven diseases put together – including cancer. Over a million people die each year of CVD – which is one death every 30 seconds. And the reasons are obvious.

The standard American diet and the “couch potato” lifestyle are killing us. Not only are we eating too much food (300 calories a day more than in 1985), we’re eating far too much of the wrong kinds of foods – too much saturated fat and trans-fat and not nearly enough omega 3 fish oil.

Overindulgence in high glycemic carbohydrates and “bad” fats creates weight problems and the diseases associated with poor diet and excess weight – arthritis, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

What can you do to naturally lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease? The answer to this question is fairly simple and, if you want to lead a long, happy, healthy life, it’s also worth the effort to do what’s necessary.

Begin by eating less red meat, sweets, pastries, full fat dairy and refined grains and by including more fish, poultry, high fiber whole grains, fruits and vegetables in your diet. Next reduce your calories to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends you eat five to nine servings of fresh fruit and vegetables everyday to get the necessary antioxidant power of carotenoids. These important phytonutrients are needed to prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. Cholesterol doesn’t become a problem until it oxidizes. So oxidized cholesterol is the real killer.

The AHA also recommends you stop smoking and reduce alcohol to no more than one drink a day.

So begin your new healthy lifestyle today by exercising, making sure your next meal is a healthy one that includes some cold water fatty fish and by starting on high quality omega 3 fish oil supplements – it’s that easy!

These essential oils are the main component of a child’s nervous system and retina and are necessary throughout the entire process of pregnancy for the health and well being of the fetus. Deficiencies of EPA and DHA have also been linked to premature births and abnormally low birth weights.

Omega 3 fish oil is vitally important for mom too. During the third trimester of pregnancy she transfers to her fetus most of the DHA needed for the optimum development of her newborn baby’s brain and nervous system.

This requires a lot of omega-3. And, since the only way baby can get these essential oils is through mother, if mom isn’t getting enough from an outside source, her health is also at risk.

An EPA and DHA deficiency, for example, can put a pregnant woman at an increased risk of preeclampsia – pregnancy-related high blood pressure. And, during the nine months of pregnancy, she could lose as much as 3% of her own brain mass from EPA and DHA depletion.

Some scientists believe this is the cause of post-partum depression.

Fish oil fatty acids with DHA and EPA are so necessary that the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the U.S. National Institutes of Health recommend that pregnant and nursing mothers supplement their diet with 1200 mg/day.

But a recent study showed the average omega 3 intake of pregnant and lactating women was less than 18% of what is recommended and only 2% of women surveyed had diets that met their daily needs of EPA and DHA.

So, whether you’re nursing, pregnant or just thinking about it, for the sake of your baby, start eating more fatty fish like wild salmon on a regular basis and taking high quality fish oil supplements. Then your baby will be smart enough to appreciate all you’ve done.

Three of the most important things in your diet should be fish, for the fish oil health benefits, and vegetables and fruit, for the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

So, what’s the best way to buy fruits and Veggies to go with your fish dinner. Should you choose fresh, frozen or in cans?

Based on extensive research, plus studies of healthy indigenous people, most all nutritional scientists agree that we should eat more fish and more fruits and vegetables.

The National Cancer Institute now recommends five to nine servings a day. So what’s the best way to buy fruits and veggies – fresh, frozen or canned?

While fresh is always your best choice, supermarket produce is far from fresh picked. It often spends many days being shipped across country and around the world and then sits for long periods on store shelves – losing considerable nutrition in the process.

Whenever possible, it’s preferable to buy locally grown organic fresh fruits and vegetables that come to you straight from the garden.

Organic produce, picked when ripe, is more nutritious, better tasting and best for both you and the environment. You can often find good bargain prices from local farmers or community co-ops. If you don’t have a co-op, consider starting one.

When good quality fresh produce is not available, (for instance, during winter months), canned should be your last choice.

The canning process used to kill bacteria destroys vitally important vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. Canned fruits and vegetables are also often high in unhealthy amounts of salt or sugars – sometimes both.

You’re better off choosing frozen, which is usually washed, flash frozen and refrigerated within 24 hours of being picked. This helps preserve the nutritional value, stops chances of spoiling and is a convenient way to store perishable foods.

You can even buy organically grown frozen produce at health food supermarkets. The price is usually higher, but it’s well worth it.

Just make sure the vegetables aren’t swimming in “organic” high fat cream sauce, butter or cheese.

Take the time to plan for more fruit, veggies and fish in your busy life.

With all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients and fantastic fish oil health benefits, you’ll look better, feel better, be healthier and happier for it.

When it comes to fish oil health benefits, saturated fats and trans-fats, we’re talking about the good, the bad and the ugly!

The 80′s were a decade of fat consciousness and concern. Leading authorities decided fats were our enemy. Everyone was advised to lower fat intake, especially from highly saturated fats and cholesterol rich foods. The reason why was clear.

Prior to a high fat meal, blood cells flow freely within your vessels. When they bump together, they actually bounce off each other.

However, approximately an hour after a fatty meal, the cells become sticky and start clumping together. These clumps eventually slow down blood flow so severely that, in some vessels, it actually stops.

People who consistently eat meals high in bad fats have continuous sludging of their blood. This leads to high blood pressure, narrowing arteries, plaque deposits and other cardiovascular health problems.

Diets high in saturated fats also cause rigid cell membranes, which interfere with the absorption of nutrition. Nutrients from food can’t get into cells and waste products and toxins can’t get out.

Therefore, a diet high in saturated fat, not only plugs up your arteries, but also your very cells.

Saturated fat mainly comes from animal products. Since our early ancestors were hunters and gatherers, people have been eating meat for a long, long time. So how come all of a sudden it’s a problem?

That’s simple. Saturated fat is natural and, in and of itself, it’s not bad. The problem is, the balance has been thrown way out of whack.

Commercial practices in breeding and the raising of domesticated animals has created a gigantic unnatural increase in the overall consumption of saturated fats.

Whereas wild game is about 2 to 3 percent fat, commercial meats and dairy products can be anywhere from 20 to 60 percent.

That’s a big fat difference!

But there’s also serious reason for concern about unsaturated fats. Plants in their natural form are nature’s most abundant source of essential fatty acids. The trouble begins when commercial manufacturers extract unsaturated fats.

Oils are particularly sensitive to the bleaching, deodorizing, light, heat and solvents used in the intense extraction process.

So what do you end up with? Sorry to say, that beautiful, clear, sweet smelling, refined cooking and salad oil you buy at the store is totally void of any good essential fatty acids. And they’re loaded with toxins.

This is why fish oil health benefits from quality supplements of omega 3 fish oil fatty acids with DHA are so important for your health.

You want to make sure you’re getting plenty of the natural good fatty acids, both for optimum health and prevention and also to balance out the bad and the ugly fats that sneak into your food.

Essential fatty acids with DHA and EPA are main components in helping your body to work optimally.

So, no matter whether you’re a recreational jogger or a marathon runner, a weekend tennis player or a Wimbledon champion or you just want to get fit and healthy, good nutrition that includes omega 3 fish oil health benefits is essential.

To perform optimally, you need the right fuel. High quality whole food supplements and omega 3 fish oil fatty acids can give you what you need for maximum sports and fitness performance.

What specific fuel does an athlete’s body need? When it comes to sports and fitness, the most crucial nutrients are those that help your body with endurance, muscle recovery and tissue rebuilding:

Vitamin E – supports cardiovascular and circulatory health and has been shown to help maintain healthy DNA in white blood cells following vigorous activity.

Vitamin C – supports immune function and healthy connective tissue. Best if delivered in a sustained release form.

Antioxidants – boost immune power, aid the body in muscle recovery and have been shown to play a critical role in cardiovascular health and normal tissue growth.

B Vitamins- support oxygen delivery to muscles, nerve and muscle function and the formation of red blood cells. Best if delivered in a sustained release form.

Zinc – promotes healing, helps utilize vitamins, promotes healthy skin, hair and bones and supports immune function. Zinc is lost through sweat.

Iron – helps transport oxygen from the lungs to bodily tissues.

Chromium – promotes stable blood sugar levels, which are critical to energetic performance.

Omega-3 fish oil with DHA and EPA – supports optimum function of heart, blood vessels, brain, nerves, eyes, skin and joints and acts as a natural anti-inflammatory.

Protein – is a primary component of muscles. A high quality, 22 amino acid protein supplement supports optimal muscle rebuilding.

Water – is essential to an optimal nutritional program. While exercising, 8 oz. of pure water every 20-30 minutes is a safe guideline. Don’t just drink to satisfy your thirst. Drink an extra glass for good measure.

There’s a huge difference in supplement quality raw materials, reliability, balance, delivery systems and absorbability.

I recommend whole food sports nutritionals from feel better site plus omega 3 supplements that provide pure fish oil health benefits. These can be found at www.omega-3.us.

But that was a long time ago. So, how do you suppose Hippocrates’ healing philosophy can be applied to our modern refined foods?

Cheap “refined” junk food is now available to the majority of the world – even poor, less developed countries.

Should these highly processed foods be considered “medicine” or are they really “killer” foods?

It’s food for thought, don’t you think?

Heart disease and diabetes are both clearly linked to diet (the food you eat). And, whereas heart disease was once reserved for older rich westerners, it’s now killing more and more young people everywhere – including poor, developing countries.

According to Janet Voute, chief executive officer of the World Heart Federation, “Unless intervention programs are put into effect now, we will witness a global health crisis in developing countries as skilled workers die or become disabled, women are widowed and older people require expensive medical support for disability related to CVD (cardio-vascular disease).”

And heart disease is not the only problem being caused by our modern “killer” foods. Even if obesity doesn’t increase (which it probably will), type 2 diabetes rates are expected to double worldwide by 2030.

But, since obesity is also expected to continue to skyrocket, diabetes will more than likely triple in that time period.

So, in order to benefit from Hippocrates’ philosophy, we will need to rephrase his words to fit our current situation. “Let good whole food be your medicine and let your medicine be good whole food.”

Food is necessary for life. You must eat to live.

Today you have a choice. You can choose to eat to look and feel better, live longer and, as Hippocrates believed, you can even use good whole food as “medicine” to heal yourself. Or not!

You can choose “healing” foods or “killer” foods. The choice is yours.

For example, studies show that omega 3 fish oil can help children control their behavior and pay attention at school.

So, why take a big risk with prescribed ADHD drugs when, maybe, like your car, all that your child really needs is an oil change?

Recent research in England reported that children with behavioral, social and learning difficulties who took high quality omega-3 fish oil supplements for only six months tested more than a year higher in reading skills and six months higher in spelling.

The children also had significant improvements in their behavior with none of the negative side effects associated with commonly prescribed stimulants and anti-depressants.

Elliot, a nine year old participating in the omega 3 study, was falling behind in his schoolwork, had little interest in studying and would crash on the sofa in front of the TV when he came home from school.

He now heads for the library after school. His mother, Sheila, says, “Elliot’s reading jumped 18 months. He’s just a lot more interested in everything. He’s even developed an interest in classical music.”

Omega 3 fish oil has always been traditionally considered brain food. But, scientists now know for a fact that nearly 70 percent of a baby’s brain and more than 60 percent of the adult brain is made up of specific fatty acids – especially EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

And wild salmon is nature’s richest and purest source of these health promoting omega 3 fatty acids.

But you don’t want to give your child just any old fish oil supplement. It could be sourced from some impure waste product leftovers of the fertilizer industry or from whatever comes up in the net. And you don’t want to use flaxseed oil.

Although flaxseed contains omega 3 oil, it has none of the necessary EPA or DHA that research has found produces the results.

If you’re looking for ADHD alternative treatments that work, and your family is among the millions of those who don’t eat fish at least 2 or 3 times a week, then it’s important to supplement your family’s diet.

Actually, good quality fish oil supplements are a great idea even if your family does eat plenty of fish.

My personal recommendation is Salmon Oil Plus with UHPO3.

Omega 3 salmon oil supports brain development in children and optimum brain functioning in adults and is an excellent ADHD treatment option

It has a long safe history of helping people all around the world with natural relief for arthritis, migraines, depression, psoriasis, prostatitis, heart disease and all forms of inflammation as well as other painful conditions.

Salmon Oil Plus with UHPO3 is the purest (zero toxicity), most complete and balanced omega 3 fish oil supplement on the market.

It has all 8 omega 3 family members important to human nutrition – DHA, DPA, HPA, EPA, ETA, ETA (3), SDA AND ALA. And they’re all in the same perfect natural balance found in fresh salmon.

For more detailed information on how Salmon Oil Plus with UHPO3 can help your family, friends and you to look and feel your absolute best, go to www.omega-3.us.

The buildup of uric acid, a natural byproduct of the break down of certain foods, particularly red meat, forms microscopic crystals in the affected joint, causing the painful inflammation and swelling that’s associated with gout.

This painful disease can begin at any age, but usually strikes men after the age of 40. Post-menopausal women can also be afflicted, since estrogen helps empty uric acid from the kidneys.

Gout is acute, developing very quickly, often overnight, in one or two specific joints. You go to bed feeling fine and wake up in the morning with an incredibly painful, swollen toe or ankle.

The pain can last for five to ten days and go away only to return sometime later. If not taken care of, gout pain and swelling will become more severe over time, causing permanent damage to the affected joints.

A recent study, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that arthritis drug painkillers reduced pain only in the short run and only slightly better than placebo.

Jan Magnus Bjordal, lead researcher, pooled the results of 23 clinical trials to see how effective NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Advil and Motrin) and COX-2 (Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra) drugs were. Bjordal stated, “We were surprised that the effects were so small.”

Drug treatments for gout are not only ineffective. They’re also not curative, having no direct effect on uric acid levels.

What’s more, these medications are very powerful and have serious side effects. Vioxx and other COX-2 inhibitors, for example, are now being linked to fatal heart attacks. Arthritic painkillers should be taken only with careful consideration, if at all.

But, gout can be controlled and prevented naturally and effectively by making positive and healthy lifestyle and dietary changes – that is, as long as the first attack is taken as a wake up call.

Begin by gradually achieving and maintaining a healthy weight to help lighten the load on affected joints, as well as reduce uric acid levels. A diet low in red meat and high in fruits, vegetables and low fat-dairy is strongly recommended.

It’s also important for anyone susceptible to gout to avoid alcohol as much as possible, since it interferes with the removal of uric acid.

But, they should drink plenty of pure water, at least 10 to 12 glasses a day. Water helps flush uric acid from the body.

And, rather than dangerous medications, omega 3 fish oil capsules work wonders for naturally reducing the painful inflammation and swelling associated with gout.

My recommendation: www.omega-3.us

After all, the medical community has been baffled by this debilitating disease for years and still haven’t found either a cause or cure.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) affects some 5 million Americans – mainly women between the ages of 20 and 50 and is mainly characterized by aching pain and stiffness in the fibrous tissue of the muscles and joints.

Most FMS sufferers complain of pain all over. But seem to be particularly sensitive to any pressure in certain tender points around the neck, shoulders, chest, hips, knees and elbows.

The pain usually occurs in the morning and often when trying to relax and has been described as burning, aching, throbbing and stabbing,

Besides pain, other symptoms include numbness and tingling of the hands and feet, extreme fatigue, difficulty sleeping, headaches and depression. Other commonly associated symptoms are irritable bowel, menstrual cramping, dizziness, difficulty thinking and panic and anxiety attacks.

In other words, FMS is a drag. Although it’s neither fatal nor permanently damaging, fibromyalgia is so debilitating that many of those who sufferer from it are seriously affected in their job performance and one quarter are unable to work at all.

For a physician to diagnose FMS, the patient must have widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least a three month period. To be considered widespread, pressure pain must be found in at least eleven of eighteen specific tender points.

Fortunately, overcoming fibromyalgia is possible by simply making some healthy lifestyle changes. This is a small price to pay for relief.

Exercise, relaxation and breathing techniques, alternative therapies such as massage and chiropractic and a healthy diet have all been shown to significantly improve the quality of life for FMS suffers.

Also, omega 3 fish and fish oil have been proven to promote healing and provide powerful natural pain relief for fibromyalgia, without the serious side effects of most prescribed “painkillers.”

Most women believe breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women, but heart disease is actually the number one killer.

In fact, the death of women from coronary disease outnumbers the next sixteen causes of death – all put together!

And, it’s twice as high as all cancer deaths combined.

What’s more, the first symptom of heart disease for many women is often death. Of the 1.5 million heart attacks in the U.S. each year, one third or 500,000 result in death. Of these deaths, 233,000 are women.

Although more men than women have heart attacks and strokes each year, a much higher percentage of women die from them than men. This is because there’s less research and lack of understanding of the symptoms in women.

But studies show that, for most women, coronary disease can be prevented. Of course, it takes commitment and discipline to make the necessary lifestyle changes.

Two separate studies of over half a million men and women were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers proved conclusively that 90% of all people with heart disease have at least one or more of the following four classic risk factors – smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol and/or high blood pressure.

And all of these risk factors can be controlled.

Smoking, for example, triples a woman’s risk for heart attack. But, by quitting smoking, she can cut that risk in half in less than a year. After ten years of not smoking, her odds are back to normal.

The other three risk factors, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, can also be dramatically reduced by a healthier lifestyle. by

Eating a healthy diet, developing a good exercise routine, maintaining optimum weight, reducing stress and taking whole food supplements, especially high quality fish oil, will all have major positive effect.

Through taking consistent, positive actions in these areas, women can prevent the great majority of heart attacks and resulting deaths.